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Gunners stomp Wolverhampton

Arsenal scored twice through Jeremie Aliadiere and Francesc Fabregas became the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in a 5-1 defeat of Wolverhampton in the League Cup Tuesday.

French striker Aliadiere, 20, was one of several younger, fringe Arsenal players that won the club through to the quarterfinals of English soccer's second-tier cup competition.

Southampton beat south coast rival Portsmouth 2-0 off two goals from James Beattie in the other fourth round match.

At age 16, Fabregas, known as Cesc, became the Gunners' youngest-ever goalscorer with his 88th minute strike at Highbury. It was his second match for Arsenal.

Fabregas, an Under-17 Spanish international, had made his first appearance in the previous round of the League Cup on Oct. 28. Arsenal had won 9-8 on penalties against first-division Rotherham after the teams drew 1-1.

Tuesday, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord also found the net for the Gunners.

Aliadiere scored first in the 24th minute, intercepting a backpass from Wolves defender Lee Naylor to score. He then eluded two Wolves defenders in the 71st minute for a powerful strike.

Wiltord set up the second goal in the 68th minute, crossing for Kanu to score. The Frenchman then added a goal in the 79th with a cross from captain Patrick Vieira, who played his first full match for the Gunners after two months out with a thigh injury.

Vieira, Kanu and Wiltord were the few experienced members of the team -- seven of Arsenal's starting lineup had only 13 first-team appearances between them.

Wolves fielded eight players who drew 1-1 with Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday and scored a late consolation goal through Alex Rae.

Spanish league

League leader Valencia held host Real Sociedad to a 0-0 draw Tuesday to move one point clear of Real Madrid at the top of the standings.

Valencia was hard-pressed by Sociedad, which battled hard to end its dismal league run. The Basque team is now winless in six games.

Valencia has 28 points from 14 games, while Real Madrid has 27 from 13. Deportivo de La Coruna is next with 26 points, followed by Atletico de Madrid with 22.

Sociedad moves up to 15th place with 15 points, although it could drop again after Wednesday and Thursday's games. At this stage last season, Sociedad was in first place with 29 points.

Madrid will leapfrog Valencia if it wins its home game with crosstown rival Atletico on Wednesday. Deportivo also has a chance of reaching first place if it beats Valladolid on the road, also on Wednesday.

Sociedad's league problems continued despite an improved performance against Valencia which deserved a victory.

Sociedad believed it had taken an early lead when Russian midfielder Valery Karpin netted in the third minute but was ruled offside. TV replays suggested the goal should have stood.

Bundesliga

VfB Stuttgart's unbeaten run in Germany came to an end Tuesday in the German Cup, while Bayer Leverkusen was stunned by an amateur team.

Vaclav Sverkos hat trick in the 48th, 54th and 71st minutes put Borussia Moenchengladbach into the quarterfinals with a 4-2 win over Stuttgart, the Bundesliga frontrunner whose only other loss this season was to the Glasgow Rangers in the Champions League.

Arie van Lent added the final goal for Moenchengladbach, also a Bundesliga club, while Stuttgart's two goals came from Kevin Kuranyi in the 42nd minute and fellow forward Imre Szabics in the 60th. The south German club last lost in the country on May 17.

Leverkusen, third in the Bundesliga table, was embarrassed 3-2 by the only amateur team left in the competition, TSG Hoffenheim. The team plays in a regional league.

Stefan Sieger hit from the spot in the seventh minute for Hoffenheim, while Kai Herdling had a 77th minute gamewinner after Heiko Throm's 30th minute score for the team.

Lucio scored in the 55th and Dimitar Berbatow 17 minutes later for Leverkusen, which was beaten in front of 6,400 spectators at Hoffenheim's sold-out stadium despite playing its regulars.

Alememannia Aachen also trounced Braungschweiger Eintracht 5-0.
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