Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri called for TV replays after Watford used a disputed goal to draw 2-2 with the FA Cup favorite Blues on Saturday.
Rated as the betting choice going into the 32 weekend cup matches, Chelsea's millionaires rallied twice in the third-round game, but seldom looked like a side built with ?120 million (US$200 million) from new owner Russian Roman Abramovich.
Watford took a 1-0 lead at Vicarage Road after just five minutes when Heidar Helguson's looping header dropped in behind Chelsea 'keeper Neil Sullivan.
PHOTO: AP
A TV replay showed the ball struck the woodwork, but failed to cross the line. Even so, referee Alan Wiley awarded the goal.
Ranieri accepted the error gracefully, but called for goalline cameras to make the call.
"It wasn't a goal, but sometimes it can happen," he said.
"I make mistakes, as do players, referees and linesmen. But sooner or later all stadia, especially in the Premier League, must have a camera to say whether it's a goal or not. And not just because this happened today."
Chelsea leveled in the 33rd on Eidur Gudjohnsen's penalty, but Watford regained the lead a minute later on Gavin Mahon's close-in header. Chelsea equalized again in the 42nd on Frank Lampard's 18m low drive.
The only Premier League team eliminated in Saturday's 28 matches was Charlton, embarrassed in a 3-2 loss at first-division Gillingham.
Premier League Wolves and Bolton came close to being humiliated, both saved by late goals to salvage draws. Wolves drew 1-1 at third-division Kidderminster on Alex Rae's goal in the 89th.
Bolton's Kevin Nolan equalized in the 78th after Tranmere went ahead on Simon Haworth's 51st-minute strike.
Premier League Tottenham romped to a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at White Heart Lane -- thanks to Freddie Kanoute's hat trick. Kanoute is about to leave the club to play for Mali in the African Nations Cup, a move that has angered Tottenham officials.
Birmingham City swamped fellow Premier League side Blackburn with 4-0 with four different players scoring. The match was the reverse of a game City lost at month ago to Blackburn -- also 4-0.
"I was delighted with the performance, because a month ago we were questioning ourselves,'' City manager Steve Bruce said.
Newcastle also had an easy time in eliminating fellow Premier League side Southampton 3-0. Kieron Dyer scored two -- in the 24th and 67th -- with Larent Robert getting the other.
The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup in Monday with replays set for Jan. 13-14.
Chelsea's last game with Watford in the FA Cup ended up with a loss in 1987. This time Watford coach Ray Lewington admitted his side got a break to draw Chelsea.
"We needed a bit of luck today and we got a little bit," Lewington said. Asked about Watford's chances in the replay, Lewington laughed.
"That's ridiculous. We won't think about that for now. We're all celebrating. It's great for the club because we got another big payday, and we need it."
Chelsea's Ranieri rested his top defender John Terry, and it showed.
"They deserved the draw," he said. "There's no such thing as an easy game in football."
Chelsea striker Gudjohnsen said the draw was about right.
"I think 2-all might be a fair result on the day. The pitch made it very hard to play football here. The ball wasn't dropping for us sometimes."
Four of the biggest games of the weekend were scheduled for Sunday with Premier League leaders Manchester United and Arsenal both in action.
Defending FA Cup champion Arsenal is looking to make history as it plays at Leeds' Elland Road. The Gunners are trying to become the first club to reach the championship game four consecutive times.
Arsenal is also trying to become the third side to win the trophy three times in a row. Arsenal took last year's final 1-0 over Southampton and defeated Chelsea 2-0 in 2002. The Gunners lost to Chelsea 2-1 in the 2001 final.
Man United plays at a revitalized Aston Villa with Fulham home against Cheltenham. Liverpool could have a difficult match at third-division side Yeovil Town.
scottish premier legue
Celtic took a commanding lead in Scotland's Premier League on Saturday at Celtic Park, defeating archrival Rangers 3-0 to move 11 points ahead atop the standings.
Stilian Petrov's header in the 19th gave Celtic a 1-0 lead, and Stanislav Varga made it 2-0 in the 60th to secure Celtic's second Old Firm victory of the season. Alan Thompson added a clincher in the 84th.
Celtic improved to 55 points with Rangers stuck on 44. Hearts Dunfermline each have 30.
Celtic also set a new club record with an 18th consecutive league win. The old record was 17 set in 1967-1968.
Asked if the title race was over, Rangers manager Alex McLeish replied: "Celtic can only lose it now to give the answer simply. We started all right. We had control of the ball but we lost the first goal. The first goal is so vital and to lose it after 18 minutes put us on the backfoot and gave Celtic a lift."
Celtic defender Bobo Balde tried to downplay the lopsided victory.
"There is still a long way to go," he said.
"We have to keep going like this now because last year Rangers finished with the same points," he added. "It was good today but it is not finished."
Celtic won the first Old Firm match of the season on Oct. 4, defeating Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox.
spanish league
Raul Gonzalez scored an early goal Saturday as Real Madrid nipped Murcia 1-0 and extended its lead atop the Spanish league to five points despite losing David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.
In front of a boisterous crowd on a frigid day in Madrid -- its first sellout of the year -- the defending champions played an unimpressive game without the usual sparkle of its stars.
Beckham left the match in the 81st minute after suffering a gashed right ankle from a tackle by Murcia defender Rafael Clavero. Blood could be seen through Beckham's sock and he needed four stitches after the game.
Zidane also had to leave the Santiago Bernabeu field at halftime as the Frenchman suffered from a cold and had a fever.
Madrid leads the league with 42 points from 18 matches, five ahead of Valencia and six more than Deportivo de La Coruna.
Deportivo crushed Celta de Vigo 5-0 later Saturday while Zaragoza held Atletico de Madrid to a 0-0 draw. Valencia hosts Villarreal on Sunday.
Murcia, second-to-last in the league standings with 12 points, surprised the legendary Spanish side by matching its attacks and playing physical defense, but the visitors didn't have the ability or the luck to convert its scoring opportunities -- several of them from Luis Garcia.
Raul broke the deadlock in the eighth minute as he took advantage of a loose ball by Ronaldo, who had received a pass from Luis Figo. It was Raul's ninth goal in the league and the 164th as player with Madrid, the same as Hugo Sanchez.
After Madrid's early goal, Murcia's new goalkeeper Roberto Bonano saved dangerous shots by Santiago Solari and Ronaldo. The Argentine 'keeper came to Murcia last week on loan from FC Barcelona. Murcia missed a golden opportunity to draw level in the 80th minute after Garcia hit the bar with a free kick.
In Vigo, Victor Sanchez scored three goals as Deportivo easily topped Celta in the round's only regional derby.
Albert Luque opened the scoring in the 15th minute, and Sanchez made it 2-0 in the 41st.
In the second half, Sanchez scored in the 71st and 79th minutes. Diego Tristan netted the final goal in the 86th amid shouts and insults by Celta fans, who left the stadium demanding the resignation of coach Miguel Angel Lotina.
The game also marked the return of Deportivo veterans Mauro Silva and Walter Pandiani, who had been absent for three weeks.
Celta, which advanced to the second round of the Champions League, is in 17th place with just 17 points.
Zaragoza and Atletico had to settle for a draw after both teams missed several score opportunities.
The win pushed Atletico to fourth place ahead of the Sunday's remaining matches. Zaragoza is 15th with 20 points.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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