Arsenal lost 1-0 at Blackburn on Saturday to slip to sixth in the English Premier League and dent its chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Arsenal lost away from home for the eighth time in 14 domestic games, four days after winning 1-0 at Real Madrid in the Champions League -- its fourth European away win this season.
"I'm very sad because I don't think we deserved to lose this game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "For maybe five or six minutes in the first half we suffered a little bit, but overall we were always on top of the game but we couldn't score.
"We lacked a little bit of mental sharpness maybe because of Tuesday night but overall we gave absolutely everything physically until the last second of the game," he said.
Blackburn swapped places with Arsenal in the standings, jumping a place to fifth. The Gunners need to finish fourth or higher to qualify for the Champions League next season -- unless they win this season's edition.
Blackburn moved to 43 points in the standings -- three fewer than fourth-place Tottenham and two more than Arsenal -- through Morten Gamst Pedersen's 18th-minute goal. He sidefooted a cross from Craig Bellamy but was substituted soon after with an injury sustained when he fell after scoring.
Also Saturday, Chelsea beat Portsmouth 2-0 to extend its lead atop of the English Premier League to 15 points. In other matches, Newcastle beat Everton 2-0, Birmingham beat relegation rival Sunderland 1-0, and Aston Villa drew 0-0 at Charlton.
The Blues recovered from Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League loss to FC Barcelona with goals at Stamford Bridge through Frank Lampard and Arjen Robben.
Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke said tactical substitutions made the difference.
"We took a risk, going three at the back and four up front, but when you bring on players of their quality you expect them to have an impact in the game," Clarke said.
"Thankfully for us that's what happened," he said.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho didn't to speak to the media after the match.
Lampard gave Chelsea the lead after 65 minutes with a low shot from just inside the area, and Robben scored 13 minutes later from Eidur Gudjohsen's pass.
At St. James' Park, Nolberto Solano scored both goals for Newcastle.
The Peruvian slid home a cross from Charles N'Zogbia in the 64th minute and added the other goal in the 76th. It was Newcastle's fourth win in five matches under caretaker manager Glenn Roeder and ended Everton's seven-match unbeaten streak.
Birmingham took the lead in the 39th when Emile Heskey headed in a free kick by Jermaine Pennant. Birmingham stayed 18th, above Portsmouth and last-place Sunderland, but it is now just three points behind West Bromwich Albion and a place out of the relegation zone.
Today, Liverpool hosts Manchester City, Fulham is at Bolton, and West Bromwich Albion plays Middlesbrough. Manchester United plays Wigan in the League Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff -- the first title to be decided this season.
Gretna became the first second-division side to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals since 1982with a 1-0 win over St. Mirren.
Hibernian and Hearts also reached the final four, while Hamilton and Dundee will need a replay to determine who takes the last semifinal spot after a 0-0 draw.
Gretna scored through Kenny Deuchar in the 73rd minute. Gretna leads the second division, while St. Mirren is top of the first division.
The last second-division club to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals was Forfar in 1982. Gretna only joined the Scottish league in June 2002. The town is just inside the Scottish border but had been playing in England leagues for the previous 55 years.
"It's an exceptional achievement for everyone associated with the club, including the supporters," Gretna manager Rowan Alexander said. "I'm getting a wee bit fed up of people knocking us, saying we don't deserve to be in the first division or even the Scottish Premier League because of our catchment area -- a town of 3,500."
Hibernian beat Falkirk 5-1 with goals from Derek Riordan, Garry O'Connor, Ivan Sproule, Gary Caldwell and Steven Fletcher.
Hearts beat Partick Thistle 2-1 with goals from Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Cesnauskis.
Dunfermline drew 1-1 with Dundee United in league action.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB