Chelsea ended Scarborough's FA Cup fairytale Saturday, but the semipro side was not disgraced in its 1-0 loss to a club ranked 104 places above it.
John Terry scored the only goal of the fourth-round game in the 10th minute from a close-range header. Mario Melchiot had headed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's cross back across the box for Terry to head into goal.
PHOTO: AP
Defending champion Arsenal remains on track to become the first club in 118 years to win the FA Cup three straight times after beating Middlesbrough 4-1 at Highbury, while Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-1 with two goals from Bruno Cheyrou.
Two goals from Fredrik Ljungberg, and one each from Dennis Bergkamp and youngster David Bentley gave the Gunners the win. Joseph-Desire Job scored for Boro, who had George Boateng sent off in the 86th minute for a second yellow card.
"It was above normal quality today because we had outstanding movement in the game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "I'm pleased it was a team performance and the young players came on and did well."
It was the third time this month the two had played -- Arsenal beat Boro 4-1 in the league on Jan. 10, then lost 1-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal midweek.
Wenger sent star striker Thierry Henry on holiday, but Arsenal coped well without him.
"We known Thierry is a very important player but today we compensated for his absence and played very well," Wenger said.
In an upset, third division Swansea rallied to beat first division Preston 2-1. Lee Trundle scored the winning goal for Swansea to maintain his record of scoring in every round of the competition. Second division Colchester drew 1-1 with first division Coventry, forcing a replay.
In first division matchups, Sunderland beat Ipswich 2-1 and Burnley beat Gillingham 3-1. Tranmere Rovers beat Luton 1-0 in an all-division two game.
Premier League sides Birmingham and Portsmouth also won. Birmingham beat first division Wimbledon 1-0 and Pompey beat third division Scunthorpe 2-1.
Semipro side Telford had its match against first division Millwall postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.
On a sunny day at the McCain Stadium in northern England, Chelsea had numerous attempts to increase its lead but was foiled by poor finishing and a strong performance by Scarborough goalkeeper Leigh Walker.
"We had our chances but at the end of the day they had lot of pressure and made it difficult for us," Terry said. "They did well but we came here to do a job."
Frank Lampard, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jesper Gronkjaer had first half chances before Scarborough goalkeeper Leigh Walker had a strong save in the 58th minute from a William Gallas header. Chelsea missed two chances soon after, with Gudjohnsen's strike parried by Walker and Lampard's rebound going over the bar.
"They had an enormous number of chances but we stuck in there and possibly had our chances," Scarborough manager Russell Slade said. "We gave our fans something to shout about."
Colin Cryan had the best chance for FA Cup glory for Scarborough with ten minutes left. Cryer had a clear shot at goal, but his header was safely caught by Chelsea goalkeeper Claudio Cudicini.
Scarborough fans were angry at not being awarded a penalty in the final stages, when Gallas appeared to handle the ball in the box.
"For me it was an obvious penalty," Slade said. "I'm slightly biased but it was clear to me. He looked like he handled but it wasn't to be."
At Anfield, the score was 1-1 within five minutes.
Bruno Cheyrou scored after two minutes with a long-range angled shot. Cheyrou collected the ball after Emile Heskey's shot rebounded off Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given to score.
Two minutes later Newcastle equalized, with Laurent Robert scoring from a 30m free kick that curved past Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
Cheyrou scored his second in the 61st minute, running into the box to jump and head down a Steven Gerrard cross.
scottish premier league
Celtic won 3-1 at Aberdeen Saturday in the Scottish Premier League, off goals from Henrik Larsson, Stilian Petrov and Stephen Pearson.
It was Larsson's first goal in nearly a month.
"It is amazing how, regardless of how good a player you are, if you're a striker and you go a few games without scoring, how that can affect your confidence," Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said.
The win was Celtic's 20th consecutive league victory. Celtic leads the standings with 61 points, 11 ahead of Rangers, which beat Livingston 1-0.
Rangers won with a goal from Christian Nerlinger, who started for the first time since November.
Hearts stayed in third place with 36 points after a 2-0 win over bottom side Partick Thistle. Dennis Wyness scored his first goals since August.
Partick, which only has nine points, had midfielder Jamie Mitchell sent off in the 59th minute for a second yellow card.
Dunfermline is in fifth, two points behind Hearts, after its 1-0 win over Motherwell. Derek Young scored the only goal with a 73rd minute overhead kick.
Two goals in the 48th minute gave Hibernian a 2-0 win at Kilmarnock. Scott Brown and Garry O'Connor scored to help Hibs into sixth place.
spanish league
Brazilian ace Ronaldo netted his league-leading 16th goal of the season Saturday as Real Madrid downed Villarreal 2-1 and moved into first place in the Spanish league.
Argentine midfielder Santiago Solari scored the defending champion's other goal in a victory which maintains its 100 percent league record at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Villarreal defender Sergio Ballesteros reduced the deficit in the 87th minute.
Madrid, which has 46 points from 21 matches, can be overtaken if Valencia beats Osasuna on Sunday. Valencia has 44 points, four more than Deportivo de La Coruna, which visits Athletic de Bilbao.
"Real Madrid is playing as a team: we're compact, we control games at the Bernabeu, we battle hard and make our opponents feel it's difficult to get points here," Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz said.
In another game, fourth-place Atletico de Madrid drew 1-1 on its visit to struggling Albacete. Atletico has 35 points.
italian league
Late goals by Tore Andre Flo and Fernando Menegazzo rallied Serie A newcomer Siena to a dramatic 2-1 victory over 10-man Perugia on Saturday in Italy's top league.
In a night match at Genoa Marassi stadium, Sampdoria defeated Reggina 2-0 on a pair of goals by high-scoring forward Fabio Bazzani.
At Siena, Norwegian striker Flo evened the score in the 87th minute after newly signed Fabrizio Ravanelli had given Perugia an early lead. Brazilian second-half substitute Menegazzo kicked in the game-winner in injury time (92nd) at the Artemio Franchi stadium.
The loss spoiled Ravanelli's dream debut with his hometown team. The former star of Juventus, Marseille and Dundee had put Perugia in front with a left-footed spectacular free kick after five minutes, which sent the ball hit the post and bounce into the net.
dutch league
Strikers Collins John and Blaise N'Kufo scored a goal each Saturday as FC Twente continued its impressive run in the Dutch premiership, beating Willem II Tilburg 3-2.
Twente is in fifth place, level with Feyenoord on 28 points. SC Heerenveen, which edged Vitesse Arnhem 1-0 on Richard Knopper's fifth-minute winner, trails by one point.
Leader Ajax, with 40 points, hosts NEC Nijmegen on Sunday while PSV Eindhoven, three points adrift in second, travels to FC Groningen.
Third-place AZ Alkmaar went down 1-0 Friday to lowly ADO The Hague thanks to Jan Kromkamp's unfortunate own-goal.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He