Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a pair of goals as Manchester United defeated crosstown rival Manchester City 4-2 with a man short to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup Saturday.
United was cruising at 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to Paul Scholes' 34th minute goal when defender Gary Neville was sent off in the 39th minute for violent conduct.
The England defender became angry at being booked for diving in a tackle by City's Michael Tarnat. A frustrated Neville then shoved Tarnat, before pushing City's Steve McManaman, whom he also headbutted.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Referee Jeff Winter pulled Neville away as other players and officials gathered around. He showed Neville a red card for violent conduct -- only the second in his United career.
"You can't do something like that," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said. "He deserved to be sent off. It was uncharacteristic, and he has let himself down."
Despite the man disadvantage, Van Nistelrooy scored United's second in the 71st minute, an untidy prod into the net at the far post from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross. The Dutchman took his shirt off and whirled it like a windmill in delight.
PHOTO: EPA
Ronaldo added the third three minutes later. City goalkeeper Arni Arason pushed a Ryan Giggs attempt away, but Ronaldo chipped the rebound into the net. The Portuguese international also had the ball in the back of the net in first half injury time, but was ruled offside.
City pulled a goal back through Tarnat in the 77th minute with a powerful strike over the reaching arms of United's American goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Van Nistelrooy scored his second of the match in the 80th minute. Roy Keane headed the ball down across goal where Van Nistelrooy trapped it between his ankles on the goalline, then kicked it into the net.
Robbie Fowler added City's second in the 85th minute with a quickly taken free-kick that caught Howard unawares.
"I thought in the first half we were outstanding. We could have been three or four up," Ferguson said.
"The sending-off changed the nature of the game. They had a man extra, but our counterattacking play in the second half was fantastic -- we could have scored five. It was a performance of great character, and I am really pleased."
City was left to rue its missed attempts on manager Kevin Keegan's 53rd birthday.
City's American midfielder Claudio Reyna nearly scored past his international teammate late in the first half, but Howard parried the ball.
Howard pulled off an impressive save in the 58th minute to deny a close-range Joey Barton strike, lunging to push the ball up and over the bar with his right arm.
McManaman also missed a good chance, when he scuffed a clear attempt at goal into the arms of Howard.
Scottish Premier League
Celtic edged closer to regaining the Scottish Premier League title on Saturday, notching up a come-from-behind win against Dundee United after Rangers stumbled.
Celtic's 2-1 win equals a 40-year British record for the most number of consecutive wins. Shaun Maloney and Chris Sutton ensured Celtic extended its winning league run to 23 games to match Scottish club Morton's achievement in 1963-1964.
The win also virtually ended Rangers' title hopes as Celtic extended its lead to 13 points.
Only a late Frank de Boer header gave Rangers a point at Pittodrie Stadium. Aberdeen led after two minutes when the ball hit Alexander Diamond between the legs before bouncing over the line.
Noel Hunt scored to give Dunfermline a 1-0 win at Dundee, while Kilmarnock took a big step away from relegation with a rallying 2-1 win over bottom side Partick Thistle.
Livingston beat Motherwell 3-1 with first half goals from Jamie McAllister, Derek Lilley and David Fernandez. Motherwell's Derek Adams scored a late consolation, following up his saved penalty by Livi keeper Roddy McKenzie to net the rebound.
Spanish league
Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci scored the equalizer Saturday as Basque archrivals Real Sociedad and Athletic de Bilbao drew 1-1 in the Spanish league.
Midfielder Fran Yeste gave Bilbao the lead, but the draw wasn't enough to lift it out of fifth place in the standings with 37 points. Sociedad, on 31 points, remains six places below.
In Saturday's other game, Brazilian midfielder Julio Baptista scored a hat trick as Sevilla beat last-place Murcia 3-1.
Yeste struck in the 15th minute with a deft shot after Sociedad had hit the woodwork twice. The goal was the player's fourth in as many matches.
Bilbao's lead lasted 25 minutes, when Nihat equalized from a pass by Russian international Valery Karpin following a swift attack.
Bilbao was reduced to 10 men when midfielder Carlos Gurpegi was ejected for a second yellow card in the 53rd minute. Gurpegi has been playing since December, when his two-year suspension for doping was lifted by a Spanish court.
Bundesliga
Danish forward Peter Madsen's goal lifted Bochum over Bayern Munich 1-0 Saturday, possibly killing the defending champion's Bundesliga title hopes.
Werder Bremen can now move a whopping nine points clear if it beats FC Kaiserslautern at home on Sunday, and even some Bayern players believe it would be too much to catch.
"Werder will win against Kaiserslautern -- if we lose, we will be nine points back and we can write off our title hopes," Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said before the match.
The Bundesliga's four-team race has all but turned into a solo run since no top team except Bremen seems able to win. Only once in Bundesliga history has a side led by nine points at this stage and failed to lift the trophy.
Italian league
Fernando Couto, Luciano Zauri and Jaap Stam scored as Lazio defeated Empoli 3-0 Saturday and improved its fourth-place standing in Serie A.
Still 12 points behind league-leader AC Milan, a fourth-place finish would guarantee financially struggling Lazio a chance to play in next season's prestigious -- and lucrative -- Champions League.
Also Saturday, mid-table Chievo beat winless Perugia 2-0 on scores by Andrea Barzagli in the 67th minute and Federico Cossato in the sixth minute of second-half injury time.
Dutch league
Mateja Kezman scored the match-winning goal with just 20 seconds remaining in injury time Saturday as an inadequate PSV Eindhoven beat FC Twente Enschede 1-0 in the Dutch league.
The win puts PSV into a tie with Ajax at the top of the standings with 49 points each, but Ajax has two games in hand.
The match went four minutes into injury time when PSV defender Erik Addo whacked an aimless ball forward. Kezman untangled himself from a Twente defender and lobbed the ball over advancing goalkeeper Cees Paauwe.
After a sluggish first 20 minutes, Twente's Simon Cziommer suddenly popped up in front of Ronald Waterreus but shot so timidly that the PSV 'keeper's diving save looked like a slow motion replay.
Willem II Tilburg stayed in fifth place after drawing 1-1 with SC Heerenveen and NAC Breda was held scoreless by Roda JC Kerkrade. RBC Roosendaal deepened Vitesse's relegation worries with a 2-1 win in Arnhem.
French league
Paris Saint-Germain jumped to second place in France's First Division with a 1-0 victory Saturday against Toulouse, while league leader Monaco faltered 1-0 at home to Lille.
Danijel Ljuboja's goal in the 30th minute brought the Parisians to within five points of Monaco. PSG has 46 points to Monaco's 51 after 24 games.
Lille striker Matt Moussilou's 79th minute goal did the damage to Monaco, which paid the price for a mistake by goalkeeper Flavio Roma. The home loss was Monaco's first of the season.
On Sunday evening, third-placed Auxerre and defending champion Lyon, placed fourth, will duel to take PSG's second spot in the standings. Both teams have 44 points, seven points behind Monaco.
Fifth-placed Sochaux and eight-placed Bordeaux drew 1-1.
Pablo Francia opened the scoring in the 85th minute, but Sochaux salvaged the tie with Wilson Oruma's powerful injury-time free kick in the 90th minute.
Sixth-placed Marseille's woes continued with a 0-0 draw against lowly Le Mans, second from bottom. Ajaccio, fifth from bottom, were held to a goaless draw at home to Strasbourg.
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