La Liga: Barcelona humble Sevilla

Andres Iniesta scored a sublime goal and had a hand in three more to inspire Barcelona to a 4-0 humbling of third-placed Sevilla in the Primera Liga on Wednesday.

Champions Real Madrid had upped the pressure with a comeback win over Getafe which halved Barca's advantage to three points but Pep Guardiola's side responded in style to move on to 81 with six matches left.

Sevilla's third straight defeat left them on 57, two ahead of fourth-placed Valencia who won 2-1 at Real Betis thanks to a clinical double from striker David Villa.

Guardiola left Argentine forward Lionel Messi out of his starting line-up at the Nou Camp and gave midfielder Iniesta room to roam in front of Xavi, Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita.

He responded by putting Barca in front after three minutes when he surged through the middle and curled a superb shot into the top corner past goalkeeper Javi Varas, standing in for the suspended Andres Palop.

Iniesta then exchanged passes with his Spain international colleague Xavi and squared the ball for Primera Liga top scorer Eto'o to drive in his 27th goal of the season off Varas on 17 minutes.

Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez brought striker Frederic Kanoute on after the break but the match was effectively over when Iniesta created space on the edge of the area for Xavi to stroke the ball high into the net on 49 minutes.

He capped a fabulous individual display five minutes later when he threaded a pass through for Thierry Henry to slide in Barca's fourth and was given a standing ovation when Aleksandr Hleb replaced him on the hour.

Another dominant home performance by Barca put them a step closer to a first league title in three years and gave them a boost before their Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea on Tuesday.

EPL: Arshavin hits four

Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal

Four goals from Andrey Arshavin put a huge dent in Liverpool's Barclays Premier League title hopes as Arsenal drew 4-4 at Anfield.
The hosts went ahead of Manchester United on goal difference having come from behind three times, starting with Arshavin's first in the 36th minute.

Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun scored soon after the interval but three further goals from the Russian Gunner piled the pressure back on Rafael Benitez's side and even a second from Torres and an injury-time equaliser from Benayoun were not enough to force victory.

The result hands a huge advantage to United, who have two matches in hand with the first tomorrow at home to Portsmouth.

Liverpool were architects of their own downfall as the first three Arsenal goals came from mistakes.

It was almost a carbon copy of their Champions League exit against Chelsea a week ago when a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge saw them miss out on the semi-finals.

It was also not the first time Arsenal had done serious damage to a Liverpool title challenge, it being 20 years since Michael Thomas scored on this ground with the last kick of the season to deny the Reds the championship.

Torres and Albert Riera should have done better with their early efforts to test the fragile confidence of Lucasz Fabianski but both fired straight at the goalkeeper.

Javier Mascherano fired wide after 15 minutes as Arsenal were content to soak up what Liverpool had to offer and swiftly counter-attack when the chance arose.

Those occasions were few and far between and Fabianski, who had looked shaky on a couple of occasions, had to be at his best to tip over Torres' shot from the right angle of the penalty area.

Referee Howard Webb waved away Liverpool appeals in the 26th minute when Mikael Silvestre appeared to catch Dirk Kuyt on the edge of the area.

Arsenal's first chance came when they broke quickly from a Liverpool corner and Cesc Fabregas volleyed wide after Daniel Agger, making his 50th league appearance, had got in Jose Reina's way as he tried to punch clear.

A smart turn by Torres on Kolo Toure saw the Spain striker fire in a 25-yard shot which Fabianski could only parry but Silvestre cleared the danger.

Samir Nasri then had to clear off the line at the far post after Agger flicked on Xabi Alonso's right-wing corner before the Gunners hit their hosts with a sucker punch in the 36th minute.

Mascherano lost the ball on the edge of the penalty area and Fabregas exchanged passes with Nasri before crossing for Arshavin to fire home off the underside of the crossbar.

Benayoun immediately brought a diving save from Fabianski and then headed over as Liverpool piled on the pressure leading up to the interval without reward.

Liverpool realistically had 45 minutes to keep their season alive and that realisation brought the equaliser within four minutes of the restart.

Alvaro Arbeloa's cross was poorly dealt with by Bacary Sagna and Kuyt collected the ball, got to the byline and crossed for Torres to head low into the left corner of Fabianski's goal.

Seven minutes later they were ahead. Fabianski and Kieren Gibbs both messed up their clearances and Kuyt crossed to the far post where Benayoun headed in.

The goalkeeper claimed to have clawed the ball out but it was clearly over the line.

In the 65th minute Arsene Wenger brought on Theo Walcott for Denilson to try to get back in the game but it was another mistake which brought their equaliser.

Arbeloa could not control Jamie Carragher's downward defensive header and Arshavin nipped in to fire past Reina's outstretched left hand.

Incredibly for a team which had conceded just eight goals in 16 home league matches a third error handed Arsenal the lead again.

Fabio Aurelio played a left-wing cross straight to Arshavin 10 yards out and he drilled a shot under Reina for his hat-trick in the 70th minute.

Amazingly Liverpool were level again two minutes later when Torres controlled Riera's cross, turned Silvestre and fired past Fabianski.

Torres had a header cleared off the line by Gibbs from Alonso's corner with nine minutes to go and Carragher fired over from Aurelio's cross as Liverpool desperately pushed for the winner.

And that cost them as Walcott broke from a corner and played in Arshavin to score his fourth in injury time.

Benayoun bundled home an equaliser even later on but it was too late to force a victory.

Toure: Young Gunners will learn from loss

ARSENAL 1-2 CHELSEA
FA Cup Semi Final

Kolo Toure believes Arsenal's youngsters can only get stronger from the experiences of their Wembley FA Cup semi-final heartbreak against Chelsea.


The Gunners - forced to field a makeshift defence - came off second best against a determined Blues side, driven on by England midfielder Frank Lampard who turned in a man-of-the-match display.

It had, though, been a positive start from Arsene Wenger's side, who took the lead through Theo Walcott's strike on 18 minutes.

However, that was as good as it got for Arsenal, with Florent Malouda equalising before half-time and then, just six minutes from time, Didier Drogba sealing a return to Wembley for Chelsea on May 30 as he capitalised on a rush of blood from Poland keeper Lukasz Fabianski, who endured a 24th birthday to forget.

Toure, however, believes such trials can serve to galvanise players for the challenges ahead.

"You can only learn from these types of games, because they are so intense," said the 28-year-old centre-back.

"When you make some mistakes, they can cost you, which is what happened against Chelsea.

"We will just have to try not to do that again."

Toure is the last remaining regular from Wenger's Invincibles side which went undefeated for the entire 2003/2004 campaign.

The Ivory Coast defender, though, feels the latest generation of promising talent can go on to fulfil their undoubted potential.

"This can be just the start for this team, because there are some really good players coming through," said Toure.

"The season started really badly, but we have come back very well.

"We hope to keep going now and improve the way we are playing."

Arsenal still have plenty to focus on during the closing weeks of the campaign.

Wenger takes his men to Anfield on Tuesday looking to extend their unbeaten Premier League run from 18 matches with a victory which would both dent Liverpool's title hopes and cement Arsenal's place in the top four.

Toure believes having such an important match so quickly in what is a hectic month ahead will help quickly consign their Wembley defeat to history.

"The good thing is that we only have a couple of days to get this loss off our back," he said.

"We will head to Liverpool on Tuesday and look to get the three points.

"Our target is now the league and Europe. We will stay focused for that.

"We just have to put all this to the back now and focus on the next game."

Arsenal will hope full-back Bacary Sagna can have shaken off the virus which ruled him out of the last two matches to be fit to travel to Liverpool.

However, leading scorer Robin van Persie, replaced in the second half at Wembley, will be assessed after appearing to aggravate his groin problem.

Clip of the Day: Awesome Guitar Drifting by Andy Mc Kee

Here's among the creative guitar piece I ever heard!

Wait till I get my Mark & Luther!

Champion's League: Excellent Arsenal set up all-English semi

Arsenal 3 - 0 Villarreal

2ND LEG: 4 - 1 (Agg)

Arsenal have been portrayed as a club in crisis this season but they are now in the Champions League semi-final after sweeping past Villarreal 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie were on the scoresheet as Arsene Wenger's youngsters defied their injury worries in defence to wrap up the tie 4-1 on aggregate within an hour.

The Spaniards had Sebastian Eguren dismissed, and the hosts were then able to conserve energy for their FA Cup clash against Chelsea at the weekend.

If they win at Wembley there will be genuine hope of getting something out a season where many predicted them to slip out of the traditional top four in England.

Wenger himself admits he has been amazed by how his young players have gone 18 Barclays Premier League games without defeat - and this performance will have impressed him too.

But nothing has been easy at Arsenal this season. Earlier in the campaign William Gallas was stripped of the captaincy, now Wenger is desperately short on numbers in at the back.

Ahead of this clash, Bacary Sagna was taken ill, meaning an entire back four was missing as Arsenal protected their slender away-goals advantage.

Kolo Toure held together a defence that contained Emmanuel Eboue at right-back, Kieran Gibbs at left-back and inexperienced Lucasz Fabianski in goal.

Villarreal had problems of their own, with Marcos Senna, the cornerstone of their midfield, out injured.

They did have Robert Pires stationed on the left flank, meaning it was Arsenal's past versus the club's future, as Walcott was raiding down the right.

It was a fascinating clash, with Walcott almost putting the ball out of play early on when Pires picked up a knock, only to carry on with the ball to set up an attack.

The 20-year-old showed his ruthless side again when he netted the opener in the 10th minute.

Eboue slipped the ball forward from the right, Cesc Fabregas' flick allowed Walcott to run through on goal, with the England winger chipping home high over goalkeeper Diego Lopez.

It was reward for Arsenal's bright start after Van Persie went close with a header that cleared the crossbar and a long-range effort that Lopez gathered at the second attempt.

The hosts were inches from adding a second goal after Van Persie's powerful free-kick was saved by Lopez. Adebayor's follow-up header got deflected on target but Gonzalo Rodriguez hacked off the line.

All eyes were on the assistant referee but it would have been the tightest of calls if he had flagged for a goal.

The equation for Villarreal shifted only slightly - they still needed a goal.

Diego Godin had given Wenger's side an early scare when he got on the end of Giuseppe Rossi's free-kick and forced Fabianski into a save with his scissor-kick.

The visitors then caused some nervous moments in Arsenal's defence before the break, with Rossi getting sight of goal at the near post before the hosts scrambled clear.

Pires also had a shot blocked from the edge of the area, while Godin headed over from a corner in first-half stoppage-time.

Manuel Pellegrini's men sensed that it was their time to apply pressure on Arsenal's makeshift defence. It meant all hands on deck for Wenger's makeshift back line.

Arsenal's best option was to counter attack. Van Persie was making runs from deep to cause Villarreal problems, with Godin picking up a booking for stopping one run.

No opponent got close enough to Van Persie on the hour mark and he sent through Adebayor, who took one touch before finishing past Lopez with the outside of his boot.

The third came from Van Persie's penalty and also saw Eguran dismissed.

Godin took Walcott's legs away in the penalty area but escaped a second booking for the offence. Eguran, who got a yellow card in the first half, got another caution for dissent and then disgracefully put his hands on the referee while protesting more. Van Persie kept his nerve and fired in the spot-kick.

Wenger's goalscorers were then given a breather to rest for the battles ahead.