Arsenal advances in FA Cup

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updated 2:08 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2012

LONDON - Arsenal kept its bid to end a seven-year trophy drought on track Sunday, scoring three times in eight second-half minutes to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and reach the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Villa led 2-0 at halftime on goals by Richard Dunne and Darren Bent, prompting near silence from Arsenal fans still waiting for a trophy to follow the 2005 FA Cup.

The home side got back in the game with Robin van Persie's 54th-minute penalty, tied it on Theo Walcott's lucky rebound and took the lead in the 61st on a second spot kick from Van Persie.

Middlesbrough and Sunderland will replay on Feb. 7 for the right to face Arsenal after drawing their fourth-round match 1-1.

Having avoided a fourth straight defeat, the Gunners are now just three games away from a Wembley final.

"We tried to keep focused and calm," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It is an opportunity but you could see today how hard the games are."

Arsenal great Thierry Henry missed a late chance after coming on in the 89th for the third appearance of his loan from the New York Red Bulls of MLS, but home fans could still cheer the result.

Robbie Keane, on-loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, provided the cross that led to Dunne's 33rd-minute opener.

Second-tier Middlesbrough led against its local rival when Barry Robson capitalized on some weak defending to smash a 16th-minute volley across goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and in at the far post.

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill introduced striker Fraizer Campbell at halftime for his first appearance since August 2010, and the former Manchester United trainee stroked in a low shot 14 minutes later following a mistake by Robson.

Campbell had not played for the first team for 500 days because of knee injuries.

Crawley Town, the lowest-ranked side left in this season's FA Cup, was handed a meeting with Premier League club Stoke in Sunday's fifth-round draw.

Liverpool will meet Brighton, Chelsea will host Birmingham, Norwich will host Leicester, Everton will play Blackpool or Sheffield Wednesday, and Bolton will go to the winner of the replay between Millwall and Southampton. Tottenham is at Stevenage.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? David Zurutuza lasted only five minutes, but it was long enough to score a double in Real Sociedad's 5-1 rout of visiting Sporting Gijon in the Spanish league.

The 25-year-old midfielder volleyed Antoine Griezmann's cross into the left corner for Sociedad's second-minute opener, and a minute later he scored with another shot from the right side of the area after Carlos Vela had played him clear.

But Zurutuza's dream start took an ugly turn in the fifth minute when he and Sporting defender Gregory Arnolin collided face-to-face while disputing a loose ball.

Granada coach Abel Resino got off to a winning start as his team moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Real Betis, while Getafe dealt Levante its second home loss of the season with a 2-1 win.

Later, Racing Santander hosts third-place Valencia while Sevilla is at Malaga. Atletico Madrid visits Osasuna on Monday.

On Saturday, Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the top of table with a 3-1 win over last-place Zaragoza and Barcelona's 0-0 draw at Villarreal.

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ROME (AP) ? Inter Milan's seven-match winning streak in the Italian league was broken with a 1-0 loss at Lecce, which allowed Lazio to jump ahead of the Nerazzurri into fourth place.

Uruguayan midfielder Guillermo Giacomazzi scored in the 40th minute for Lecce and Inter had two goals called back for offside.

Inter was one win away from matching the club-record winning streak.

Massimo Oddo provided the pass for Giacomazzi, who used his chest to control the ball and slotted a low shot past goalkeeper Julio Cesar as defenders Lucio and Walter Samuel failed to intervene.

"We came up against a goalkeeper in great form, while we continually grew more nervous," Inter coach Claudio Ranieri said.

It was Lecce's first home win of the season and only its fourth overall.

Lazio won 3-0 at Chievo Verona with a first-half goal from Brazilian playmaker Hernanes and two strikes in the final minutes from veteran Germany striker Miroslav Klose.

Juventus, which edged Udinese 2-1 Saturday, leads Serie A with 44 points. AC Milan, which was hosting Cagliari later, is next with 40, followed by Udinese (38), Lazio (36) and Inter (35).

Elsewhere, Roma drew 1-1 at home with Bologna to stay sixth. Roma's 21-year-old midfielder Miralem Pjanic equalized with a splendid free kick in the 62nd minute after Bologna captain Marco Di Vaio had scored six minutes earlier.

Also, Genoa beat Napoli 3-2 with two goals from Rodrigo Palacio and one from newly signed Alberto Gilardino to get some revenge for a 6-1 loss to Napoli last month that cost Alberto Malesani his job.

In Sicily, Palermo beat last-place Novara 2-0, with Fabrizio Miccoli setting up two headers from Igor Budan; and Atalanta hung on with 10 men for a 1-0 win at Cesena following an own goal from Marco Rossi.

Fiorentina moved into the top half of the table with a 2-1 win over Siena in a Tuscan derby.

Stevan Jovetic put Fiorentina in front with a low shot four minutes in and Cesare Natali doubled the lead with a header in the 63rd before Emanuele Calaio pulled one back for Siena with a penalty in the 88th.

Making his debut after transferring from Juventus, Brazilian-born Italy forward Amauri had several chances for Fiorentina but couldn't find the target in his first action since the end of last season.

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PARIS (AP) ? Ten-man Ajaccio moved out of the French league's relegation zone by defeating Valenciennes 2-1, its fourth straight victory.

The visitors were down to 10 men in the 73rd when midfielder Paul Lasne was sent off for a second yellow card, but substitute Christian Kinkela scored the winner in stoppage time by curling a shot into the top corner.

Also Sunday, Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso fouled Yannick Sagbo but saved the subsequent penalty to salvage a 0-0 draw against Evian.

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AMSTERDAM (AP) ? Luuk de Jong scored three goals as FC Twente beat FC Groningen 4-1 and moved into second place in the Dutch league.

De Jong headed Twente into the lead in the 14th, converted another cross from Ola John in the 23rd and completed his hat trick in the 58th with another header ? again set up by John.

De Jong then provided the cross headed in by midfielder Leroy Fer in the 66th.

Twente has 39 points, two behind new leader PSV Eindhoven, which beat Vitesse Arnhem 3-1 Friday. AZ Alkmaar lost 2-0 at Roda JC to drop to third.

John Guidetti also got a hat trick to guide Feyenoord to a 4-2 win over Ajax.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Celtic reached the final of Scotland's League Cup for the 29th time with a 3-1 win over Falkirk.

The teams were tied 1-1 until the 56th minute after 17-year-old Falkirk midfielder Jay Fulton equalized Celtic captain Scott Brown's penalty.

Striker Anthony Stokes put Celtic back in front with a 25-yard free kick and tapped Gary Hooper's pass in the 86th to settle the match.

Celtic will meet Kilmarnock in the final at Hampden Park on March 18. Celtic's 14 tournament wins is second only to Rangers' 27.

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BERLIN (AP) ? Mainz scored three goals in the first 17 minutes to beat 10-man Freiburg 3-1 and climb to 12th in the Bundesliga.

Stuttgart was scheduled to host Borussia Moenchengladbach later Sunday, with the visitors hoping to stay within a point of the top three.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Arsenal advances in FA Cup

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46182135/ns/sports-soccer/

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