Phuket Sports: European football roundup
PHUKET: Chelsea came from two goals down at Manchester United to draw 2-2 in a thrilling FA Cup quarterfinal last Sunday that capped a bad week for the Premier League leaders who were knocked out of the Champions League on March 5 by Real Madrid.
Manchester United and Chelsea drew 2-2 on Sunday as the quarter-finals of the FA Cup took the spotlight and there was a thrilling Premier League match at Anfield where Liverpool came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2.
United raced into an early 2-0 lead before holders Chelsea fought back to draw at Old Trafford and force a replay.
The winners of the replay will face Manchester City in one semi-final at Wembley after the Premier League champions beat Barnsley 5-0 the day before.
Wigan Athletic beat Everton 3-0 in their quarter-final to reach the semis for the first time where they will face either Millwall or Blackburn Rovers.
Queens Park Rangers boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a 3-1 win over Sunderland, although they stay bottom of the table.
Barcelona stretched their lead at the top of La Liga to 13 points when Lionel Messi scored for a world record 17th straight league game in a 2-0 victory at bottom side Deportivo La Coruna on March 9.
Atletico Madrid lost their perfect home record when they were beaten 1-0 by Real Sociedad on March 10 and city rivals Real leapfrogged them into second after Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a 2-1 success at struggling Celta Vigo.
Barca fielded a weakened side against Deportivo and Messi came off the bench to score with a delightful late chip after Alexis Sanchez had put Barca ahead in the first half.
Barca said Messi had surpassed Polish forward Teodor Pewterek, who scored in 16 straight outings for Ruch Chorzow at the end of the 1930s.
With 11 matches left, Barca lead on 71 points, with champions Real on 58 and Atletico on 57.
Bayern Munich’s record-breaking season showed no signs of abating as they twice came from a goal down to beat promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2 and set a Bundesliga record for the best start after a winter break with eight straight league victories.
Goals from Franck Ribery in the 73rd and Jerome Boateng four minutes from time turned the game in favor of the Bavarians, who have now won all ten of their matches in all competitions this year.
Bayern are 20 points clear at the top of the table and with nine matches to play, they only need three more wins to take the title.
Champions Borussia Dortmund suffered a renewed setback in the league, slumping to a 2-1 defeat in their Ruhr valley derby against Schalke 04 to stay on 46 points, but hold on to second place after Bayer Leverkusen remained a point behind following a 1-0 defeat at Mainz 05.
— Reuters
