You're in the Sports - Sports Wire - International Soccer section

Chelsea rallies for 2-2 tie at Manchester United

The Associated Press

Sunday, Mar. 10, 2013 | 04:30 PM

tool name

close
tool goes here
0 comments

LONDON -- Eden Hazard and Ramires scored second-half goals as defending Chelsea rallied for a 2-2 tie at Manchester United and forced a replay to determine which team will play Manchester City in the semifinals.

Coming off Champions League elimination against Real Madrid on Tuesday, Manchester United built a 2-0 lead on goals by Javier Hernandez in the fifth minute and Wayne Rooney in the 11th. Hazard began the comeback when he scored in the 59th minute, and Ramires tied it nine minutes later.

"The emotions and the intensity of Tuesday night took their toll on some of the players," United manager Alex Ferguson said.

Chelsea was coming off a 1-0 loss Thursday at Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their third-round matchup in the Europa League.

Millwall was held to a 0-0 tie by visiting Blackburn in an all-second tier matchup, and they will have a replay to decide who faces Wigan. The semifinals are April 13 and 14.

In the Premier League, third-place Tottenham (16-7-6) wasted a second-half lead in a 3-2 loss at Liverpool, wasting a chance to extend its two-point lead over Chelsea (15-6-7). Newcastle moved nine points above the relegation zone with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at home over Stoke.

At Anfield, Luis Suarez put Liverpool ahead in the 21st with his 50th goal for the club, but Jan Vertonghen scored in the 45th and 53rd minutes, set up both times by Gareth Bale.

Stewart Downing tied the score in the 66th and Steven Gerrard converted a penalty kick in the 82nd after Benoit Assou-Ekotto fouled Suarez. Liverpool (12-8-9) moved into sixth place with its third straight win.

At St. James' Park, Papiss Cisse scored in second-half stoppage time for Newcastle. Stoke went ahead on Jonathan Walters' penalty kick in the 67th, but Yohan Cabaye tied the score five minutes later.

---

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo.

Ronaldo scored from a loose ball in the 61st minute. After Iago Aspas tied the score against the run of play two minutes later, Ronaldo converted a penalty kick in the 72nd following a foul on Kaka.

Ronaldo has 26 league goals this season, second only to Lionel Messi's 40 for Barcelona.

Defending champion Real Madrid (17-5-4) is 13 points back of Barcelona (23-2-2) and moved into second place as Atletico Madrid (18-5-3) lost 1-0 at home to Real Sociedad. Xabi Prieto scored in the 53rd minute.

---

ROME (AP) - Juventus opened a nine-point lead in the Italian league with 10 games left, beating visiting Catania 1-0 while second-place Napoli lost 2-0 at Chievo Verona.

Emanuele Giaccherini scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time for Juventus following a cross from Paul Pogba, the 19-year-old French forward let go by Manchester United after last season.

In Verona, Chievo got goals from Boukary Drame in the 12th minute and Cyril Thereau in the 43rd. A penalty kick by Napoli's Edinson Cavani was saved by goalkeeper Christian Puggioni in the 13th.

Juventus (19-4-5) has 62 points to 53 for Napoli (15-5-8), which is two points ahead of third-place AC Milan (15-7-6).

Fiorentina (14-8-6) moved into fourth place, two points behind Milan, with a 2-0 win at Lazio on goals by Stevan Jovetic in the 20th and Adem Ljajic in the 49th. At the start of the match, Lazio supporters targeted UEFA President Michel Platini with an offensive banner after the team was ordered to play its next two European home matches in an empty stadium due to persistent fan racism. UEFA is scheduled to hear Lazio's appeal Monday.


Similar stories:

  • Chelsea rallies for 2-2 tie at Manchester United

  • Barcelona earn maximum points in AP soccer poll

  • Ronaldo's goals send him to top of AP rankings

  • Messi scores in 18th straight league game

  • Messi leads Barca over Milan 4-0 and into QF

The Bee's story-comment system is provided by Disqus. To read more about it, see our Disqus FAQ page. If you post comments, please be respectful of other readers. Your comments may be removed and you may be blocked from commenting if you violate our terms of service. Comments flagged by the system as potentially abusive will not appear until approved by a moderator.

more videos »
Visit our video index