The Hindu : Sport / Football : Harewood nets winner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Harewood nets winner

BIRMINGHAM: Marlon Harewood fired home the winner, 12 minutes from the end, as West Ham beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at Villa Park on Sunday to reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 26 years.

In the May 13 final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, Alan Pardew's Hammers will face six-time FA Cup winner Liverpool which beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Three-time winners — in 1964, '75 and '87 — the Hammers have only lost once in the final, in 1923.

With Liverpool third in the English Premier League and certain to play in next season's Champions League, West Ham will be in the UEFA Cup just by reaching the final.

In the Spanish league, David Villa's hat-trick in the last eight minutes gave Valencia a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and kept alive its faint chances of winning the title.

With four games left, the victory lifted Valencia within eight points of leader FC Barcelona, which had its late game suspended because of a water-logged pitch.

Real third

Real Madrid won 2-1 against bottom-placed Malaga, moving up to third spot in the standings with 63 points.

Sevilla was due to host Barcelona later, but torrential rain, hail and partial flooding of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium forced referee Teixeira Vitienes to suspend the game after examining the soaked playing surface.

``The referee has evaluated the risk to the players and has acted correctly,'' said Barcelona club president Joan Laporta.

Malaga midfielder Ricardo Bovio shocked fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium when he scored in the 22nd minute.

A penalty by defender Carlos `Litos' de Oliveira on Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez was converted by Zinedine Zidane in the 67th minute.

Defender Sergio Ramos headed the winning goal for Madrid in the last minute of regular time, leaving Malaga eight points adrift at the bottom of the standings on 24 points.

The results:

FA Cup (semifinals): West Ham bt Middlesbrough 1-0.

Spanish league: Real Madrid bt Malaga 2-1; Cadiz drew with Deportivo la Coruna 1-1; Espanyol bt Real Betis 2-0; Valencia bt Athletic Bilbao 3-0; Getafe bt Racing Santander 3-1; Osasuna bt Real Mallorca 1-0. — AP

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