Monday, February 23, 2009
WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) -- Papiss Demba Cisse scored twice as Newcastle won 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday to maintain its push for a top-four finish in the Premier League and a Champions League berth.
Cisse scored in the sixth and 34th minutes around Hatem Ben Arfa's goal on a solo effort in the 12th. Substitute Shane Long scored for the hosts in the 52nd after a defensive mixup.
Cisse has five goals in six league games since joining Newcastle in January from Germany's Freiburg.
Newcastle (14-8-8) trails fifth-place Chelsea (14-8-8) on goal difference, five points behind fourth-place Tottenham (16-7-7), which is in the last Champions League spot but is winless in five matches.
Rangers get 3-2
victory over Celtic
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Rangers prevented Celtic from clinching the Scottish Premier League title, beating its rival 3-2 in a typically heated Old Firm match in which American defender Carlos Bocanegra was among three players ejected.
Three-time defending champion Rangers, who also started American midfielder Maurice Edu, built a 3-0 lead at Ibrox on goals by Sone Aluko in the 11th minute, Andy Little in the 72nd and Lee Wallace in the 77th.
Celtic defender Cha Du-Ri was sent off in the 28th for a professional foul and midfielder Victor Wanyama in the 57th for a studs-first lunge. Celtic manager Neil Lennon was dismissed for reportedly abusing match officials at halftime.
Bocanegra, the US national team captain, was sent off in the 88th minute for a foul on Georgios Samaras, which led to Scott Brown's penalty kick a minute later. Thomas Rogne got the final goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
There have been 19 ejections in the last 21 matches between the rivals.
Celtic (24-3-4) has an 18-point lead over Rangers (21-6-4), who were penalized 10 points for filing for bankruptcy protection. Celtic can clinch when it hosts St Johnstone next weekend.
Juventus defeat
Inter Milan 2-0
MILAN (AP) -- Alessandro Del Piero came off the bench and scored in the 70th minute to help second-place Juventus defeat visiting Inter Milan 2-0 and pull within four points of Serie A leader AC Milan.
Martin Caceres scored on a header in the 57th minute for Juventus (15-0-14), a day after AC Milan (19-4-6) defeated Lazio. Each team has nine games left.
American midfielder Michael Bradley was a part of both goals as Chievo Verona tied visiting Siena 1-1.
Francesco Acerbi put Chievo ahead in the ninth minute following Bradley's corner kick. Bradley's header to his own goalkeeper was picked up by Siena's Mattia Destro, who scored in the 51st minute.
Lazio (15-8-6) moved into third place, defeating visiting Cagliari 1-0 when Modibo Diakite headed in Cristian Ledesma's free kick in the 88th minute.
Napoli (12-5-12) is three points back and even with Udinese (13-7-9) after wasting a two-goal lead and being held to a 2-2 tie by visiting Catania.
After goals by Blerim Dzemaili in the 61st and Edinson Cavani in the 67th built a lead for Napoli, Nicolas Spolli scored in the 75th and Davide Lanzafame tied it in the 80th, two minutes after entering.
Malaga moves into fourth
MADRID (AP) -- Malaga moved into fourth place by rallying for a 2-1 win at Espanyol.
After Philippe Coutinho's 24th-minute goal put the hosts ahead, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 76th and Martin Demichelis in the 78th as the Andalucians won for the fifth time in six games.
Malaga (14-10-5) is even with third-place Valencia (13-7-8) at 47 points.
Paris Saint-Germain
in 1-1 draw
PARIS (AP) -- Paris Saint-Germain was held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Bordeaux, ending week that saw it fall into second place in the French league behind Montpellier and get knocked out of the French Cup in the quarterfinals.
Cheick Diabate gave Bordeaux the lead in the 77th minute, but Guillaume Hoarau tied it four minutes later after controlling a backheel from Mathieu Bodmer.
Montpellier (18-5-6) leads PSG (17-3-9) on goal difference with nine games remaining.
Toulouse climbed above Lyon into fourth, beating last-place Auxerre 1-0 on Franck Tabanou's 38th-minute goal. Toulouse is 5-0-1 in its past six league games, conceding only one goal.
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