Associated Press Sports
updated 10:15 p.m. ET March 18, 2012
LONDON (AP) - Fernando Torres ended a 26-game goal drought as Chelsea reached the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday, and Liverpool ensured a second trip to Wembley Stadium this season on a weekend overshadowed by concern over critically ill Bolton player Fabrice Muamba.
Torres scored twice in a 5-2 win over Leicester and Chelsea will face the winner of the Tottenham-Bolton quarterfinal, abandoned on Saturday after Muamba went into cardiac arrest on the field. The Bolton midfielder remained in critical condition in intensive care.
After Gary Cahill opened the scoring for Chelsea, the defender raised his jersey to reveal a "Pray 4 Muamba" T-shirt in tribute to his former Bolton teammate.
"It was a very difficult day for him and the whole football community, all our thoughts are with Fabrice," Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said.
Liverpool, which won the League Cup last month, beat Stoke 2-1 to secure a potential semifinal derby if Everton can overcome Sunderland in a replay.
In the Premier League, Manchester United (22-3-4) won 5-0 at last-place Wolverhampton (5-17-7) to move four points head of Manchester City (21-4-3). United also cut City's goal-difference advantage to three.
At Stamford Bridge, Torres scored off Raul Meireles' pass in the 67th minute for a 3-0 lead, his first goal in 25 hours, 41 minutes of action since scoring twice against Genk in the Champions League on Oct. 19.
He added a near-post header in the 85th for his sixth goal of the season and just his seventh in 52 appearances for Chelsea, which acquired him from Liverpool in January 2011 for 50 million pounds (then $80 million). His scoreless streak included 24 matches for Chelsea and two for Spain.
Chelsea has won four straight since Roberto Di Matteo took over as interim manager after Andre Villas-Boas was fired.
Newcastle strengthened its grip on sixth place with a 1-0 victory over Norwich, with Papiss Demba Cisse scoring in the 11th minute for the hosts.
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MADRID (AP) - Santi Cazorla scored on a spectacular free kick that beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the second minute of stoppage time, giving Malaga a 1-1 tie at Real Madrid on Sunday that cut the host's Spanish league lead over second-place Barcelona to eight points.
Karim Benzema marked his first start back from a leg injury with a goal on a 35th-minute header off a cross from Cristiano Ronaldo. But Real Madrid's eight-game league winning streak ended along with Ronaldo's streak of scoring in seven straight matches overall.
With 11 games left, Real Madrid (23-2-2) has 71 points to 63 for Barcelona (19-2-6), the three-time defending league champion.
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The Greek league game between leader Olympiakos and Panathinaikos was abandoned with eight minutes to go because of escalating clashes between fans and the police.
Police announced that 57 people had been detained and a further 20 arrested, while nine police officers were injured, two of them seriously.
"We dedicated several thousand personnel to policing the game and we faced, beginning two hours before the game started, escalating attacks," police spokesman Athanassios Kokalakis said.
Olympiakos (18-2-4), four points ahead of Panathinaikos (17-3-4), was leading 1-0 on Djamel Abdoun's 51st-minute goal.
No Olympiakos fans attended the game at Olympic Stadium in accordance with a league policy not to allow visiting fans due to fears of violence.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - American defender Clarence Goodson scored the tiebreaking goal on a header in the 75th minute, giving Brondby a 2-1 win over Nordsjaelland in the Danish league.
It was the second goal of the season for Goodson, who also scored against Copenhagen on Nov. 20.
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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - Kilmarnock won the Scottish League Cup for the first time by beating Celtic 1-0 at Hampden Park, a game marred by the death of a player's father.
Substitute Dieter van Tornhout scored on a header from Lee Johnson's cross in the 84th minute, ending Celtic's unbeaten streak at 26 matches.
The father of Kilmarnock midfielder Liam Kelly suffered a suspected heart attack just after the final whistle. The Scotland under-21 national team player headed to a hospital, and police announced Jack Kelly died 50 minutes later.
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ROME (AP) - Diego Milito failed to convert a penalty kick as Inter Milan was held to a 0-0 tie at home by Atalanta.
Goalkeeper Andrea Consigli blocked Milito's weak spot kick in the 23rd minute. He then also stopped a dangerous header from Walter Samuel on the ensuing corner kick, and Inter didn't come close again.
It was the fifth consecutive home league match Inter failed to win, and it followed a halftime locker from speed by club president Massimo Moratti. On Tuesday, Inter was eliminated from the Champions League by Marseille.
Third-place Lazio struggled in a 1-0 loss at Catania, which won on a volley by former Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie in the 80th.
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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Schalke came from behind to win 4-1 at Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga and stay in the chase for a place in next season's Champions League.
Last-place Kaiserslautern is winless in 16 matches is three points behind Hertha Berlin and six points from safety.
Hannover, like Schalke a quarterfinalist in the Europa League, beat Cologne 4-1 in Sunday's other match after Mame Diouf came off the bench to score twice.
Schalke remained fourth, one point behind Borussia Moenchengladbach. Hannover climbed one place past Stuttgart to seventh.
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PARIS (AP) - Eden Hazard scored his 12th league goal and set up two more from corner kicks as Lille routed Valenciennes 4-0 to strengthen its hold on third place in the French league.
Lille is seven points behind second-place Montpellier and nine behind French leader Paris Saint-Germain, but has a three-point cushion over fourth-place Toulouse.
Toulouse beat Rennes 1-0 with an own goal from defender Romain Danze to climb to fourth place, while Sochaux moved from last to 19th by beating Nice 2-0.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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