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Order restored in FA Cup as big teams avoid upsets

Jan. 26, 2015 - 21:02 By Korea Herald
LONDON (AP) ― After one of the most startling days in the FA Cup’s 144-year history, three Premier League clubs restored order Sunday with fourth-round victories to stem the flow of upsets.

Arsenal, West Ham and Aston Villa beat lower-league opponents a day after Chelsea and Manchester City were among five of the Premier League’s top nine clubs to be ousted.

Juventus and Lyon, meanwhile, tightened their grips on first place in the Italian and French leagues.

Arsenal beat second-tier Brighton 3-2 after being set on its way by early goals from Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil. Tomas Rosicky was the other scorer for Arsenal, which is looking to retain the trophy and as the fifth-place team in the top tier is the highest-ranked club guaranteed a spot in the last 16.

Senegal striker Diafra Sakho came off the bench and scored an 81st-minute header to send West Ham to a 1-0 victory at Bristol City, which is second in English soccer’s third tier.

Villa won at home 2-1 against second-tier leader Bournemouth. Carles Gil, with his first goal since moving from Valencia, and Andreas Weimann scored for the Premier League team.

The draw for the fifth round is Monday.

Paul Pogba scored in the 60th minute and later set up a goal by Stephan Lichtsteiner to send Juventus to a 2-0 victory over Chievo Verona.

Roma, seven points back in second place, drew for the third straight game as it was held 1-1 at Fiorentina.

Palermo had a goal ruled out in a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria, with the home team’s new signing Samuel Eto’o in attendance.

A stoppage-time goal gave Torino a 1-0 win at Inter Milan, its first since 1988. A late goal also saw Cesena beat Parma 2-1 in the relegation race. Hellas Verona downed Atalanta 1-0, with Javier Saviola scoring his first Serie A goal.

Malaga rallied for a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league, four days before the two meet for a spot in the Copa del Rey semifinals.

Abel Resino debuted as Granada’s manager in a 2-2 draw at Deportivo La Coruna.