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Cesc Fábregas will not face disciplinary action over claims that he abused match officials during half-time of Arsenal's 2-1 win over Everton.

The Everton manager, David Moyes, claimed after the match that Fábregas should have been shown a red card for the comments, but the referee, Lee Mason, made no mention of the alleged incident in his post-match report.

Arsène Wenger later denied that Fábregas had even spoken to the officials, and the Football Association has now confirmed that it received no extraordinary incident report from Mason regarding any confrontation with Fábregas.

Fábregas, meanwhile, said the battling 2-1 victory proves Arsenal have the character needed to push Manchester United all the way in the race for the Premier League title.

Arsenal rallied after going behind to what looked an offside goal from Louis Saha, scoring twice in the space of five minutes during the second half.

The victory kept them five points behind Manchester United, who extended their unbeaten run this season to 24 league matches after a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Fábregas said: "We were not up for it at the start against Everton and we were very sloppy. We know that we could have paid for it, but fortunately the team stepped up.

"We realised that if we kept playing like that, we would be going nowhere. It is a very inspiring comeback and maybe we needed something like that to lift us and see that even with injuries and suspensions, we can still have a really strong squad.

"Now we have three days to recover for what will be a big game on Saturday [at Newcastle]."

Labels: abused, claims, clear, Fbregas, Guardian, match, officials

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi struck a late winner to earn Barcelona a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and keep the Spanish champions five points clear at the top of La Liga.

In Italy, Claudio Ranieri resigned as AS Roma coach after they squandered a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 at Genoa.

SPAIN

Lionel Messi rescued a nervy Barcelona with a late goal to earn a 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in a thrilling La Liga match on Sunday. The World Player of the Year dinked in the winner in the 77th minute as Barca desperately poured forward after Andoni Iraola had cancelled out David Villa’s early opener with a 49th-minute penalty.

Barca moved on to 65 points from 24 matches, keeping Real Madrid five points back in second after Jose Mourinho’s outfit eased to a 2-0 victory over Levante on Saturday.

Fourth-placed Villarreal’s faltering form continued when they were held 1-1 at home by basement side Malaga and new Osasuna coach Jose Luis Mendilibar led his team to a stunning 4-0 win over sixth-placed Espanyol.

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ITALY

Claudio Ranieri quit as coach of AS Roma after they surrendered a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 at Genoa while fellow underachievers Juventus were beaten 2-0 at lowly Lecce after having Gianluigi Buffon sent off early.

Leaders AC Milan needed a controversial Robinho goal where he used his arm and a late strike from substitute Alexandre Pato to see off Chievo 2-1 but second-placed Napoli kept pace with a 1-0 win over Catania.

Inter Milan in third also had some luck with Andrea Ranocchia’s winner in a 1-0 victory over Cagliari counting despite the Italy defender looking offside.

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ENGLAND

Leyton Orient grabbed the limelight in the FA Cup when they grabbed a dramatic last-minute equaliser to force a 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in their fifth round tie on Sunday.

The League One side stole the thunder from Everton who ended Chelsea’s dreams of a third successive FA Cup final victory with a 4-3 penalty shootout win at Stamford Bridge after their fourth round replay ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Minor-league Crawley Town also hit the headlines after making Premier League leaders Manchester United, who have won the FA cup a record 11 times, battle for a slender 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

Manchester City kept alive their chances of a first major trophy since 1976 when they thumped League One Notts County 5-0 in a fourth round replay at Eastlands.

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FRANCE

Leaders Lille went down 1-0 at Montpellier, allowing Stade Rennes to cut the gap at the top to two points with a late penalty in a 2-1 victory at Toulouse.

Olympique Marseille, Olympique Lyon and Paris St Germain also all won to set up a thrilling finale to Ligue 1 with five clubs within four points of each other with 14 games left.

Girondins Bordeaux and Monaco lost again as their poor seasons contrast markedly with France’s other big names.

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SCOTLAND

Celtic took a big step towards the Scottish Premier League title by beating their Old Firm rivals Rangers 3-0 at Parkhead on Sunday to move eight points clear at the top of the table, although Rangers have two matches in hand.

Gary Hooper scored twice in the opening 28 minutes to put Celtic in command before Kris Commons made it 3-0 20 minutes from time as the big two played out the fourth of their seven planned meetings this season, including cup games.

Third-placed Hearts moved to within two points of Rangers when they beat Dundee United 2-1 on Saturday but have also played two more matches than Walter Smith’s team.

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NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven brushed aside 10-man NAC Breda 4-1 to go two points clear at the top of the Dutch league as rivals Twente Enschede were held 1-1 by NEC Nijmegen.

Twente had Emir Bajrami to thank for a point after he cancelled out an early opening goal from Nijmegen’s Niki Zimling.

(Editing by Dave Thompson; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Labels: Barcelona, clear, keeps, quits, Ranieri, Reuters, RoundupMessi

Sebastian Vettel continued to occupy the position at the top of the times in Valencia as the second day of pre-season testing hit its half-way mark on Wednesday.

Renault’s Robert Kubica and Force India’s Paul di Resta had both had spells at the top of the times on an initially very chilly morning in eastern Spain, before Vettel – spending his second day in the new Red Bull RB7 – went fastest in the day’s second hour on his eighth hot lap.

His best time of 1m13.614s was already just over a tenth of a second faster than his benchmark time from the first day, and by 1pm the world champion had chalked up 40 laps to add to the 93 trouble-free ones he completed on Tuesday.

Fernando Alonso was up in second in the new Ferrari, five tenths of a second back after 38 laps, with di Resta third in the 2010 Force India and Kubica ending his first morning in the innovative Renault R31 fourth, with 40 laps.

Lewis Hamilton is making his sole appearance of the week on Wednesday to get his first taste of the Pirelli tyres to be used this year, after McLaren decided not to use its race drivers in the post-season Abu Dhabi tyre test last November.

After a lengthy gap after a early installation lap, the 2008 champion eased himself back into driving duties and by lunchtime had completed 26 laps and occupied fifth place.

Mercedes’s opening day programme for the W02 had been restricted by a hydraulics problem during Nico Rosberg’s morning run on Tuesday so the German team and driver would have been pleased to have racked up 34 laps by 1pm on day two.

The team was also trying out the German manufacturer's renowned KERS system for the first time, having not used it on the opening day while it carried out other checks.

Team Lotus, meanwhile, was debuting its new T128 and, while Heikki Kovalainen had failed to post a lap time by lunchtime, the team’s Twitter updates suggested early work was going well, the Finn having done five exploratory laps during a programme of system checks and car alterations.

There had been two red flags by 1pm, the first of which was caused after half an hour by Rubens Barrichello, whose new Williams FW33 stopped out on track with an electrical problem.

13.30 update: Alonso has since jumped ahead of Vettel at the head of the times, the Spaniard’s new benchmark standing at 1m13.469s.

Valencia test day two times @ 13.00 

* 2010 car

Labels: clear, ITVcom, Lunchtime, still, update, Vettel

A brace from Wayne Rooney in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa kept Manchester United five points clear at the top of the Premier League, but Arsenal and Chelsea stayed in touch with the unbeaten leaders with come-from-behind victories on Tuesday. Rooney scored with virtually the first and last kicks of the first half at Old Trafford to help United to a convincing win that equaled the club's...

Labels: brace, clear, keeps, points, Rooney, United

Celtic moved eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League table last night with a 3-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The home side had to play virtually the whole game with 10 men after defender Andrew Considine was shown a red card for a foul on Scott Brown in the penalty area inside two minutes. Jamie Langfield saved Anthony Stokes' penalty but Celtic took the lead in the 12th minute through Gary Hooper.

Mark Wilson got the second with 15 minutes to go and Stokes made amends for his penalty miss soon after.

Labels: Celtic, clear, eight, Hooper, Independent, lifts, points

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Celtic moved five points clear of Glasgow rival Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Dundee United on Sunday.

Celtic went into halftime at Tannadice with a 2-0 lead thanks to deflected efforts by top scorer Anthony Stokes and Mark Wilson.

The hosts, who came into the match boasting an 11-game unbeaten run, halved the deficit in the 64th minute when David Goodwillie crashed home a close-range finish.

But Celtic wrapped up the win when Daniel Majstorovic headed in from an inswinging free kick, extending its run to 16 matches without defeat.

Second-place Rangers, which beat Motherwell 6-0 on Saturday, has two games in hand over its cross-city rival.

Labels: beats, Celtic, clear, Dundee, points

Deflected goals from Anthony Stokes and Mark Wilson gave Celtic a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time but they were unsure at the back and United exploited that hesitance when David Goodwillie pulled one back in the second half.

United pressed for an equaliser, with Goodwillie denied by Fraser Forster’s save, but Celtic put hopes of a comeback to bed when defender Daniel Majstorovic headed Charlie Mulgrew’s excellent free-kick home with 12 minutes left.

Celtic have now won five league games in a row, lying five points clear of champions Rangers, who have two games in hand.

While Celtic’s first-half goals were fortuitous they were by far the better attacking threat although were not helped by a ragged pitch.

Neil Lennon’s side took a 16th-minute lead when Stokes’ low shot from the left - which United keeper Dusan Pernis had covered - struck the unfortunate Garry Kenneth and flew in.

The hosts saw plenty of the ball, with Craig Conway causing problems on the left, but Forster in the Celtic goal barely saw any action while, down the other end, Kris Commons kicked air when he should have finished.

Wilson made it two on 36 minutes, exploiting hesitant defending by Paul Dixon to meet Scott Brown’s low ball, his finish also deflected in, this time off Sean Dillon.

From that point it was all Celtic, who looked like scoring every time they went forward, failing to find the net after a goal-mouth scramble, seeing a penalty appeal rejected when Stokes went down under Keith Watson’s challenge and Commons again fluffing his lines with a volley.

United, meanwhile, could only muster a cross-shot from Goodwillie that flew wide.

The pattern continued in the second half, with United barely threatening while Majstorovic missed a sitter, heading Commons’s corner wide when left unmarked by slack defending.

But the hosts pulled one back when Conway’s free-kick wreaked havoc in the Celtic box, Brown failing to clear his lines and Forster’s parry dropping to the grateful Goodwillie.

Peter Houston’s side sensed a miracle comeback, which was so nearly completed when substitute Ki Sung-Yeung gave the ball away, Goodwillie’s low finish kept out by a fortunate Forster, who nearly let the ball through him.

The fightback was ended though when, with 12 minutes left, Mulgrew put in a superb curling ball from the right that Swede Majstorovic dived in to meet with a low bullet header that nestled in the bottom right.

There was still time for a comedy miss from Hooper, who tripped over his own feet when set to finish from six yards out, while the former Scunthorpe striker had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside seconds later.

The momentum is now with Celtic, who know that a home win in next Sunday's Old Firm clash will put them in the driving seat for the title.

United, meanwhile, stay sixth although have four games in hand on most sides around them.

Labels: Celtic, clear, Dundee, Eurosport, United, Yahoo