Portsmouth's Nwankwo Kanu, obscured, is congratulated by teammates after scoring against West Bromwich Albion during their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley yesterday. Pompey won 1-0. - AP
LONDON (AP):
ARSENAL RALLIED to a 1-1 draw against Liverpool in the Premier League yesterday, three days after the two teams played to the same result in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Nicklas Bendtner levelled for Arsenal in the 54th minute after Peter Crouch put Liverpool ahead in the 42nd.
The result doesn't help either club in the title race - Arsenal now have 71 points for third place, three less than second-place Chelsea, who beat Man-chester City 2-0.
Premier League leaders Manchester United have 76 points ahead of their match at Middlesbrough today.
Liverpool stay in fourth place with 63 points.
Not quite over
"In my brain it is not over, because it is not over mathematically," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It depends on the results of the other teams. I said we would need at least five wins and a draw."
Also yesterday it was: Aston Villa 4, Bolton 0; Blackburn 1, Tottenham 1; Fulham 1, Sunderland 3; Newcastle 3, Reading 0; and Wigan 2, Birmingham 0.
Portsmouth reached their first FA Cup final since 1939 with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in the semi-final match at Wembley.
Nwankwo Kanu scored the only goal against his former club in the 54th minute.
West Brom goalkeeper Dean Kiely did well to block the first shot from Milan Baros, Zoltan Gera tried to clear the ball off the line but it rolled to Kanu who stabbed it home from five metres.
The Gunners knocked Liver-pool out of the League Cup and FA Cup last season with victories at Anfield and the two clubs meet again at Anfield on Tuesday in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Liverpool dominated the first half at Emirates, with Crouch regularly troubling the Arsenal defence, forcing goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to jump and punch away a shot in the third minute.
In the 17th, Liverpool defender John Arne Riise shot over the bar before Crouch put Liverpool ahead. Yossi Benayoun flicked on a long goalkick from his own goalkeeper Pepe Reina to Crouch, who scored with a low shot from the edge of the box.
Arsenal's best first-half chance came in the 34th when Bendtner sent a tame shot straight at Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. In the second half, Kolo Toure headed wide, two minutes before Bendtner outjumped Crouch to head the equaliser.
Shortly afterward, Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal's leading scorer, was sent on as a substitute for defender Justin Hoyte, adding to Arsenal's strike force which also included Theo Walcott.
That gave Arsenal a more attacking edge and Mathieu Flamini had a 70th-minute shot saved by Pepe Reina.
Liverpool reacted by sending on Steven Gerrard in the 65th for midfielder Jermaine Pennant. Substitute Andriy Voronin had a shot blocked by Toure ten minutes later.
Fernando Torres came on in the 80th and while he helped to set up Voronin and Gerrard for chances, neither side could score the winner.
Portsmouth - the only Premier League club left in the FA Cup - will face a League Championship side in the May 17 final.
The other semi-final is at Wembley today between Cardiff, the only club outside England to lift the trophy in 1927, and Barnsley, who beat Liverpool and Chelsea to reach the final four.
Manchester City, who have now won once in their past seven games, gifted Chelsea the lead after six minutes when Richard Dunne poked the ball into his own net. Chelsea made it 2-0 in the 53rd through Salomon Kalou.
Chelsea left out striker Didier Drogba and defender Ricardo Carvalho, with one eye on the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Fenerbahce on Tuesday. Chelsea lost the first leg 2-1.
Newcastle won their third match in a row. Obafemi Martins put Newcastle ahead in the 18th minute, controlling a pass from Nicky Butt and rounding Andre Bikey before scoring past Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.
Michael Owen made it 2-0 in the 43rd with his third goal in as many games and Mark Viduka finished the scoring in the 58th.
Aston Villa ended a three-match losing streak with two goals from Gareth Barry and one each from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Marlon Harewood.
The loss means Bolton are still in the relegation zone, in 18th place with 26 points - four behind 17th-place Birmingham.
Fulham also moved closer to relegation with a 3-1 loss to visiting Sunderland. Danny Collins, Michael Chopra and Kenwyne Jones all scored for the Black Cats. Fulham pulled a goal back from David Healy but are still in 19th place with 24 points, seven points from safety.
Tottenham went ahead in the seventh minute through Dimitar Berbatov, who scored from close range. Blackburn levelled in the 30th, with David Bentley setting up Morten Gamst Pedersen to score.
Wigan won with two goals from Ryan Taylor, in the 15th and 55th minutes. Wigan played with an extra man when Birmingham's Damien Johnson was sent off in the 37th for serious foul play.
Also today, Everton host Derby.
