Stoke crushes Bolton 5-0 to reach 1st FA Cup final
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stoke routed Bolton 5-0 Sunday to reach the FA Cup final for the first time in the team's 148-year history. This was the biggest victory in an FA Cup semifinal since 1939 when Wolverhampton beat Grimsby by the same score.
Stoke, the Premier League's oldest club, will play Manchester City for the title at Wembley on May 14. Man City defeated Manchester United 1-0 Saturday in the other semifinal.
In the Premier League, Arsenal's title hopes were hurt when Liverpool salvaged a 1-1 draw with a penalty kick in the 12th minute of injury time. Arsenal could be set for a sixth straight season without a major trophy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robin van Persie's penalty kick put Arsenal in front just four minutes before Emmanuel Eboue shoved Lucas Leiva to the ground. Dirk Kuyt then tied the score to leave Arsenal six points behind leader Manchester United with six games remaining. Chelsea is two points further back in third place.
Stoke began its barrage in the opening 30 minutes, with Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones all punishing a shoddy defense with goals.
"People say certain things about us," Etherington said. "Today was our day to prove them wrong. We are used to being the underdogs. The manager said that before the game, and we will be the underdogs in the final as well. Bring it on."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen was beaten for the fourth time in the 68th minute when Jon Walters scored from 25 yards. Walters completed the rout in the 81st minute with his second goal.
"We were the architects of our own downfall if you look at all the goals," Bolton manager Owen Coyle said. "I thought there were too many who didn't give a performance to match their ability and that's the galling thing. ... When you underperform it leaves a bad taste in your mouth."
Stoke and Manchester City are chasing their first major title since winning the League Cup in the 1970s — Stoke in 1972 and City four years later.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With Manchester City set to qualify for the Champions League or Europa League by taking one of the top five spots in the Premier League, Stoke could earn a spot in the Europa League regardless of the outcome of the final.
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MILAN (AP) — Second-place Napoli lost 2-1 at home to Udinese, giving AC Milan a six-point lead in Serie A with five games left as it seeks its first Italian league title since 2004.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gokhan Inler scored in the 55th minute and German Denis doubled the score in the 61st. A weak penalty kick by Napoli's Edinson Cavani was saved by Samir Handanovic with three minutes left after Maurizio Domizzi was ejected for hauling down Christian Lucarelli. Giuseppe Mascara scored for Napoli in injury time.
AC Milan has 71 points, followed by Napoli with 65 and five-time defending champion Inter Milan with 63. Lazio, which won 4-1 at Catania, is fourth with 60, a point ahead of Udinese.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Levante scored twice before halftime to beat Hercules 2-1, maintaining its excellent second half of the season in the Spanish league.
Ruben Suarez put the hosts ahead, curling in a free kick in the sixth minute. Juan Luis Gomez rifled in a pass from Valmiro Lopes to make it 2-0 in the 43rd. David Trezeguet made it 2-1 in the 82nd for his 11th goal of the season.
Levante goalkeeper Gustavo Munua protected Levante's advantage with a pair of late saves for its eighth win in 12 weeks. Hercules' first loss under coach Miroslav Djukic left it three points from safety with six rounds to play.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}French winger Antoine Griezmann scored twice to give Real Sociedad its first win in eight weeks, beating Sporting Gijon 2-1. Deportivo La Coruna downed Racing Santander 2-0 with goals by Lassad Nouioui and Francisco Jimenez. Atletico Madrid drew 2-2 at Espanyol to remain in seventh place.
Barcelona drew 1-1 at Real Madrid on Saturday to stay eight points ahead in first place. Third-place Valencia moved nine points in front of Villarreal with its 3-0 win over last-place Almeria.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund took a giant step toward winning the Bundesliga title, beating Freiburg 3-0 at home after Bayer Leverkusen lost 5-1 at Bayern Munich.
Dortmund took the lead on a goal by Mario Goetze in the 23rd minute and Robert Lewandowski made it 2-0 before the half. Dortmund is eight points ahead of Leverkusen with four rounds left.
"I've rarely experienced anything like today," Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said. "Of course now we want to bring the whole big prize back home."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mario Gomez's first-half hat trick helped Bayern Munich to its win over Leverkusen, whose coach Jupp Heynckes will take over at the defending champions next season. Gomez is the league's top scorer on 22 goals. Bayern, in third place, played its first game since firing Louis van Gaal as coach.
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MONACO (AP) — Nigeria defender Taye Taiwo scored on a late penalty kick, helping defending champion Marseille rally past Montpellier 2-1 and narrow the gap on French leader Lille to one point.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Olivier Giroud put host Montpellier ahead in the 64th minute when he finished off a flowing move by curling the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Lille has only one point from its last two games, opening the title race with seven games remaining. Last-place Arles-Avignon was relegated after losing 1-0 at home to Valenciennes.
Marseille defends its League Cup trophy against Montpellier next weekend at Stade de France.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fourth-place Paris Saint-Germain won 1-0 over visiting Lyon on Zoumana Camara's 76th-minute goal.
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AMSTERDAM (AP) — PSV Eindhoven beat Heracles Almelo 2-0 on goals by Balazs Dzsudzsak and Marcus Berg to share the lead in the Dutch league with FC Twente, which drew at De Graafschap 1-1.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With three rounds remaining, PSV and Twente have 65 points with PSV enjoying a superior goal difference over the defending champion.
Feyenoord thrashed last-place Willem II 6-1.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Olympiakos won the Greek league for the 13th time in 15 years by thrashing Larissa 6-0 in the final round of the season.
David Fuster scored twice and Rafik Djebbour, Olof Mellberg, Marco Pantelic and Yiannis Fetfatzidis added a goal apiece in front of a delirious home crowd that braved driving rain.
Olympiakos finished the season with 73 points, 13 more than 2010 champion Panathinaikos, which lost 3-2 at newcomer Volos.