EUROPEAN SOCCER ROUNDUP

updated 9:06 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2006

Arsenal lost 1-0 at Blackburn on Saturday to slip to sixth in the English Premier League, hurting its chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Arsenal lost on the road for the eighth time in 14 domestic games, four days after winning 1-0 at Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League — its fourth European road win this season.

“I’m very sad because I don’t think we deserved to lose this game,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “We lacked a little bit mental sharpness maybe because of Tuesday night but overall we gave absolutely everything physically until the last second of the game.”

Blackburn swapped places with Arsenal in the standings, jumping a place to fifth. Arsenal needs to finish fourth or higher to qualify for the Champions League next season — unless it wins this season’s edition.

Blackburn, which got an 18th-minute goal by Morten Gamst Pedersen, has 43 points in the standings — three fewer than fourth-place Tottenham and two more than Arsenal.

Chelsea beat Portsmouth 2-0 to extend its lead at the top of the English Premier League to 15 points. Birmingham beat relegation rival Sunderland 1-0, Aston Villa tied 0-0 at Charlton and Newcastle topped Everton 2-0.

Spanish League
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o threatened to leave the field in the 77th minute after being racially taunted by the crowd, but was persuaded to remain by Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard and finish off the club’s 2-0 victory at Zaragoza on Saturday.

The three-time African player of the year could be seen saying “No more,” and initially rebuffed pleas from teammates to remain. Eto’o also was taunted by Zaragoza supporters at La Romareda stadium a year ago, when the striker responded by mimicking a monkey.

Saturday’s incident likely will intensify recent calls for soccer authorities to impose harsher sanctions against clubs whose fans racially taunt opposing teams’ players.

Barcelona’s victory in Rijkaard’s 100th league game at the helm of the club gave it 58 points and extended its lead in the standings to nine points.

Bundesliga
Michael Ballack scored twice to help Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2.

The Germany captain ran his total to nine goals in eight games by sidefooting in a goal in the 33rd minute and adding a header in the 62nd. It was Bayern’s 11th win in 11 Bundesliga games at its new Allianz Arena stadium.

Paulo Guerrero scored in the 21st and 42nd minutes and Claudio Pizarro added another Bayern goal in the 85th.

Werder Bremen moved into second, nine behind Bayern, with a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach. Miroslav Klose returned from a monthlong shoulder injury to score his 17th goal in 18 games. Ivan Klasnic scored the other.

Schalke won 2-0 against Nuremberg with goals from Kevin Kuranyi and Lincoln. Juan Mensequez’s 23-yard volley gave Wolfsburg a 2-1 win over Hannover 96.

Italian League
Fiorentina overcame an early two-goal deficit and rallied for a 4-2 victory at Parma Saturday to reclaim fourth place in the Serie A.

Trailing 2-0 by the 19th minute, Valeri Bojinov scored twice in four minutes to equalize before halftime. Second-half tallies by Martin Jorgensen and newly acquired Luis Jimenez earned the Florentine side its first win on the road in three months and ended a two-game league losing streak.

Fiorentina climbed to 53 points, two ahead of AS Roma which can move back into fourth place by beating city rival Lazio in the Roman Derby Sunday. Roma is seeking an Italian league record 11th straight win. Parma remained four points from relegation.

Also on Sunday, leader Juventus hosts Lecce, second-place AC Milan is at Palermo and third-place Inter Milan faces on Udinese at San Siro.

In the other game Saturday, Livorno drew 1-1 at Reggina to stretch its unbeaten streak to five matches.

French League
Rennes handed French league leader Lyon only its second loss of the season Saturday, using three goals by Nigerian forward John Utaka to win 4-1 and enable Bordeaux to close within six points.

Second-place Bordeaux rallied on Alejandro Alonso’s 70th-minute header to draw 3-3 with Metz.

Lyon, seeking a record fifth straight title, has led Ligue 1 since the fourth round and suffered its only other loss on Dec. 16, 3-1 to Lille. Both losses came at home.

Metz is unbeaten in 10 matches, having not loss since a Dec. 10 defeat at Le Mans.

Scottish Cup
Gretna became the first second-division side to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals since 1982 with a 1-0 win over St. Mirren.

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Hibernian and Hearts also reached the final four. Hamilton and Dundee will need a replay to determine the last semifinal spot after a 0-0 tie.

The last second-division club to reach the Scottish Cup semifinals was Forfar in 1982. Gretna joined the Scottish league only in 2002. The town is just inside the Scottish border but had been playing in England leagues the previous 55 years.

Hibernian beat Falkirk 5-1 and Hearts defeated Partick Thistle 2-1. In the only Premier League game, Dunfermline and Dundee United tied 1-1.

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