Wigan all but ends Arsenal title hopes in 3-2 win

Posted Monday, April 19, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

LONDON (AP)—Arsenal conceded three goals in the last 10 minutes Sunday to fall 3-2 at Wigan and all but end its hopes of winning the Premier League title.

The Gunners were winning 2-0 and on course to rebound from Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham until Wigan midfielder Ben Watson scored in the 80th minute.

Titus Bramble then equalized in the 89th following a fumble by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and the brittle Arsenal defense gave Charles N’Zogbia space in injury time to run across the edge of the box and hit a curling shot in at the far post.

“I believe we were not focused, not disciplined and were caught,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “In football you have to stay focused for 90 minutes otherwise you run the risk of being punished.

“That is especially the case against a team with nothing to lose, fighting not to go down. You knew they would not give up, and in the end we were punished for that.”

Wigan’s first league win over Arsenal lifted it seven points clear of the relegation zone and left the Gunners six points behind leader Chelsea with three games to play.

Defending champion Manchester United is a point behind Chelsea after beating local rival Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday.

Arsenal now needs to win its last three games by big margins and hope Chelsea and United each win no more than one of their remaining matches.

Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea had reignited Arsenal’s faint title chances and the Gunners looked set to capitalize after Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre put them 2-0 ahead by the 48th.

Aston Villa beat relegated last-place club Portsmouth 2-1 in Sunday’s other Premier League match, American goalkeeper Brad Friedel preserving the win with a one-handed, close-range save on substitute Joel Ward.

Midfielder Michael Brown put Portsmouth ahead in the 10th minute, but John Carew equalized six minutes later and 19-year-old striker Nathan Delfouneso hit the winner eight minutes from the end with his first Premier League goal.

MADRID (AP)—Juan Francisco “Nino” Martinez scored a hat trick as Tenerife beat Getafe 3-2 to boost its bid for survival in the Spanish league.

Martinez tied the game in the 30th minute after Pedro Leon’s early goal for Getafe. He scored again in the 69th, but Francisco Casquero equalized in the 75th before Martinez hit the winner with his 13th goal of the season in the 76th.

It was a tense day of action for teams involved in the battle to avoid relegation, with five rounds left in the season.

Racing Santander drew 2-2 at Xerez, Malaga drew 0-0 with Valladolid and Deportivo La Coruna drew 0-0 with Almeria.

Malaga is 17th on 33 points, Tenerife is 18th on 32 points, Valladolid is 19th on 29 points and Xerez is last with 27.

FRANKFURT (AP)—A late goal by substitute striker Vedad Ibisevic gave Hoffenheim a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, preventing the hosts from moving to third place in the Bundesliga.

Officials first awarded an own-goal to Dortmund defender Mats Hummels, but then revised the decision after watching replays to make Ibisevic the official scorer.

Hummels and Ibisevic both went for a cross from Carlos Eduardo and it wasn’t clear immediately if it was Hummels’ right foot or Ibisevic’s head that sent it into the net in the 89th minute.

Hoffenheim, winless in seven games, fell behind on a header from Nelson Valdez off a cross from Kevin Grosskreutz in the 57th.

The draw left Dortmund in fifth place, one point behind Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen.

Bayern leads by two points over Schalke after hammering Hannover 7-0 Saturday. Schalke beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1. With three rounds left in the season, Bayern is nine points ahead of Bremen and Leverkusen.

Bremen won 4-2 at Wolfsburg and Leverkusen lost 2-1 at Stuttgart.

ROME (AP)—Giampaolo Pazzini scored in added time for Sampdoria to beat 10-man AC Milan 2-1 and put a serious dent in the Rossoneri’s chances of winning the Serie A title.

Milan now trails Inter Milan by six points with four rounds remaining in the Italian league.

Inter beat 10-man Juventus 2-0 Friday and leads with 70 points, AS Roma is second with 68 but hosts Lazio later Sunday and Milan is third with 64.

Also Sunday, it was: Atalanta 2, Fiorentina 1; Bari 1, Napoli 2; Cagliari 2, Palermo 2; Catania 2, Siena 2; Parma 2, Genoa 3 and Udinese 1, Bologna 1.

Milan had gone ahead in the 20th with a goal from Marco Borriello, but Antonio Cassano equalized with a penalty in the 54th after Milan defender Daniele Bonera was sent off for fouling the Sampdoria forward.

AMSTERDAM (AP)—FC Twente beat Feyenoord 2-0, but still needs victory at NAC Breda in the final round of the Dutch league to clinch the title.

Blaise Nkufo and Miroslav Stoch scored to give Steve McClaren’s team all three points, but Ajax’s 4-0 win against Heracles Almelo forced Twente to suspend its title celebrations.

Twente leads the standings with 83 points, one more than Ajax. PSV Eindhoven, which is third with 77 points, missed out on a Champions League berth despite beating FC Groningen 3-1.

PSV, Feyenoord and defending champion AZ Alkmaar will feature in the Europa League next season.

Siem de Jong and Marko Pantelic scored two goals each for Ajax, which will travel to NEC Nijmegen in the final round on May 2.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Kenny Miller scored his 20th goal of the season to help Rangers beat 10-man Hearts 2-0 and edge closer to a second straight Scottish Premier League title.

Kyle Lafferty scored a 54th-minute opener at Ibrox before Miller doubled the lead with six minutes left after midfielder Eggert Jonsson was ejected for pushing Steven Naismith.

Maurice Edu was an unused substitute for Rangers and DaMarcus Beasley was not on the squad.

Rangers can clinch the title with a victory at Hibernian next weekend or if second-place Celtic loses to Dundee United earlier the same day.