Euro football roundup

ENGLAND
Chelsea and Southampton clashed at stamford bridge yesterday in a rescheduled premiership meeting. Chelsea needed a win to close in on Manchester City who were 7 points above them and Manchester United who top the league with a 7 point gap over rival City.
Demba Ba put the blues in front in the 25th minute and Belgian international Eden Hazard made it 2-0 in first half extra time. Southampton rallied back and got two goals- first by Rickie Lambert in the 58th minute, followed by the equalizer by Jason Puncheon in the 75th minute. The result leaves Chelsea occupying third spot on the log with 42 points- 6 points behind Manchester City, who themselves are 7 points behind league leaders Manchester United.

Manchester United met West Ham United in the 2nd FA cup replay at old trafford yesterday. The first game had ended in a 2-2 draw. Wayne Rooney put the red devils in front just after 9 minutes of play, and the scoreline remained the same. The high point of the game was the introduction of Louis Nani, who was given his first start after several weeks of frustration on the bench.

Arsenal escaped the drama of a penalty shoot out when they met Swansea in an FA cup third round game. The Swansea side tutored by Micheal Laudrup resisted barrage after barrage of Arsenal's attack but finally crumbled in the 86th minute, thanks to a fine strike by midfielder Jack Wilshere. The result leaves Swansea out of the tournament, while the gunners progress to the fourth round.

SPAIN
FC Barcelona were hit hard by 10 man Malaga in their Copa Del Rey match played yesterday at the camp nou. The visitors opened scoring in the 26th minute through Manuel Iturra. Fifa world player of the year Leo Messi equalized for the catalans three minutes later. Carles Puyol then put the home side into the lead a minute later with a well taken header. The game seemed to be heading for another Barca win when Igancio Camacho equalized for Malaga in the 90th minute. This puts Malaga in an advantaged position going into the second leg