Associated Press Sports
updated 8:19 p.m. ET March 31, 2012
LONDON (AP) - Manchester City missed the chance to put pressure on Premier League leader Manchester United on Saturday when it stumbled to a 3-3 draw against Sunderland that ended its record winning streak.
With United not in action until Monday, City could have drawn even on points with the defending champions with a Premier League-record 21st straight home win.
Instead, City needed two goals in the last six minutes to salvage a draw.
Sebastian Larsson scored twice and Nicklas Bendtner added a goal to give Sunderland a 3-1 lead before Mario Balotelli scored his second of the game for City and Aleksandar Kolarov tied it in the 86th minute.
Third-place Arsenal lost 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea scored twice in the last six minutes to win 4-2 at Aston Villa. Fernando Torres scored his first Premier League goal in six months as Chelsea kept up its challenge for a top-four finish.
City's second straight draw means United could take a five-point lead with seven games remaining if it beats Blackburn on Monday. City also had to rally for last weekend's 1-1 draw at Stoke.
City has 71 points to United's 73. Arsenal has 58 after former Tottenham midfielder Adel Taarabt, with his first Premier League goal, and Samba Diakite scored for QPR. Theo Walcott got Arsenal's reply.
With captain Stiliyan Petrov watching from the stands following his diagnosis with leukemia, Villa fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie it 2-2 before Branislav Ivanovic and Torres clinched a win that moved Chelsea two points behind fourth-place Tottenham.
Daniel Sturridge and Ivanovic put Chelsea ahead before James Collins and Eric Lichaj tied it for Villa.
Sidelined since August until a week ago because of hip surgery, American defender Lichaj scored his first Premier League goal in the 80th. It was the second goal at Aston Villa for Lichaj, who also scored in the League Cup last Aug. 23. He had not started a Premier League match since Dec. 28, 2010.
It was Chelsea's sixth win in eight games under interim coach Roberto Di Matteo. Spurs can restore its lead over its London rival to five points if it beats Swansea on Sunday.
Everton is seventh after a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion and Clint Dempsey scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season to help Fulham beat Norwich 2-1.
Dempsey's tally is the most for an American in one season and one more than he had in 2010-11. Dempsey has 19 goals in all competitions.
Also, Wigan boosted its chances of avoiding relegation with a 2-0 win over Stoke, and last-place Wolverhampton Wanderers looks sure to be demoted after a 3-2 home defeat against Bolton.
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MADRID (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 37th and 70th minutes after setting up Karim Benzema's spectacular opener in the seventh as Spanish league leader Real Madrid routed Osasuna 5-1.
Lionel Messi responded with his 56th goal of the season to keep Barcelona within six points with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Ronaldo, whose long cross was volleyed in by Benzema, raised his league goals total to 37, one ahead of Messi, and 47 overall. Gonzalo Higuain also scored twice for Madrid.
The crowd at Barcelona's Camp Nou paid tribute to Messi before the game by unveiling an enormous banner for his becoming the club's career scoring leader, and Messi followed Andres Iniesta's 40th-minute goal with by converting a penalty kick in the 58th.
Messi has 56 goals in all competitions, the most for a player in a major European league since Gerd Mueller scored 67 for Bayern Munich in 1972-73.
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MILAN (AP) - Serie A leader AC Milan was held to a 1-1 tie at Catania, giving second-place Juventus a boost.
Robinho put Milan ahead in the 34th minute, but Nicolas Spolli tied it in the 57th. A second-half shot by Robinho appeared to have crossed the goal line before it was cleared, but no goal was given.
Juventus, which trails by five points, hosts Napoli on Sunday.
Sergio Floccari, on loan from third-place Lazio, scored twice against his parent club to help Parma to a 3-1 victory.
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BERLIN (AP) - Arjen Robben scored in the 69th minute to earn a labored 1-0 win for Bayern Munich over Nuremberg in the 184th Bavarian derby, moving his team within three points of Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund.
Last-place Kaiserslautern lost 1-0 at home Hamburg on Marcell Jansen's 29th-minute goal. Cologne slipped into the relegation zone with a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg, Freiburg won 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen, and Mainz won 3-0 at Werder Bremen. Wolsburg won 4-1 at Hertha Berlin.
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PARIS (AP) - Second-place Paris Saint-Germain lost 2-1 at Nancy, which got goals from Bakaye Traore in the 18th and Yohan Mollo in the 89th. Mohamed Sissoko had tied the score in the 50th.
Montpellier leads on goal difference. Its match at Marseille was postponed to give it more preparation time for Tuesday's second leg of its Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich.
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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - Celtic will have to wait at least one more week to clinch the Scottish Premier League title after Lee McCulloch scored in the 89th minute to give second-place Rangers a 2-1 win at Motherwell.
Henrik Ojamaa put Motherwell ahead in the sixth minute but Steven Whittaker tied it three minutes later and McCulloch scored from about six yards out following a long throw from Lee Wallace.
Rangers denied Celtic the title last week when it beat its local rival 3-2 and now has 60 points with six games remaining, six more than third-place Motherwell.
Celtic plays St. Johnstone on Sunday.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Former Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe was given a red card in stoppage time of AaB Aalborg's 1-0 loss at AC Horsens in the Danish league.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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