Associated Press

London, March 14:

Patrick Kluivert’s fifth-minute strike put Newcastle into the FA Cup semi-finals after a 1-0 victory over Tottenham. The Dutchman, whose early header had ousted Chelsea from the previous round, kept the Magpies on course for a first FA Cup triumph for 50 years with a strike from Alan Shearer’s run and pass. Newcastle had to thank goalkeeper Shay Given for some standout saves to deny Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe at St James’ Park and were lucky not to concede a penalty for a Lee Bowyer handball. Graeme Souness’ team joins defending champion Manchester United, Arsenal and Blackburn in semi- inals. Paul Dickov scored a penalty kick eight minutes from the end to knock out his former club and put Blackburn into the semi-finals for the first time in 45 years. The spot kick gave Blackburn a 1-0 win at Ewood Park and meant more cup heartbreak for four-time runner-up Leicester, a League Championship club which has never won the trophy. Manchester United and Arsenal made it to the semi-finals on Saturday. United scored a 4-0 victory at Southampton, while Arsenal won 1-0 at Bolton.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: Raul Albiol and Riki Sanchez scored to lead Getafe over Real Madrid 2-1, leaving the 29-time Spanish champion 11 points behind leader FC Barcelona. Albiol got the first goal in the 37th minute after Madrid defender Ivan Helguera misplayed an attempted clearance. Sanchez made a fast run up the right flank and hit a powerful shot into the net in the 48th for the eventual match-winner. Madrid, which was playing without the suspended David Beckham, relied heavily on Zinedine Zidane and Jose Maria “Guti” Gutierrez in midfield. Santiago Solari went on for Zidane in the 69th, four minutes after Michael Owen replaced Luis Figo. Solari netted a consolation goal for Madrid in the 90th. Barcelona leads the league with 65 points, followed by Madrid with 54, and Villarreal with 47. Villarreal got goals from Diego Forlan, Juan Sorin, Juan Roman Riquelme and Luciano Figueroa to move into third place after beating

Espanyol 4-1. In other games, it was: Albacete 0, Deportivo La Coruna 1; Levante 4, Osasuna 0; Real Sociedad 2, Numancia 1; Racing Santander 3, Mallorca 0; Sevilla 0, Zaragoza 1, and Atletico Madrid 1, Valencia 0.

Italian Serie A

ROME: Ruben Olivera scored in the closing minutes and Juventus clinched a disputed 1-0 victory at lowly Chievo Verona to stay in first place with defending champion AC Milan in the Serie A. The Milan team beat third-placed Sampdoria 1-0 at San Siro, on a second-half goal by Kaka, to win its seventh straight league match. AC Milan and Juventus stretched their joint leadership to 63 points, had indentical records (19-6-3), the same goals differential, and identical score in their last two wins. They are 16 points clear of Sampdoria and Inter Milan, which are tied for third. Olivera, a second-half substitute for Alessandro Del Piero, volleyed in the winner in the 87th minute, and was ejected one minute later for exchanging pushes with Chievo’s Alessandro Potenza, who was also red-carded. In other matches, Livorno won 3-2 at 10-man Brescia; Messina stunned Reggina 2-0; Bologna and Siena settled with a 1-1 draw; and last-place Atalanta beat Parma 1-0.