Birmingham, April 24:

Marlon Harewood fired the winner 12 minutes from the end as West Ham beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at Villa Park on Sunday to reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 26 years.

In the May 13 final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Alan Pardew’s Hammers will face six-time FA Cup winner Liverpool which beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Three-time winners — in 1964, ‘75 and ‘87 — the Hammers have only lost once in the final, in 1923.

With Liverpool third in the Premier League and certain to play in next season’s Champions League, West Ham will be in the UEFA Cup just by reaching the final.

Pardew dedicated the performance to two former West Ham managers, Ron Greenwood and John Lyle, who both died this season.West Ham striker Dean Ashton headed a left-wing cross against the top of the crossbar in the 55th minute before he set up the goal. Ashton won the ball in the air and he headed it down for Harewood to control it and fire a left footer past substitute goalkeeper Bradley Jones.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: David Villa’s hat-trick in the last eight minutes gave Valencia a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and maintained the club’s faint chances of winning the Spanish title. With four games left, the win lifted Valencia within eight points of leader FC Barcelona, which had its late game suspended because of a water-logged pitch.

Had Valencia lost and Barcelona won, the Catalan team would have claimed its 18th league title. While Valencia left it late to take control of the match, it did so emphatically when Villa scored in the 82nd minute, again two minutes later and finally in the 86th. Real Madrid won 2-1 against Malaga, moving up to third place in the standings with 63 points.

In other matches it was, Espanyol 2, Real Betis 0; Cadiz 1, Deportivo La Coruna 1; Racing Santander 1, Getafe 3 and Mallorca 0, Osasuna 1.

Sevilla was due to host Barcelona later, but torrential rain, hail and partial flooding of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium forced referee Teixeira Vitienes to suspend the game after examining the soaked playing surface.

Malaga midfielder Ricardo Bovio shocked fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium when he scored in the 22nd minute. A penalty by defender Carlos “Litos” de Oliveira on Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez was converted by Zinedine Zidane in the 67th minute.

Defender Sergio Ramos headed the winning goal for Madrid in the last minute of regular time, leaving Malaga eight points adrift at the bottom of the standings on 24 points.