Associated Press

London, January 31:

Centrebacks Robert Huth and John Terry headed Chelsea into the last 16 of the FA Cup in a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City.

The German and English internationals scored a goal in each half as Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stayed on course for four titles in his first season in English soccer.

Chelsea is 10 points clear atop the Premier League, faces Liverpool in the League Cup final and is also going strong in the Champions League.

In other FA Cup game, Bolton scored a 1-0 victory at League One Oldham, thanks to Ricardo Vaz Te’s strike.

Mourinho, who moved to Chelsea after guiding FC Porto to a Champions League triumph last season, rested eight of the players that beat Manchester United 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the League Cup final.

His team soon went ahead at Stamford Bridge when Huth arrived unmarked at the near post and headed home a left wing corner in the sixth minute.

Chelsea made sure of a place in the last 16 when Frank Lampard floated a ball into the area and Terry guided a long range angled header inside the far post in the 80th minute.

Spanish La Liga:

MADRID: David Beckham scored from a trademark free kick and defender Michel Salgado added a rare goal to earn visiting Real Madrid a 2-1 victory over last-place Numancia.

Beckham swept home a free kick from the edge of the area in the 63rd minute. Madrid doubled its lead in the 83rd when Michael Owen found Salgado, who held off a defensive challenge before slipping the ball home for his first goal in nearly a year.

It was Madrid’s fifth straight win under coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, and it cut FC Barcelona’s lead to seven points. Barcelona, which crushed Sevilla 4-0 on Saturday, has 51 points and Madrid has 44.

Espanyol moved to fourth place with a 2-2 draw against Real Betis, Diego Forlan got two goals to take his season tally to 13 while helping Villarreal blank Real Sociedad 4-0 and Sergio Gonzalez equalised late to earn Deportivo La Coruna a 1-1 draw with Osasuna.

In other matches, it was: Mallorca 3, Getafe 1; Zaragoza 1, Malaga 0; and Racing Santander 2, Levante 2.

Italian Serie A:

ROME: Juventus took a big step towards the title after extending their lead at the top of the table to eight points. Ruben Olivera’s first-half strike and an Alessandro Del Piero penalty secured a 2-1 victory at bottom club Atalanta, while second-placed AC Milan suffered their second straight league defeat, losing 1-0 at home to Bologna.

Juventus have 50 points from their 21 matches played, while AC Milan have 42, five more than city rivals Inter Milan who claimed third place courtesy of a 2-0 win at Palermo where Christian Vieri grabbed both goals.

Roma climbed to fifth behind Udinese after fighting back from two goals down to beat Messina 3-2. Sampdoria fell one place to sixth after drawing 1-1 at home to relegation-threatened Siena, while Lecce won 1-0 at struggling Brescia. Emiliano Bonazzoli scored twice in the last 18 minutes to give improving Reggina a 2-1 win at home to Lazio that lifted the Calabrian side up to seventh, while Cagliari edged Fiorentina 1-0 thanks to Mauro Esposito’s 11th minute goal.