London, December 6:

Arsenal missed the chance to go six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle United.

Emmanuel Adebayor volleyed Arsenal ahead in the fourth minute on Wednesday, but Steven Taylor equalised on the hour mark to give Newcastle a well-earned point. The point still extended Arsenal’s lead over Manchester United at the top to four points, while Newcastle remained in 11th spot.

Arsenal went into the game without Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini, but it looked like business as usual when Adebayor chested down Emmanuel Eboue’s cross and volleyed the ball past Shay Given.

But Newcastle, who had earned just one point from their previous five games, fought well and survived until half-time, even without the continued absence of Michael Owen. And when defender Taylor slotted the ball in off the post after 60 minutes, Newcastle were level.

Spanish La Liga

Pamplona: Substitute Jesus Navas scored a 47th-minute equaliser to give Sevilla a 1-1 draw at Osasuna in a rescheduled Spanish league match that had been postponed following the death of Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta.

Puerta collapsed during Sevilla’s victory over Getafe on August 25 before dying in the hospital three days later. The results snapped Sevilla’s three-game losing streak when Navas met substitute Dudas’ long cross and redirected it past goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez. Jaroslav Plasil gave Osasuna the lead in the 19th, redirecting Juan Francisco “Juanfran” Torres’ bouncing cross through Andres Palop’s legs with the side of his left foot.

Both Sevilla and Osasuna improved to 16 points after 14 rounds. Real Madrid lead with 32 points, four more than both FC Barcelona and Villarreal, while Atletico Madrid have 27.

Italian Serie A

MILAN: Inter Milan and AS Roma are threatening to disappear over the hill as Serie A’s top two sides both won their games in hand on Wednesday. Champions Inter trounced Lazio 3-0 while Roma coasted to a 2-0 win over Cagliari.

Inter lead Roma by three points with the capital club a further five points clear of everyone else after 14 matches. The Italian league is looking more and more like a two-horse race, particularly with European champions AC Milan 19 points off the pace.

Lazio’s Guglielmo Stendardo was harshly adjudged to have impeded Nicolas Burdisso and the referee pointed to the spot in the 22nd minute. Zlatan Ibrahimovic smashed the ball home, high to goalkeeper Marco Ballotta’s right. Brazilian Maicon and Suazo also scored for Inter. In Rome, Taddei wrapped up the match for Roma by half-time, scoring in the 28th and 26th minutes.