MADRID, 17 February 2004 — Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid scraped a 1-1 draw at home to Valencia on Sunday when Luis Figo converted a controversial injury-time penalty in an intense top-of-the-table clash.
Real’s late equalizer kept them two points clear of Valencia on 53 points from 24 games with third-placed Deportivo Coruna a further two points behind after a 2-0 win at home to Osasuna.
Valencia had looked on course for victory at the Bernabeu after defender Roberto Ayala put them ahead with a bullet header from a corner 15 minutes from time.
But Figo leveled from the spot three minutes into injury time after Raul went down as he challenged Valencia defender Carlos Marchena for the ball inside the area.
The result meant Real dropped their first home points of the season but Valencia will be left ruing a missed opportunity to dislodge the champions from the top of the standings.
Arsenal Go to Liverpool Or Portsmouth in FA Cup
Holders Arsenal will visit either Liverpool or Portsmouth in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup following the draw made yesterday.
Liverpool were the last team to beat Arsenal in the competition when they came from behind to edge them 2-1 in the 2001 final at Cardiff with two late goals from Michael Owen.
Arsenal have won the cup twice since then and following their 2-1 win over Chelsea in the fifth round on Sunday have now gone 17 matches without defeat in the competition — the last three all against Premier League opponents this season.
They beat Leeds United 4-1 in the third round and Middlesbrough by the same score before seeing off Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsenal are bidding to become the first team since Blackburn Rovers in 1886 to win the cup three times in succession — and the first to appear in four successive finals.
They have met Liverpool 15 times in the FA Cup, winning six times, including the finals of 1950 and 1971, drawing four times and losing five. Their last cup meeting was in the fourth round in 2002 when Arsenal won 1-0 at Highbury with a Dennis Bergkamp goal. Bergkamp was later sent off as were his team mate Martin Keown and Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher.
Manchester United, looking to win the cup for the first time since their record setting 10th win in 1999, will play either Fulham or West Ham at Old Trafford.
One lower division team is guaranteed a place in the semi-finals with first division Millwall drawn at home against second division Tranmere Rovers.
Millwall have reached the semifinals three times in 1900, 1903 and 1937 while Tranmere have never gone further than the quarterfinals, which they have now reached for the third time in five seasons. The two sides have never previously met in the cup.
