LONDON, 30 January 2005 — Arsenal, Everton and Newcastle United eased into the FA Cup fifth round yesterday but Southampton needed a stoppage-time penalty to defeat 10-man Portsmouth 2-1 in their south-coast derby.

Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 with second half goals by Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, from the penalty spot, and Fredrik Ljungberg as most Premier League clubs showed their superiority over second division opponents.

New striker James Beattie scored his first goal for Everton in their 3-0 win over Sunderland, while Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer got their first in a 3-1 win over Coventry City.

Fulham were held to a surprise 1-1 draw, though, at Derby County, while fourth division Yeovil, famous for their 20 wins over League clubs as a minor-league team, had their giant-killing hopes dashed in 3-2 defeat at Charlton Athletic. The place to be for drama was St Mary’s, where the eagerly-awaited tie between Harry Redknapp’s Southampton and the Portsmouth side he quit in November was decided by a Peter Crouch penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Midfielder Matt Oakley fired Southampton into a 54th minute lead, but Portsmouth’s Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni leveled for their south-coast rivals from the penalty spot just two minutes later.

Portsmouth looked to set for a replay despite a 72nd-minute red card for French striker Diomansy Kamara until the hosts were awarded the spot-kick for a handball by Portsmouth’s Matthew Taylor, despite Portsmouth protests.

Crouch, a former Portsmouth player, stroked the ball home in a thrilling finale to a game that pitched Southampton manager Harry Redknapp against the club he left in November.

Bayern’s Closest Challengers Suffer Surprise Defeats

In Frankfurt, Bayern Munich’s quest for the Bundesliga title received a yesterday with rivals Schalke 04 losing 2-0 at Kaiserslautern while VfB Stuttgart lost 4-2 at home to FC Nuremberg.

Kaiserslautern took the lead against second-placed Schalke with a goal from Ioannis Amanatidis in the 56th minute and a penalty from Stefan Blank sealed victory.

Third-placed Stuttgart clawed their way back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 against Nuremberg but Marek Mintal and Markus Schroth scored late on to give them a deserved win. Bayern can move three points clear of Schalke, and six ahead of Stuttgart, if they win away to Hertha Berlin today.

Bayern lead the standings with 37 points, still ahead of Schalke on goal difference. Stuttgart are third on 34, with Bayer Leverkusen moving to fourth on 32 points after they won 4-0 at home to VfL Bochum.

Rangers Hammer Home Point to Bottom Boys

In Glasgow, Rangers went top of the Scottish Premier League yesterday after dishing out a 3-0 hammering at home to bottom of the table Livingston. Dado Prso, Fernando Ricksen and Nacho Novo scored the goals to take Alex McLeish’s side above Celtic, who play Kilmarnock today, on goal difference.

Rangers had quickly demonstrated their superiority over the side propping up the SPL table and dominated possession from the start.

In the eighth minute they created their first opening. Thomas Buffel was given time wide on the right to pick out Prso with a floated cross but the Croatian striker’s powerful downward header was brilliantly saved by Livingston keeper Roddy McKenzie low to his left.

Greek international defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos was making his debut for the Ibrox club, following his transfer from Panathinaikos, and in the 14th minute he created the opening goal.

In a historic match in the north of Scotland Inverness Caledonian Thistle won 2-0 against Dunfermline in the first SPL match at Caledonian stadium. Barry Wilson put them ahead in the first-half and player-manager Craig Brewster doubled their lead after the break. Dundee United and Dundee shared the points in a four goal thriller at Tannadice.

At Tynecastle Dennis Wynnes scored from the spot to give Hearts the win at home to Aberdeen.