LONDON, 19 February 2007 — Striker Robbie Keane scored twice to steer Tottenham Hotspur to a 4-0 win at Fulham while Manchester City came back to beat Preston North End 3-1 to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

In two copycat strikes, Keane volleyed home superbly from the edge of the area in the seventh and 69th minutes at Craven Cottage, both times supplied by Egypt striker Mido. Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov came off the bench to turn it into a rout, scoring in the 78th and 89th, and Fulham’s misery was complete when Italian substitute Vincenzo Montella was red-carded at the end.

Late goals gave City their comeback win in the fifth round at Deepdale and a place in Monday’s draw.

A shot by Greek striker Georgios Samaras, initially credited with the goal, was deflected in by defender Matthew Hill for 2-1 and Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland added the third.

Manchester United and Arsenal face replays after Saturday’s ties, but Chelsea cruised into the last eight with a 4-0 romp at home to second division Norwich City.

United will visit Reading on Feb. 27 after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford while Arsenal will be at Ewood Park the following night after a 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates Stadium. Watford and second division Plymouth Argyle are in the last eight while Middlesbrough face a replay at the Hawthorns after a 2-2 draw with second division West Bromwich Albion.

Ten-Man Celta Vigo Claim First

Win in 12 League Games

In Madrid, ten-man Celta Vigo secured their first win in 12 league games as they overcame Osasuna 1-0 in the Primera Liga yesterday. A header from Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano put them in front in the second minute and they hung on for the three points despite losing midfielder Fabian Canobbio to a red card just before the break. However, Celta remained in the relegation zone, in 18th place, as Athletic Bilbao beat Getafe 2-0 at home with goals from striker Aritz Aduriz.

Elsewhere, Racing Santander came from behind to thump bottom club Gimnastic 4-1 at home, while two goals from striker Luis Garcia helped Espanyol to a 3-1 win over visiting Real Mallorca.

Recreativo Huelva climbed to seventh in the table with a 1-0 home win over Real Sociedad. Real Madrid, who are third, missed out on the chance to put pressure on the top two when they were held 0-0 at home by Real Betis on Saturday.

Nuremberg Beat Cottbus to

Press European Claims

In Berlin, Nuremberg pressed their claims for a European place next season when a 1-0 win at home to Energie Cottbus in the Bundesliga yesterday stretched their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

Michael Beauchamp got the only goal late in the second half, just a minute after Cottbus were reduced to 10 men with the sending-off of Daniel Ziebig for a second booking.

The result sees Nuremberg consolidate fifth place on 36 points — just a point behind champions Bayern Munich.

With 22 games played, Schalke 04, who drew 2-2 at VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday, are top with 49 points.

VfB Stuttgart moved up to second on 44 points after a 4-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.

Werder Bremen, beaten 2-0 at home by Hamburg SV, are third with 42 points, while Bayern, 1-0 losers at Alemannia Aachen, are fourth, five points further back, and in danger of missing out on the Champions League next season.

In yesterday’s other game, VfL Bochum moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Arminia Bielefeld.

Greek striker Theofanis Gekas scored twice to put them 2-0 up after 10 minutes and although Artur Wichniarek pulled one back in the 26th, Christoph Dabrowski made the points safe with a third goal six minutes after the break.

Bochum move up three places to 14th on the back of their sixth win of the season.

Ferguson goal gives Rangers

2-1 win over Falkirk

In Glasgow, Rangers beat Falkirk 2-1 with a late goal from captain Barry Ferguson in yesterday’s Scottish Premier League clash to move seven points clear of third-placed Aberdeen.

Rangers are 19 points behind champions Celtic on 52 points from 28 games while Aberdeen, who lost 2-1 to the leaders on Saturday, are level on 45 points with Hearts but have a better goal difference.

“After coming back from a European game, (and a) long journey, we didn’t reach the level we have done in previous games,” Rangers manager Walter Smith said.

Falkirk fought back in the second period and Carl Finnigan latched on to a pass from Alan Gow to rifle a shot across Rangers keeper Allan McGregor from 15 meters in the 65th minute.

Rangers snatched the lead again in the 73rd minute when Charlie Adam’s free kick near the right touchline sparked chaos in the box before Ferguson hooked the ball into the net from a meter out at the near post The misery piled up for Falkirk when Thomas Scobbie was shown a straight red card by referee Stuart Dougal for bringing down Rangers substitute Chris Burke eight minutes from time.

Dundee United and Hibernian slugged out a 0-0 draw in the other Sunday fixture.