LONDON — A rejuvenated Mesut Ozil helped Arsenal secure a place in the FA Cup semifinals for the first time since 2009 while Manchester United eased past West Bromwich 3-0 to keep alive its faint top-four hopes in the Premier League Saturday. Arsenal beat Everton 4-1 at Emirates Stadium to become the first team through to the last four, with substitute Olivier Giroud scoring two of the hosts' three goals in the final 22 minutes. Romelu Lukaku equalized in the 32nd for Everton, before Mikel Arteta put the host back in front with a twice-taken penalty in the 68th. Yet it was the display of Ozil that stood out, the Germany playmaker responding to criticism of his lackluster recent performances by scoring the opening goal in the seventh minute, setting up Giroud's second and working tirelessly for the team. The other quarterfinal matches are Sunday. Phil Jones, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck scored for United at the Hawthorns to move the beleaguered champion up to sixth, provisionally nine points behind fourth-place Manchester City. It will need an almost-flawless run-in for United to finish in the Champions League positions but the result at least will boost confidence that dropped to a season low after losing 2-0 at Olympiakos in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match 11 days ago. City, which plays defending champion Wigan in the FA Cup Sunday in a repeat of the 2013 final, has two games in hand over United in the league. Fulham stayed in last place by losing 3-1 at fellow struggler Cardiff, which is third from bottom but level on points with fourth-bottom West Brom. Southampton won 1-0 at Crystal Palace thanks to Jay Rodriguez's goal and Norwich drew 1-1 with Stoke. Valladolid shocks Barca Barcelona's title defense took a blow on Saturday when it stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Valladolid, missing the chance to move to the top of the Spanish standings ahead of its Champions League clash with Manchester City at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi was the only Barcelona player who looked sharp, while his teammates were plagued by uncharacteristic passing errors and again proved brittle at the back. Relegation-threatened Valladolid outplayed the defending champion early and midfielder Fausto Rossi netted the winner in the 17th minute. Leader Real Madrid can increase its one-point advantage over Barcelona when it host Levante Sunday. ‘Messi vomiting not normal' Recent episodes of vomiting suffered by Barcelona forward Lionel Messi are “not normal” but they do not affect his performance and there is no cause for alarm, coach Gerardo Martino said Friday. Messi was sick during Argentina's 0-0 draw with Romania Wednesday and the four-times World Player of the Year said it was something that had occurred several times at Barca but was nothing to be concerned about. “It happens to him regularly and he has even gone to see specialists at certain times,” Martino told a news conference ahead of Barca's La Liga game at Real Valladolid. “They haven't solved the problem but it isn't a cause for concern. It doesn't affect him at all in terms of doing his job,” he added. Bayern routs Wolfsburg Bayern Munich blitzed Wolfsburg with five goals in 17 minutes to come from a goal down and win 6-1 to stretch its winning run to a Bundesliga record 16 games Saturday. Naldo deservedly scored in the 17th minute for the home side, before Xherdan Shaqiri equalized after a goalmouth scramble in the 26th. Thomas Mueller scored in the 63rd, Mario Mandzukic likewise three minutes later, then Franck Ribery in the 71st, before Mueller claimed his second in the 78th and set up Mandzukic two minutes later. Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored a hat trick as Schalke beat Hoffenheim 4-0, Borussia Moenchengladbach lost 2-1 at home to Augsburg, bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig drew 2-2 at Stuttgart, Hamburger SV drew 1-1 with visiting Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Hannover. — Agencies
