LONDON: Arsenal subdued a spirited Leeds United to reach the FA Cup fourth round with a 3-1 victory in a lively third-round replay at Elland Road Wednesday. Given a lifeline by Cesc Fabregas's late equalizer from the penalty spot in north London 11 days ago, Arsenal moved through to face League One (third division) Huddersfield Town with goals from Samir Nasri, Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie. It was never comfortable for Arsenal, however, as Championship (second division) Leeds was given hope by Bradley Johnson's piledriver shortly before halftime after the Yorkshire club had fallen 2-0 behind. Leeds could not live with Arsenal's pace and movement in the opening exchanges and Nasri stroked the visitors ahead with just five minutes on the clock to silence the vast majority of a 38,000 crowd. When Sagna's powerful rising drive from a tight angle evaded Kasper Schmeichel after 35 minutes there looked no way back for Leeds but Johnson had other ideas, connecting sweetly from 25 meters with a stunning shot that left Wojciech Szczesny clawing at thin air. The home side had a couple of chances to equalize in the second half but Arsenal held firm and substitute Van Persie headed the clinching goal from Nicklas Bendtner's pinpoint cross with what was virtually his first touch. Barca's record run ends In Madrid, Real Betis snapped Barcelona's club record unbeaten run at 28 with a 3-1 victory in the Copa del Rey but the Spanish champion still reached the semifinals after winning the series 6-3 on aggregate. Jorge Molina scored twice within seven minutes of the start of Wednesday's return leg to give the fans at Benito Villamarin Stadium some hope. Betis managed to keep Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez from linking until the 38th minute when the Argentina forward held off two defenders to gather Xavi's pass and slip a shot through goalkeeper Casto Espinosa's legs. It was Messi's 32nd goal of the season in all competitions. Messi failed to make it 33 after shooting a penalty over the goal in the 54th and Arturo “Arzu” Garcia re-established the two-goal lead after swinging to volley a poorly cleared ball past keeper Jose Manuel Pinto. The second-division leader avenged a lopsided loss at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona suffered its last defeat: A 2-0 league loss to Hercules on Sept. 11. Almeria awaits Barcelona in the final four after beating Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 to reach the semifinals for the first time after winning the series 4-2 on aggregate. Inter beats Cesena In Milan, Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito and Cristian Chivu scored in the first half as Inter Milan beat Cesena 3-2 in the Serie A Wednesday and continued its 100 percent record under Leonardo. Inter quickly went into a 2-0 lead, but Erjon Bogdani and Emanuele Giaccherini brought Cesena level before Chivu scored just before halftime. After the break, goalkeepers Luca Castellazzi and Francesco Antonioli took turns to star. Giaccherini was later sent off for two bookings. Inter was fourth, six points behind leader AC Milan with a game in hand. In the Italian Cup, Roma beat city rival Lazio 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals and will be joined by Sampdoria, which required penalties to overcome Udinese. Indian to buy Racing Santander Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed plans to buy indebted Primera Liga side Racing Santander for between 30 and 40 million euros (40-54 million dollars), the Spanish press said Thursday. A deal could be wrapped up Monday, said El Diario Montanes, a regional daily paper in the northern Spanish region of Cantabria, whose capital is Santander. Ali Syed, founder of Bahrain-based asset manager Western Gulf Advisory, would invest about 90 million euros in the next five years and pay 30-40 million euros for the purchase, the paper said.
