Liverpool wins League Cup on penalty kicks

LONDON (AP) ― Liverpool won its first trophy in six years Sunday, beating second-tier Cardiff 3-2 in a penalty shootout to capture the League Cup while Manchester United kept the Premier League title race bubbling with a last-gasp victory.

It was a bittersweet day for Liverpool captain Steve Gerrard, who collected the club’s eighth League Cup title after cousin Anthony Gerrard missed the decisive penalty kick for Cardiff at Wembley Stadium.

“It’s always cruel when it comes to penalties,” Steven Gerrard said. “It was always going to be that one of us was sad and one celebrating. I’ve got mixed emotions. I’m delighted to win the cup for our supporters. But I feel for Anthony and Cardiff. It doesn’t matter what I say to him ― he’s going to be down. I’ll be there for him.”

The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra time, with Cardiff defender Ben Turner taking the match to penalty kicks with a goal in the 118th minute.

“It’s not a nice way to win a cup but we’ll take it,” said Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who delivered a trophy for the club’s American owners 13 months after returning to one of England’s most successful teams.

Ryan Giggs marked his 900th game for United by scoring a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 win at Norwich. United is two points behind Manchester City.

Third-place Tottenham’s title hopes were damaged after losing 5-2 to Arsenal. Tottenham is eight points behind United and seven ahead of Arsenal, which climbed back above Chelsea to fourth place by virtue of ihaving more goals.

Spain

Lionel Messi scored on a looping free kick in the 81st minute, giving Barcelona a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid that kept the three-time defending Spanish league champions 10 points behind first-place Real Madrid.

Dani Alves scored for Barcelona in the 36th minute, but Radamel Falcao tied it in the 49th. Messi put Barcelona back ahead with his 43rd goal of the season, his 28th in the league. Barcelona won for the first time in three road games and sent Atletico to its first loss in 10 games under new coach Diego Simeone.

Cristiano Ronaldo gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano with a superb back-heeled goal in the 54th minute. Ronaldo leads the league with 29 goals and has 37 overall this season. Madrid has won nine straight road games in the league.

Italy

Inter Milan lost for the seventh time in eight matches, 1-0 at Napoli as Ezequiel Lavezzi scored in the 59th minute.

Napoli defender Salvatore Aronica was sent off in the 78th minute for a serious foul. Giampaolo Pazzini missed a good chance to tie the score in the 88th minute as Inter went scoreless for the fifth straight match in all competitions.

Lazio defeated Fiorentina 1-0 on Miroslav Klose’s goal in the 36th minute. Udinese beat Bologna 3-1 to remain even with third-place Lazio. Antonio Di Natale put Udinese ahead in the 38th minute with a penalty kick, his league-leading 18th goal, and Dusan Basta made it 2-1 in the 57th. After Panagiotis Kone scored for Bologna in the 81st, Antonio Floro Flores restored Udinese’s two-goal advantage three minutes later.

Germany

Franck Ribery scored twice for Bayern Munich to beat Schalke 2-0 in the Bundesliga and stem talk of a crisis engulfing the club.

Ribery put the home team ahead in the 36th minute. In the 55th minute, he combined with Thomas Mueller before firing a deflected shot beyond the helpless Timo Hildebrand.

Bayern started the day in third place and Schalke would have overtaken the Bavarians with a win. Before kickoff, Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer declared it “the most important game of the whole season.”

France

Defending champion Lille missed the chance to close the gap on second place after giving up a goal late for a 1-1 tie at Rennes, and Marseille’s 16-game unbeaten streak in all competitions ended with a 1-0 loss at Brest that damaged its bid for a Champions League place.