European football round-up: Real held, Muamba gets tributes

European soccer suffered a harrowing weekend after Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch and a riot caused the abandonment of the Greek derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Pireaus.

A minute's applause was held for Muamba, who is critically ill in hospital, before Manchester United's 5-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers while Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo dedicated their 5-0 thrashing of Fiorentina to the 23-year-old.

ENGLAND

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba remained critically ill after collapsing during the FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

The match was abandoned before halftime and the 23-year-old's condition dominated the weekend with many players and clubs offering their support for the England Under-21 international.

Fernando Torres scored his first goal for five months and added another as Chelsea overwhelmed Leicester City 5-2 to reach the Cup semi-finals. Liverpool beat Stoke City 2-1 to make the last four and Everton drew 1-1 with Sunderland.

Manchester United moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a crushing 5-0 win at struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers, Mexican striker Javier Hernandez scoring twice for the champions.

Newcastle went ahead after only 11 minutes against Norwich, Cisse steering the bouncing ball expertly into the net from a cross by Jonas Gutierrez.

SPAIN

Santi Cazorla's last-minute freekick earned Malaga a dramatic 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu that saw Real Madrid's lead cut back to eight points in La Liga.

Karim Benzema headed Real in front after 35 minutes but they failed to put away their chances and Malaga deserved a late equaliser that boosted their chances of European qualification for next season.

Second-placed Barcelona had kept the pressure on the leaders when Xavi and Lionel Messi, with a stunning run and lob, won 2-0 at Sevilla on Saturday.

Real have 71 points with 11 matches left to play, champions Barca have 63 and Valencia are third with 47 after Roberto Soldado scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.

GERMANY

Champions Borussia Dortmund stayed five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga after Shinji Kagawa's ninth goal of the season gave them a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Bayern Munich demolished Hertha Berlin 6-0 away to stay second on 54 points with Dutch winger Arjen Robben scoring a hat-trick as the Bavarians took their tally to 20 goals in three matches.

Borussia Moenchengladbach, on 51 points, stayed in the hunt for a Champions League spot after grabbing an 88th-minute winner through Igor de Camargo in their 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

ITALY

Urby Emanuelson scored a cracker as AC Milan stayed four points clear in Serie A after a 2-0 win at Parma but second-placed Juventus rediscovered their top form with a 5-0 away thrashing of Fiorentina.

Lazio stayed third despite a 1-0 loss to Catania after rivals Udinese and Napoli drew 2-2.

FRANCE

Paris St Germain preserved their Ligue 1 lead thanks to Christophe Jallet's stoppage-time goal which earned them a 2-2 draw at lowly Caen.

PSG top the table with 59 points from 28 games, two ahead of Montpellier who were beaten 1-0 at Nancy after having two players sent off.

PORTUGAL

Porto, Benfica and Braga all won to keep the chase for the Portuguese title finely balanced with only one point between them.

Leaders Porto, on 56 points after 23 matches, had to sweat to beat Nacional 2-0 on the island of Madeira with goals from Austrian striker Marc Janko and Brazilian left back Alex Sandro.

Paraguay forward Oscar Cardozo grabbed a brace and an assist in Benfica's 3-1 home win over Beira Mar and Braga crushed Feirense 4-1 away. Benfica and Braga are joint-second on 55 points.

NETHERLANDS

Ajax Amsterdam won 2-0 against 10-men ADO Den Haag to close in on leaders AZ Alkmaar, who are a point ahead after being held 0-0 by NAC Breda.

Dries Mertens scored twice as PSV Eindhoven thrashed Heerenveen 5-1 to earn Phillip Cocu his first win as head coach since succeeding the sacked Fred Rutten last Monday.

GREECE

The big Greek derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Pireaus was abandoned after being interrupted twice by crowd violence.

Three fire trucks were called in to extinguish flames as unruly Panathinaikos fans set several sections of the stands on fire.

SCOTLAND