Celtic, Rangers battle to scoreless draw


LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal’s slim hopes of winning the Premier League were virtually extinguished Sunday on a last-minute goal by Bolton substitute Tamir Cohen in a 2-1 loss.

The Israel midfielder, who came on in the 85th minute, glanced in a near-post header from a corner kick to leave third-place Arsenal nine points adrift of league leader Manchester United with four matches remaining.

“Of course the chances are very minimal now,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Netherlands striker Robin van Persie, who scored in a seventh straight away game in the Premier League, had brought the Gunners back in the 47th minute after Bolton’s prolific forward Daniel Sturridge broke the deadlock from close range seven minutes before halftime.

Arsenal ― without a trophy in six years ― is now struggling to finish second with Chelsea three points clear. It was the Gunners’ first defeat in 17 league games.

“It’s hard to lose a game like that. It’s hard to swallow but we gave everything,” Wenger said. “We had the chances to win it.”

United, which beat Everton 1-0 on Saturday, is at Arsenal on May 1, then hosts reigning champion Chelsea on May 8 in title-defining matches. Chelsea defeated West Ham 3-0 on Saturday.

Spain

Giuseppe Rossi scored his 30th goal of the season in the 73rd minute as Villarreal lost 3-2 at Sevilla in the Spanish league.

Villarreal trailed 3-2 before the forward from New Jersey scored 19 minutes after replacing Nimar. He has 17 league goals, fourth behind Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (31), Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (29) and Barcelona’s David Villa (18). Rossi also has 10 goals in the Europa League and three in the Copa del Rey.

Alvaro Negredo scored one goal and set up another for sixth-place Sevilla, which also got goals from Ivan Rakitic and Koffi Romaric. Carlos Marchena also scored for fourth-place Villarreal.

Sergio Aguero scored twice as Atletico Madrid beat Levante 4-1. Mallorca beat Getafe 2-0 to keep itself above the Spanish league’s relegation zone, while Malaga and Hercules both won to improve their hopes.

Jose Carlos Nunes and Akihiro Ienaga took advantage of poor defending to head home corner kicks as Mallorca moved nine points clear of the drop while Getafe stayed four above.

Nacho Novo’s 71st-minute goal gave Sporting Gijon a 1-0 win over Espanyol to remain one point behind Mallorca, and Julio Baptista scored a 32nd-minute opener before creating Sebastian Fernandez’s goal in Malaga’s 2-1 win over Racing Santander.

Malaga’s fourth win in six games moved it three points clear of Hercules, which is in the relegation zone with Zaragoza despite a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna.

Tiago Gomes scored in the 59th for Hercules after a cross from Kiko at the Jose Rico Perez Stadium, where the hosts won for the first time in more than two months.

Germany

Ashkan Dejagah scored twice Sunday as Wolfsburg beat Cologne 4-1, giving coach Felix Magath his first win in five games since returning to the 2009 Bundesliga champion.

Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring in the 14th and Dejagah helped create the Croat’s second goal in the 39th, five minutes after coming on for Cicero.

Lackluster defending allowed Dejagah to get Wolfsburg’s third goal in the 58th ― after Sebastian Freis pulled one back for Cologne ― and the 24-year-old Dejagah added a fourth with two minutes remaining in Magath’s 450th Bundesliga game as a coach.

With three games remaining, Wolfsburg remains in the relegation playoff place ― three points behind Cologne, which drops to 14th.

Nuremberg was held to a 0-0 tie at home by Mainz in the late game, with both sides battling for the last Europa League place.

France

First-place Lille extended its winless streak to three with a 1-1 draw at Lorient in the French league.

Lille leads defending champion Marseille by two points but Marseille has six games left to five for Lille. Marseille won its second straight League Cup, 1-0 over Montpellier on Saturday, and hosts Nice on Wednesday.

Lille opened the scoring on a goal by Mathieu Debuchy against the run of the play in the 41st minute, but Kevin Gameiro tied it in the 67th. Lille’s Eden Hazard hit a post five minutes from the end.

Paris Saint-Germain’s hopes of winning the league were dealt a blow when it needed a late own goal to salvage a 2-2 draw at Brest. PSG missed the opportunity to win a third straight game for the first time this season and remained fourth in the standings, seven points back.

Also Sunday, it was: Auxerre 1, Lens 1; Bordeaux 2, Saint-Etienne 0; Caen 1, Toulouse 1; Monaco 1, Rennes 0; Nancy 0, Arles 0; and Valenciennes 1, Sochaux 1.

Scotland

Celtic had a late penalty shot saved in a 0-0 draw with Rangers, but emerged from Sunday’s Old Firm match favored to win the Scottish Premier League title.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor dived to his left to tip aside an 82nd-minute spot kick by Greece striker Georgios Samaras, keeping the hosts a point clear of Celtic at the top of the table. But Celtic has a game in hand with five matches remaining over the defending champions.

The match took place against a backdrop of mounting sectarianism but appeared to pass off without any major incident, both on and off the pitch.

A thousand extra police officers were drafted in to prevent violence at this season’s seventh match between the two teams.