FA Cup: Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool defeated the last remaining Manchester club in United thanks to a stunning late strike from Dutchman Dirk Kuyt.

The tie seemed destined for a replay at Old Trafford before the late strike from Kuyt two minutes from time to guarantee a passage through to the next round.

In the shock of the round, championship side Brighton defeated their Premier League opposition Newcastle by 1-0. Chelsea and Stoke City both had relatively comfortable victories over Queens Park Rangers and Derby County respectively.

Cameron Jerome and Robert Huth scored in Stoke’s 2-0 victory while Spanish international Juan Mata converted a penalty to send the Londoners through. Simeon Jackson’s 85th-minute strike hand Norwich a place in the round of 16 as they defeated West Brom 2-1.

Bolton edged Swansea 2-1 while Sunderland will have replay against championship side Middlesbrough. An inspired second-half performance saw Arsenal complete a stunning turnaround against Aston Villa to progress to the next round of the FA Cup with a 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium. A brace of penalties from Robin Van Persie and a strike from Walcott completed the comeback.

Lucky #7

La Liga: Real Madrid bounced back from their Copa del Rey exit by maintaining their push for the Primera Liga title with a 3-1 win over Zaragoza. The relegation-threatened team stunned the hosts by taking the lead after just 11 minutes.

Madrid fought back and drew level just past the half-hour mark when Kaka found the net. Cristiano Ronaldo gave Real the lead four minutes after the break with his 31st goal of the season and Mesut Ozil sealed the win with a third on 56 minutes.

The win now puts Madrid seven points clear of rivals Barca who stuttered to an unimpressive 0-0 draw with Villarreal. Espanyol maintained their push for Europe with a 1-0 win over Mallorca while Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick to inspire Athletic Bilbao to a 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano.

Getafe and Granada both had 2-1 victories over Levante and Betis respectively. Real Sociedad thrashed Sporting Gijon 5-1 thanks to a brace from midfielder Zarutuza. Valencia and Racing both ended with 10 men and a 2-2 draw.

Juve tighten grip on top

Serie A: Juventus tightened their grip on top spot with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Udinese. Alessandro Matri was the hero for the Old Lady as his brace strengthened their claim for the title. Catania and Parma remain separated by just a point in the Serie A standings after a 1-1 draw, while Siena remains in trouble after going down 2-1 at Fiorentina.

Igor Budan scored in either half as Palermo claimed a 2-0 triumph over struggling Novara. Roma were unable to repeat the heroics of the last round and played out to a 1-1 draw with Bologna. Napoli’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League suffered a dent after they were defeated 3-2 by Genoa.

A Marco Rossi own-goal handed Atalanta all three points against Cesena while Lazio easily brushed aside Chievo 3-0. Inter suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Lecce to put the brakes back on their title charge.

Three-way-tie

Bundesliga: Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke are all on 40 points heading into round 20 of the Bundesliga. Bayern defeated Wolfsburg 2-0, Dortmund got Hoffenheim 3-1 and Schalke brushed aside Cologne 4-1.

Augsburg fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home with fellow strugglers Kaiserslautern. Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen played out to a 1-1 draw while Mainz returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Freiburg.

Hamburg edged Hertha Berlin 2-1 and Marco Reus continues to knock on the door of Germany for a spot in the squad for Euro 2012 as he helped Monchengladbach to a 3-0 beating of Stuttgart.