nuisance golgotha: Man United routed by Newcastle

By STEVE DOUGLAS

updated 6:13 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2012

LONDON - Manchester United lost its second straight Premier League game, a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday night that left Manchester City with a three-point lead.

The most unusual occurrence of the night was in Liverpool, where Everton's Tim Howard became just the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League, putting in a wind-blown clearance from about 100 yards during Everton's 2-1 loss to Bolton.

Playing his 250th club match in England, Howard gave Everton a 63rd-minute lead at Goodison Park. His right-footed kick from about 5 yards inside his own penalty area bounced about 30 yards from the Bolton goal and was blown by the wind over leaping Bolton keeper Adam Bogdan, who was standing by his 6-yard box. Howard hardly reacted.

Bolton rallied on goals by David Ngog in the 67th and Gary Cahill in the 78th.

The only other goalkeepers to score in the Premier League are Peter Schmeichel, American Brad Friedel and Paul Robinson.

Friedel scored for Blackburn following a corner kick at Charlton in the 90th minute on Feb. 21, 2004, but Claus Jensen scored seconds later to give Charlton a 3-2 win. Schmeichel's goal also was in a losing effort, for Aston Villa in a 3-2 defeat at Everton on Oct. 20, 2001. Robinson scored in a 3-1 home win over Watford on March 17.

The game marked the return to Everton of American midfielder Landon Donovan.

Following its 3-2 defeat at home to Blackburn on Saturday, United stumbled again as Newcastle got goals from Demba Ba in the 33rd and Yohan Cabaye in the 47th. Phil Jones headed the ball for an own goal in the 90th.

City (15-2-3) hosts United (14-3-3) on Sunday in the third round of the FA Cup.

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas scored two goals each, Xavi Hernandez had three assists and Barcelona beat Osasuna 4-0 in the first leg of the fifth round of the Copa del Rey.

Messi, recovering from the flu, entered in the 59th minute and raised his season total to 31 goals when he scored on a header off Fabregas' cross in the 73rd and a 17-yard left-footed shot in the 90th. Just nine of Messi's 211 goals for Barcelona have been on headers.

Fabregas, who has 13 goals in his first season with Barcelona, scored in the 14th and 18th minutes.

Barcelona has outscored opponents 99-16 this season, including 37-1 in winning eight games in a row.

The second legs are next week. Barcelona could advance to a quarterfinal against defending champion Real Madrid, which beat Malaga 3-2 on Tuesday.

In Wednesday's other game, Real Sociedad defeated Mallorca 2-0.

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Man United routed by Newcastle

??Manchester United lost its second straight Premier League game, a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle on Wednesday night that left Manchester City with a three-point lead.

Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters