LONDON — Chelsea capitulated in the second half against relegation-threatened Southampton by surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in the English Premier League Wednesday. Demba Ba and Eden Hazard gave Chelsea a comfortable halftime lead before the west London club experienced its third successive setback at home. Southampton had created little in the first half, but Rickie Lambert came off the bench after the break and made an immediate impact, heading past Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to reduce the deficit. And Jason Puncheon completed a rapid Southampton counterattack in the 75th minute by volleying in the equalizer as the south-coast team rose three points clear of the drop zone. Chelsea remains third but Tottenham is only two points behind and the prospect of catching the Manchester rivals in the title race appears increasingly beyond this team. The Blues are six points behind Manchester City and 13 adrift of Manchester United. United, Arsenal through Manchester United and Arsenal negotiated testing replays in the FA Cup to both win 1-0 and reach the fourth round Wednesday. United was reliant on an early goal from England striker Wayne Rooney, playing his first game in three weeks after a knee injury, to squeeze past West Ham at Old Trafford and earn a match against Fulham. Rooney later missed a penalty. Arsenal left it late to seal a deserved victory at Emirates Stadium, with Jack Wilshere capping a superb display with an 86th-minute winner to knock out a tired-looking Swansea. Second-tier Brighton, the third-round conqueror of Newcastle, is next for Arsene Wenger's team. Roma edges Fiorentina Roma narrowly won 1-0 at Fiorentina after extra time in the Italian Cup quarterfinals Wednesday. Mattia Destro, who missed several earlier chances, scored the only goal seven minutes into extra time. Teammate Daniele De Rossi had an earlier strike ruled out. Roma will meet Inter Milan in the semifinals. The winner will face either Juventus or Lazio in the final. Malaga holds Barcelona 2-2 A 10-man Malaga held Barcelona to 2-2 at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals Wednesday. Against the flow of play, Malaga opened the scoring when midfielder Manuel Iturra poached a ball that goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto tentatively sent up to defender Thiago Alcantara in the 25th minute. Lionel Messi's solo riposte came four minutes later, as he raced up the right flank, beating defender Welington and goalkeeper Idriss Kameni. A minute later captain Carles Puyol doubled Barcelona's score when he headed a lob over Kameni from a corner kick. Ignacio Camacho scored in the 90th, ending the host's seven-game winning streak. Before the match, Messi presented the 55,000 fans at the Camp Nou his world player of the year trophies he has earned in the last four years. Earlier, Unai Emery began his first match as coach of Sevilla with a 0-0 draw against Zaragoza also in a first-leg quarterfinal. Rennes in cup final Rennes beat visiting Montpellier 2-0 to reach the League Cup final Wednesday. Rennes will play Saint-Etienne in the final on April 20 at Stade de France. On Tuesday, Saint-Etienne beat Lille 7-6 in a penalty shootout. — Agencies
