Premier League sides Manchester United and Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday after seeing off lower league opponents Southampton and Gillingham. United beat Championship (division two) struggler Southampton, who played for almost an hour with 10 men, 3-0 at St. Mary's Stadium and will now meet Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in the fourth round. Aston Villa won 2-1 at League Two (fourth division) Gillingham with James Milner celebrating his 23rd birthday by scoring both goals. United weathered some early pressure from Southampton but the outcome was rarely in doubt after Danny Welbeck headed home from two meters out in the 20th minute. Southampton was in more trouble 16 minutes later when teenage defender Matthew Paterson was sent off by referee Mike Riley for a studs-up challenge on United defender Nemanja Vidic although the challenge hardly troubled the Serbia defender. United effectively wrapped the tie up in the 48th minute after Riley made another controversial decision, ruling that David McGoldrick had handled a Nani freekick when the ball appeared to hit his back. Nani duly converted the penalty. Substitute Darron Gibson scored United's third after 81 minutes. Villa was made to work hard for its victory at Gillingham. Milner put the visitors ahead with a superb strike after 13 minutes after playing a clever one-two with Stilian Petrov, but Gillingham's endeavor paid off after 57 minutes when they equalized through Canadian international Simeon Jackson who blasted an unstoppable shot past Brad Friedel. Villa though, regained the lead with 11 minutes to play when Milner scored from a penalty after Gills skipper Adam Miller was adjudged by referee Keith Stroud to have brought down Ashley Young. Madrid keeps improving Arjen Robben scored a spectacular goal Sunday to help Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0 in the Spanish league and keep the defending champion improving under coach Juande Ramos. Robben cut in from the touchline and evaded three Villarreal players as he darted across the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before sending a curling shot past Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez from the edge of the penalty area in the 32nd minute. Madrid, which saw Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra make their team debuts in the team's first encounter of 2009, has won three of its four games in all competitions since Ramos replaced the fired Bernd Schuster last month. Villarreal remains on 29 points after managing only one victory in its past seven league games. Sevilla dropped to fourth place by drawing 1-1 with last-place Osasuna. After 17 games, Barcelona leads the league with 44 points, 11 more than Valencia. Madrid and Sevilla follow with 32, while Atletico Madrid has 30. Also Sunday, it was: Almeria 1, Real Betis 0; Valladolid 0, Racing Santander 1; Athletic Bilbao 1, Espanyol 1; Recreativo Huelva 3, Numancia 1; Malaga 1, Sporting Gijon 0; and Getafe 1, Deportivo La Coruna 2. Liverpool faces Everton Neighbors Liverpool and Everton have been drawn to meet in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and Manchester United will host Tottenham. The draw for the last 32 of football's oldest and most famous domestic cup competition was made Sunday and Liverpool and Everton were the first two names out. Liverpool has won the trophy seven times, the last being three seasons ago, and the last of Everton's five triumphs was in 1995. Liverpool beat Preston 2-0 on Saturday, while Everton triumphed 1-0 at Macclesfield. Manchester won 3-0 Sunday and the reward was a home game against eight-time FA Cup winner Tottenham. Arsenal goes to Cardiff, last season's runner-up. Cardiff is the only non-English team to win the trophy. If Chelsea gets past its replay, it would host League Championship club Ipswich in the fourth round. The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Southend. Nottingham Forest must visit neighbor Derby in a meeting of two League Championship clubs. League One team Hartlepool gets another home game against West Ham.
