LONDON (AP) -- Peter Crouch's hat trick powered Liverpool to a 4-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday that lifted the club into third place in the Premier League and ended a four-game losing streak against the Gunners.
Crouch scored in the fourth, 35th and 81st minutes, with Daniel Agger heading in the other goal for Liverpool at Anfield. William Gallas had a late goal for Arsenal.
"It's a special moment," Crouch said. "The win was the most important thing, but I'm so pleased with the hat trick."
Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett and Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who completed their takeover of Liverpool this week, watched from the stands.
Manchester United rallied to beat Blackburn 4-1 with goals from Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-sung and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. The Red Devils lead the league with 78 points.
Chelsea remained six points behind Man U after a 1-0 win over last-place Watford. Salomon Kalou took a cross from Andriy Shevchenko to head in the winner in injury time.
Arsenal dropped from third to fourth with 55 points. Liverpool is third with 57.
Man United fell behind when Carrick deflected the ball toward his own goal and Blackburn's Matt Derbyshire ran on to score in the 29th.
U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel of Blackburn denied United in the first half, but Scholes delivered a tying goal in the 61st minute. Carrick put United in the lead in the 73rd, with Park adding a goal in the 83rd.
United lost defender Nemanja Vidic in the 28th minute with a broken collarbone. He'll be out for up to five weeks.
At the other end of the standings, Charlton moved closer to safety with a 1-0 win over Wigan. It's in 18th place with 30 points. West Ham is in 19th place with 26 points after a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough. Carlos Tevez scored one goal and set up Bobby Zamora for the other.
Fulham tied 1-1 with Portsmouth, with Carlos Bocanegra playing the whole game and Brian McBride taken off after 65 minutes.
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o scored and defending champion FC Barcelona beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 to take a three-point lead in the Spanish league.
Barcelona's victory was its 11th in 14 league games at Camp Nou stadium this season. It drew the other three.
Sevilla has the chance to move level on points again with Barcelona when it visits Osasuna on Sunday.
Earlier, Valencia climbed into third place by beating Espanyol 3-2, boosting its morale ahead of the Champions League first-leg quarterfinal at Chelsea on Wednesday.
And Robert Pires' first Spanish league goal helped Villarreal draw 3-3 with Real Betis, while Real Sociedad beat Levante 1-0.
Barcelona has 56 points, Sevilla 53, and Valencia 50, two more than Real Madrid.
Messi struck on the stroke of halftime when he ran into the area to chest down Ronaldinho's chip before volleying home. The goal was the Argentine teenager's fifth in three games. Eto'o fired home in the 51st minute.
In the 68th, Deportivo's teenage striker Adrian Lopez took advantage of Giovanni van Bronckhorst's weak header to burst past Barcelona's defense and reduce the deficit with the first Spanish league goal of his career.
BERLIN (AP) -- Roy Makaay and Hasan Salihamidzic scored to keep Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title hopes alive with a 2-0 win against leader Schalke.
Schalke leads with 53 points, with Werder Bremen at 51 and VfB Stuttgart at 49. Bayern is fourth with 47 and has a good chance of gaining one of the league's three Champions League berths.
Makaay scored his 100th Bundesliga goal in the third minute in front of 69,000 at Bayern Allianz Arena. After two quick Bayern passes, he finished with a sidefooted shot over Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. In the 79th, Lucio found an unmarked Salihamidzic in the area and the Bosnian chipped under the bar for 2-0.
Schalke retained its lead because Bremen tied Energie Cottbus 0-0, but the performance will increase speculation the team is about to surrender its league lead late in the season for the third time in six years.
A depleted Stuttgart beat Alemannia Aachen 3-1, and Bayer Leverkusen ran its streak to four wins and a draw with a 3-1 victory against Mainz 05. Sergei Barbarez scored twice and Bernd Schneider added the third.
FC Nuremberg beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 while Borussia Moenchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1.
ROME (AP) -- AS Roma and AC Milan warmed up for their Champions League quarterfinals with a 1-1 draw in the Serie A.
Roma defender Philippe Mexes scored with a drive from the edge of the area after four minutes at Stadio Olimpico and Alberto Gilardino equalized with a header in the 61st.
Milan hosts Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals and Roma plays Manchester United.
Roma captain Francesco Totti was angered by a tackle from former teammate Cafu in the 40th. Totti grasped his surgically repaired left ankle but continued playing with no apparent problem.
Ronaldo rarely threatened for Milan and was replaced by Gennaro Gattuso in the 80th.
Roma is second in the league with 59 points -- 17 behind Inter Milan -- and Milan is fifth with 44 points.
Earlier, Siena beat Reggina 1-0 to move six points clear of the relegation zone, and Alessandro Birindelli scored as Juventus won 1-0 at Pescara to extend its lead atop Serie B to six points.
PARIS (AP) -- Brazilian defender Henrique scored in the last minute for Bordeaux to beat Lyon 1-0 and win the League Cup for the second time in its history.
Bordeaux last won the trophy in 2002, the year after Lyon won it for the only time. Bordeaux is guaranteed a spot in next season's UEFA Cup.
Lyon, on course for a record sixth straight French league title, was out of all cup competitions after also exiting the Champions League and French Cup.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Celtic's bid to retain its Scottish league title hit a setback when it tied 1-1 with Dundee United.
Shunsuke Nakamura gave Celtic the lead in the 48th minute with a free kick. Dundee United, down to 10 men after Barry Robson was sent off in the 89th minute, evened the score with an injury-time half-volley from Jon Daly.
Celtic has failed to win its last four games, two in the league and one in the Champions League. It leads with 75 points, 13 more than second-place Rangers, which drew 1-1 with 10-man Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- PSV Eindhoven drew NAC Breda 1-1 and dropped points for the third straight game in the Dutch league.
PSV, which hosts Liverpool in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday, has not won a league match since defender Alex suffered a hamstring injury on March 11 against Excelsior Rotterdam, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
PSV tops the standings with 68 points. AZ moved into second with 63, Ajax has 62 and FC Twente is fourth with 58. But Ajax can reduce the gap to three points Sunday with a home win against Heracles Almelo.
Crouch scored in the fourth, 35th and 81st minutes, with Daniel Agger heading in the other goal for Liverpool at Anfield. William Gallas had a late goal for Arsenal.
"It's a special moment," Crouch said. "The win was the most important thing, but I'm so pleased with the hat trick."
Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett and Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who completed their takeover of Liverpool this week, watched from the stands.
Manchester United rallied to beat Blackburn 4-1 with goals from Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-sung and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. The Red Devils lead the league with 78 points.
Chelsea remained six points behind Man U after a 1-0 win over last-place Watford. Salomon Kalou took a cross from Andriy Shevchenko to head in the winner in injury time.
Arsenal dropped from third to fourth with 55 points. Liverpool is third with 57.
Man United fell behind when Carrick deflected the ball toward his own goal and Blackburn's Matt Derbyshire ran on to score in the 29th.
U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel of Blackburn denied United in the first half, but Scholes delivered a tying goal in the 61st minute. Carrick put United in the lead in the 73rd, with Park adding a goal in the 83rd.
United lost defender Nemanja Vidic in the 28th minute with a broken collarbone. He'll be out for up to five weeks.
At the other end of the standings, Charlton moved closer to safety with a 1-0 win over Wigan. It's in 18th place with 30 points. West Ham is in 19th place with 26 points after a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough. Carlos Tevez scored one goal and set up Bobby Zamora for the other.
Fulham tied 1-1 with Portsmouth, with Carlos Bocanegra playing the whole game and Brian McBride taken off after 65 minutes.
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o scored and defending champion FC Barcelona beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 to take a three-point lead in the Spanish league.
Barcelona's victory was its 11th in 14 league games at Camp Nou stadium this season. It drew the other three.
Sevilla has the chance to move level on points again with Barcelona when it visits Osasuna on Sunday.
Earlier, Valencia climbed into third place by beating Espanyol 3-2, boosting its morale ahead of the Champions League first-leg quarterfinal at Chelsea on Wednesday.
And Robert Pires' first Spanish league goal helped Villarreal draw 3-3 with Real Betis, while Real Sociedad beat Levante 1-0.
Barcelona has 56 points, Sevilla 53, and Valencia 50, two more than Real Madrid.
Messi struck on the stroke of halftime when he ran into the area to chest down Ronaldinho's chip before volleying home. The goal was the Argentine teenager's fifth in three games. Eto'o fired home in the 51st minute.
In the 68th, Deportivo's teenage striker Adrian Lopez took advantage of Giovanni van Bronckhorst's weak header to burst past Barcelona's defense and reduce the deficit with the first Spanish league goal of his career.
BERLIN (AP) -- Roy Makaay and Hasan Salihamidzic scored to keep Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title hopes alive with a 2-0 win against leader Schalke.
Schalke leads with 53 points, with Werder Bremen at 51 and VfB Stuttgart at 49. Bayern is fourth with 47 and has a good chance of gaining one of the league's three Champions League berths.
Makaay scored his 100th Bundesliga goal in the third minute in front of 69,000 at Bayern Allianz Arena. After two quick Bayern passes, he finished with a sidefooted shot over Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. In the 79th, Lucio found an unmarked Salihamidzic in the area and the Bosnian chipped under the bar for 2-0.
Schalke retained its lead because Bremen tied Energie Cottbus 0-0, but the performance will increase speculation the team is about to surrender its league lead late in the season for the third time in six years.
A depleted Stuttgart beat Alemannia Aachen 3-1, and Bayer Leverkusen ran its streak to four wins and a draw with a 3-1 victory against Mainz 05. Sergei Barbarez scored twice and Bernd Schneider added the third.
FC Nuremberg beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 while Borussia Moenchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1.
ROME (AP) -- AS Roma and AC Milan warmed up for their Champions League quarterfinals with a 1-1 draw in the Serie A.
Roma defender Philippe Mexes scored with a drive from the edge of the area after four minutes at Stadio Olimpico and Alberto Gilardino equalized with a header in the 61st.
Milan hosts Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals and Roma plays Manchester United.
Roma captain Francesco Totti was angered by a tackle from former teammate Cafu in the 40th. Totti grasped his surgically repaired left ankle but continued playing with no apparent problem.
Ronaldo rarely threatened for Milan and was replaced by Gennaro Gattuso in the 80th.
Roma is second in the league with 59 points -- 17 behind Inter Milan -- and Milan is fifth with 44 points.
Earlier, Siena beat Reggina 1-0 to move six points clear of the relegation zone, and Alessandro Birindelli scored as Juventus won 1-0 at Pescara to extend its lead atop Serie B to six points.
PARIS (AP) -- Brazilian defender Henrique scored in the last minute for Bordeaux to beat Lyon 1-0 and win the League Cup for the second time in its history.
Bordeaux last won the trophy in 2002, the year after Lyon won it for the only time. Bordeaux is guaranteed a spot in next season's UEFA Cup.
Lyon, on course for a record sixth straight French league title, was out of all cup competitions after also exiting the Champions League and French Cup.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Celtic's bid to retain its Scottish league title hit a setback when it tied 1-1 with Dundee United.
Shunsuke Nakamura gave Celtic the lead in the 48th minute with a free kick. Dundee United, down to 10 men after Barry Robson was sent off in the 89th minute, evened the score with an injury-time half-volley from Jon Daly.
Celtic has failed to win its last four games, two in the league and one in the Champions League. It leads with 75 points, 13 more than second-place Rangers, which drew 1-1 with 10-man Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- PSV Eindhoven drew NAC Breda 1-1 and dropped points for the third straight game in the Dutch league.
PSV, which hosts Liverpool in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday, has not won a league match since defender Alex suffered a hamstring injury on March 11 against Excelsior Rotterdam, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
PSV tops the standings with 68 points. AZ moved into second with 63, Ajax has 62 and FC Twente is fourth with 58. But Ajax can reduce the gap to three points Sunday with a home win against Heracles Almelo.
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