Birmingham through to League Cup final

LONDON (AP): Birmingham rallied to beat West Ham 3-1 after extra time Wednesday and set up a meeting with Arsenal in the League Cup final, while Liverpool climbed to seventh in the Premier League by edging past Fulham 1-0.

Craig Gardner was the match winner for Birmingham in a dramatic semifinal second leg at St. Andrew's, firing home from 25 yards in the fourth minute of extra time to earn the Midlands club a 4-3 aggregate win.

Carlton Cole scored a stunning goal in the 31st to put West Ham 3-1 up in the two-legged series but Birmingham took the game into extra time thanks to second-half goals by Lee Bowyer and Roger Johnson.

The Blues, whose only major trophy came when they won the League Cup in 1963, will be underdogs when they play Arsenal at Wembley on Feb. 27.

Arsenal qualified for the final by beating second-tier side Ipswich 3-0 in the second leg of their semifinal, winning 3-1 on aggregate.

Pedro scores twice as Barcelona beats Levante 2-1

FC Barcelona's Pedro Rodriguez (right),
duels for the ball against Levante's
Xavi Torres during a Spanish La Liga soccer
match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona,
Spain, Sunday. - AP

BARCELONA, Spain (AP): Pedro Rodriguez scored twice in the second half to give Barcelona a 2-1 win over Levante on Sunday, its 11th consecutive victory in the Spanish league.

Both goals were set up by Dani Alves, who provided the second-half spark that energized a Barcelona attack missing Lionel Messi, who was watching from the stands.

Levante succeeded in stifling the home side throughout the first half but at the start of the second, Alves slipped the ball to Pedro, who calmly slotted a shot through a wall of Levante defenders to put Barcelona ahead in the 47th.

Twelve minutes later, the Brazil right back centered low for Pedro to volley into the Levante goal.

Christian Stuani, who had just come on to the pitch, halved the deficit with a sharp strike with ten minutes to play.

Football results worldwide

Argentine Div 1: Estudiantes 4 Newell's Old Boys 4; Nueva Chicago 2 Lanus 1.

Leading standings: San Lorenzo de Almagro 35; Estudiantes 33; Boca Juniors 32; Arsenal 26; River Plate 26.

Belgian Cup final: Club Bruges 1 Standard Liege 0.

Brazilian Div 1: America RN 0 Figueirense 1; Corinthians 0 Atletico Mineiro 0; Fluminense 3 Internacional 0.

Leading standings: Corinthians 7; Atletico Paranaense 6; Parana 6; Palmeiras 6; Vasco da Gama 6.

Croatian Cup final (second leg): Slaven Belupo Koprivnica 1 Dinamo Zagreb 1 (Dinamo Zagreb win 2-1 on aggregate).

French Div 1: Monaco 2 AS Nancy 0; ES Troyes AC 3 Racing Lens 0; FC Lorient 0 Paris St Germain 1; Sochaux 1 St Etienne 0; Lille 1 Stade Rennes 1; Nice 3 Le Mans 3; Lyon 3 Nantes 1; Marseille 1 CS Sedan Ardennes 0; Toulouse 3 Girondins Bordeaux 1; Valenciennes 1 Auxerre 3.

Leading standings: Lyon 81; Marseille 64; Toulouse 58; Stade Rennes 57; Racing Lens 57.

Friendly internationals: Namibia 1 Zambia 2; Ireland 1 Bolivia 1; Wales 2 New Zealand 2.

German Cup final: Stuttgart 2 Nuremberg 3.

Hungarian Div 1: Dunakanyar-Vac FC 1 Pecs 1; Fehervar FC 2 REAC 2; Gyor ETO 4 Diosgyori-BFC 0; Kaposvar 2 Paksi SE 0; Tatabanya 0 Zalaegerszeg 3; Debrecen 2 Sopron 1.

J-League: Yokohama FC 2 Oita Trinita 1; FC Tokyo 0 Nagoya Grampus Eight 1; Vissel Kobe 2 Kashiwa Reysol 1; Kashima Antlers 2 Ventforet Kofu 0; JEF United Chiba 1 Gamba Osaka 2; Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2 Shimizu S-Pulse 1.

Leading standings: Gamba Osaka 28; Urawa Red Diamonds 23; Kawasaki Frontale 21; Kashiwa Reysol 21; Shimizu S-Pulse 21.

Norwegian Div 1: Fredrikstad FK 1 Valerenga Oslo 0.

Polish Div 1: Gornik Leczna 1 Groclin Grodzisk 3; Gornik Zabrze 0 Korona Kielce 0; Lech Poznan 0 Odra Wodzislaw 0; Legia Warsaw 1 Zaglebie Lubin 2; Pogon Szczecin 0 GKS Belchatow 2; Widzew Lodz 1 Cracovia Krakow 3; Wisla Krakow 0 LKS Lodz 0; Wisla Plock 1 Arka Gdynia 0.

Romanian Cup final: Poli Timisoara 0 Rapid Bucharest 2.

Serbia Div 1: Red Star Belgrade 1 Hajduk Kula 1; Bezanija 3 Vojvodina Novi Sad 2; Partizan Belgrade 7 Mladost Apatin 1.

Russian Div 1: CSKA Moscow 2 Zenit St Petersburg 0; Krylya Sovietov Samara 3 Dynamo Moscow 2; Kuban Krasnodar 2 Tom Tomsk 1; Rubin Kazan 3 Luch-Energiya Vladivostok 0; Spartak Nalchik 0 Rostov 0.

Leading standings: CSKA Moscow 20; Krylya Sovietov Samara 19; Zenit St Petersburg 19; Spartak Moscow 19; FK Moscow 16.

Scottish Cup final: Celtic 1 Dunfermline Athletic 0.

Slovakian Div 1: Dukla Banska Bystrica 0 MFK Kosice 1; FC Nitra 0 Zilina 2; FC Senec 2 FC Artmedia Bratislava 2; Ruzomberok 1 Slovan Bratislava 1.

Slovenian Div 1: Domzale 2 Ptuj Drava 0; HIT Gorica 1 Primorje Ajdovscina 3; MIK Celje 4 Bela Krajina 0; Koper 3 Nafta Lendava 1; Maribor 3 Interblock Ljubljana 0.

Swedish Div 1: Hammarby 0 Elfsborg Boras 1.

Turkish Dv 1: Antalyaspor 1 Genclerbirligi 3; Fenerbahce 3 Ankaragucu 1; Konyaspor 0 Gaziantepspor 2; Sakaryaspor 1 Rizespor 1; Sivasspor 2 Erciyesspor 1; Vestel Manisaspor 0 Denizlispor 0.

Ukrainian Div 1: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1 Kryvbas Kriviy Rih 1; FK Kharkiv 0 Chernomorets Odessa 1; Stal Alchevsk 0 Metalurg Zaporizhya 1; Arsenal Kiev 1 SK Karpaty L'viv 0.