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Arsenal reached the FA Cup final by ending second-tier Wigans impressive title defence in a penalty shootout at Wembley Stadium, making up for the disappointment of dropping out of the Premier Leagues top four earlier Saturday. After needing an 82nd-minute goal by Per Mertesacker to force extra time at 1-1, Arsenal won the shootout 4-2 to keep alive its chances of capturing a first piece of major silverware since 2005. "We have been struggling in recent weeks but you have to deal with that," said Arsenal midfielder Kim Kallstrom, who scored the second of Arsenals four straight successful penalties. "Hopefully, its a great boost of confidence for the rest of the season." Hull plays Sheffield United in the second semifinal on Sunday. When Jordi Gomez put Wigan ahead from the penalty spot in the 63rd, it threatened to be a disastrous day for Arsenal, which was replaced in fourth spot in the league by Everton thanks to its 1-0 win at bottom-placed Sunderland. While Sunderland looks doomed -- seven points from safety with six games left -- the race to avoid the other two relegation spots heated up after huge wins for Fulham and Cardiff, who stayed in the bottom three but closed the gap to their rivals. Third-bottom Fulham beat fourth-bottom Norwich 1-0 and next-to-last Cardiff surprisingly won 1-0 at Southampton, while Aston Villa is only four points from the bottom three after losing 1-0 at Crystal Palace thanks to in-form Jason Puncheons goal. Just eight points separates the nine teams above Sunderland. Sixth-place Tottenham came from 3-0 down after 31 minutes to draw 3-3 at West Bromwich Albion thanks to Christian Eriksens injury-time equalizer, although two dropped points dents the visitors already faint hopes of Champions League football next season. Newcastles slump accelerated with a 1-0 home loss to Stoke in the days other game. It was an emotionally charged day in English football, with every league and cup match starting seven minutes later than originally scheduled to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans died in a crush in the stands during an FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest. That fateful match was abandoned after six minutes, and there was a minutes silence around the countrys football grounds before kickoffs on Saturday. At Wembley, 96 seats remained empty near the halfway line for the Wigan-Arsenal match, with just a Liverpool scarf draped over each of them. Wigan -- looking to become the first team in 34 years to win the FA Cup while playing in the second tier -- again rose to the big occasion, like it did in beating Manchester City in last years final and again in this seasons quarterfinals. Another shock was on when Gomez converted from the spot after Mertesacker brought down Callum McManaman. Only then did Arsenal start to look energized and the Germany defender redeemed himself by heading in the equalizer just as Arsenal fans were starting to despair. Wigan was always up against it in the shootout after Gary Caldwell and Jack Collison had the teams first two attempts saved by Lukasz Fabianski. And Mikel Arteta, Kallstrom, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla made no mistake to give Arsenal the chance to win an 11th FA Cup. Arsenals other task in the final month of the season is overhauling Everton in the league, with the Merseyside club continuing its fine run of results to climb two points above Wengers side. Evertons display at Sunderland wasnt as fulsome as in the 3-0 win over Arsenal last weekend, but the team passed up a string of good chances -- two of which fell to Steven Naismith -- before Sunderland defender Wes Brown unwittingly turned Gerard Deulofeus cross past goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Tottenham is now six points behind Everton, having played a game more, but showed great spirit in a stirring comeback at The Hawthorns, completed when Eriksen drove a rising shot into the net in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The recovery looked unlikely after goals by Matej Vydra and Chris Brunt inside four minutes and a third by Stephane Sessegnon put West Brom 3-0 ahead with barely a half hour gone. Jonas Olssons own goal reduced the deficit in the 34th and Harry Kanes 70th-minute header gave Tottenham further hope, before Eriksens late goal left the team three points ahead of Manchester United in the chase for a Europa League berth. Hunter Pence Jersey . Its been a successful Games for Canada, which will finish near the top of the medal standings again. From repeat gold medal winners to multiple medal winners to undefeated teams to acts that define the Olympic spirit, there are many solid candidates who could be considered to receive the honour. Derek Holland Jersey . Hernandez (3-0) struck out 11 and shut down Oakland for the second time in a week, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to win three times in the first nine games of a season. With the usual "Kings Court" for Hernandez home starts expanded to a "Supreme Court" encompassing the entire stadium with yellow shirts and "K" cards, Hernandez gave up four hits in the 28th double-digit strikeout game of his career. http://www.sfgiantsrookiestore.com/Gian ... ds-Jersey/. Dwyane Wade followed a few days later. Bruce Bochy Jersey . Next week, hell try to add to the list. A Stanley Cup champion as a rookie, Seguin followed that up by becoming the youngest player to lead the Boston Bruins in scoring. Willie McCovey Jersey . The 48th-ranked Williams made her first appearance in Dubai since she won her second straight title here in 2010. Shed missed the last three years either because of injury or Sjogrens Syndrome.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Early in the second half the Memphis Grizzlies found a way to change the momentum and ended up with a key win. Memphis turned up the defensive intensity, overtook Denver in the third quarter and stayed in post-season contention with a 100-92 victory over the Nuggets on Friday night. "I thought we did a much better job coming out of the locker room in the third quarter," said Memphis centre Marc Gasol, who led the Grizzlies with 24 points. "We were more us, especially defensively. Offensively things may go well; may not. But defensively, we feed off that. We need that energy defensively." Mike Conley was a key factor in Memphis second-half burst, scoring 19 of his 21 points after the break. Memphis, which trailed 47-43 at halftime, outscored the Nuggets 57-45 in the final two quarters and forced 13 Denver turnovers in the second half. "I was happy with the way we responded after they came back at us at the end of the first half," Conley said, acknowledging he was angry with the way Memphis closed the second quarter. "We came back in the third quarter and guys were focused and guys had a lot of energy." Zach Randolph added 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince scored 12 before leaving with an ankle injury in the first half and Courtney Lee scored 10 for Memphis, which won its 11th straight home game. Randy Foye led the Nuggets, while Kenneth Faried finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which lost its fifth in the past six. Ty Lawson, who didnt start for disciplinary reasons, scored 16 points, while Timofey Mozgov had 13 points. Aaron Brooks scored 11. But Lawson also left the arena in a boot, suffering left ankle sprain with about 3 minutes left. "That is just, unfortunately, been the story of our season," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said of the Lawson injury. Memphis entered the game a half-game behind Dallas for the seventh playoff spot and tied with the Phoenix Suns for eighth. Dallas and Phoenix played later Friday night. Memphis, which was coming off a five-game road trip, strugggled at times, and the Nuggets took advantage by erasing a double-digit first-half lead.dddddddddddd Neither team shot well for the game, Memphis connected on 39 per cent of its shots, compared to 36 per cent for the Nuggets. There were some ugly individual stats as Darrell Arthur was 1 of 9 for the Nuggets, including 1 of 5 from outside the arc. Conley scored 21 points, but was 5 of 14 and missed six of seven from 3-point range. There were 53 fouls in the game to slow the pace. "It was kind of an ugly game," Shaw said. Memphis took the lead midway through the third quarter and built the advantage to 14 on a 3-pointer from Conley topped off by a free throw when Shaw was given a technical with 4:43 left. "(The Grizzlies) are scrapping," Shaw said. "They want to solidify a spot in the playoffs. Obviously, were just trying to play hard and doing what we can to get the win." Denver dominated the second quarter after Memphis took an early 12-point lead. The Nuggets guards had little problem getting to the rim as Lawson, who didnt start after missing the team breakfast Friday, scored 15 points in the half leading Denver. Memphis was 5 of 6 to start the game, but was 11 of 42 the rest of the half for a 33 per cent shooting performance. Denver was only slightly better, hitting 36 per cent. "We had a good start to the game," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "We were crisp, executed well and got stops. ... We were lax after that (in the second quarter)." But the Grizzlies opened the second half with much more energy and, led by 10 points from Conley in the third, were able to retake the lead, carrying a 69-65 lead into the fourth. "In the second half, we had three stops in a row seven times," Joerger said. "That was very positive for us. We came out with a good defensive mindset. I know outside of the second quarter, I was very impressed with our performance defensively." NOTES: The game was the first at home for Memphis since March 24. The Grizzlies went 2-3 on a road trip since then. ... The Nuggets are 3-27 this season when they dont reach 100. ' ' '