Two goals from midfielder Kevin Nolan and another from Joey Barton ensured a third 6-0 victory of the weekend following Chelsea’s win over Wigan Athletic and Arsenal’s thumping win over Blackpool.

Last season’s runners-up Manchester United were held 2-2 at Craven Cottage after a frantic finish in which Fulham defender Brede Hangeland scored late on at both ends, after a Paul Scholes strike had earlier been cancelled out by Simon Davies for the hosts.

Carroll, the England Under-21 international striker, staked his claim for inclusion in manager Fabio Capello’s plans for the senior side with an outstanding performance to the delight of the watching Tyneside scoring hero Alan Shearer in the stands.

“It’s great feeling, especially in front of the home fans,” Carroll told ESPN. “I’m just over the moon with all three of them. I enjoy playing my football, I’m happy being the number nine at this club but I just want to do well for the team.”

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Villa wasted a golden opportunity to go ahead when John Carew skied a penalty high over the bar after 10 minutes and soon after last season’s Championship (second division) winners took control.

Barton fired home an angled shot after 12 minutes before Nolan headed in at the second attempt just after the half hour mark and Carroll made it three for the Magpies minutes later.

Carroll blasted in the fourth on 67 minutes with another Nolan header and a neat stoppage-time finish from Carroll sealing Newcastle’s first points of the season following their opening 3-0 defeat by Manchester United on Monday.

“We expected a very tough game, but once we got the first goal that lifted any fears we might have had and we played some very good attacking football, managed to keep it going and score some very good goals,” said Newcastle manager Chris Hughton.

“The quality and intensity of our play was too much for them.”

Villa, who started the season with an encouraging 3-0 win over West Ham United last week, rarely threatened and the hopes of caretaker coach Kevin MacDonald getting the job fulltime following the shock resignation of Martin O’Neill before the season began were not helped by his team’s performance.

In an entertaining game at Craven Cottage, Scholes continued his fine form by giving United the lead on 11 minutes with a sweet low drive from 20 metres but Fulham levelled after the break when good work from Damien Duff and Bobby Zamora allowed Davies to thump home from inside the box.

United looked to have snatched victory on 84 minutes when Hangeland put through his own net but after Nani had a penalty saved soon after for the visitors, Hangeland rose highest to head home a stoppage time equaliser.

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The Argentine forward had a quiet World Cup in South Africa in June and July but looked more comfortable back among his club mates at the Nou Camp.

Messi grabbed two well-taken first-half goals after Sevilla’s Abdoulay Konko had put the ball in his own net early on, and rounded off the night with a third at the end.

“We’ve won another important title after turning round what was a difficult (first leg) result. We now have the first trophy of the season,” Messi told Spanish television.

“I treat football as something you have to enjoy and try to do that to the best of my abilities here and with my national team,” he replied when asked about criticism he has received in Argentina.

Having lost the first leg 3-1 in Seville last week with a second-string side, Barca fielded an almost full-strength team to win La Liga’s traditional curtain raiser for a record ninth time.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola refused to speak about the future of striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic before the match and gave little away as he left the Swede on the bench in favour of Bojan Krkic.

It only took the hosts 13 minutes to open the scoring when Pedro squirmed his way into the area and crossed low for Konko to bundle the ball into his own net.

SUPERB PASS

Xavi’s superb 24th-minute pass then put Messi through on goal and the World Player of the Year doubled the lead.

Dani Alves tore down the right and fed Messi, who scored from a tight angle at the near post just before halftime, and Sevilla appeared to switch their attentions to Tuesday’s Champions League playoff from then on.

Sevilla slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Portugal’s Braga last week.

During the second period the home crowd’s chants for favourite Andres Iniesta to be given a run out were answered and Spain’s match-winner in the 1-0 World Cup final win over Netherlands was given a rousing reception when he came on.

Iniesta was quickly followed by new €40 million signing from Valencia David Villa, who was keen to impress on his debut and almost opened his account with a fierce shot parried by Andres Palop.

Adriano Correia was also given his debut but Ibrahimovic remained unused on the bench and it was Iniesta who laid on the ball for Messi to crash home the fourth.

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Cole, 28, has agreed personal terms with the Reds and will undergo a medical in the next 48 hours, Liverpool said in a statement after signing the out-of-contract player.

He becomes the club’s second pre-season signing after Milan Jovanovic and is set to join a Liverpool team now being managed by ex-Fulham boss Roy Hodgson.

Cole won three Premier League titles and two FA Cups during a seven-year spell with Chelsea.

He made his name with Chelsea’s London rivals West Ham and has scored 10 goals in 56 England appearances.

Cole claimed unspecified “political rather than footballing reasons” had led to his departure from Chelsea back in June, but he insisted manager Carlo Ancelotti had nothing to do with it.

“It is not financial and it is nothing to do with Carlo,” he said at the time. “I love Carlo. I think he is a top guy and a top manager.

“I loved my time at Chelsea, I love the fans but it is a story for another day and I will tell it but now is not the time.”

Having been on the bench for much of England’s lacklustre World Cup campaign, Cole laid down his conditions to potential suitors while still in South Africa.

“Next season I want to have a fantastic season for England and whatever club I am at,” said Cole.

“The next contract — it will be a footballing decision. I want to play in a more central position and I want a manager who has faith in me.”

Cole has effetively swopped clubs with Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun, who earlier this month joined Chelsea from Liverpool in a £5.5 million move.

Tottenham Hotspur, whose manager Harry Redkapp nurtured Cole’s early career at West Ham, and north London rivals Arsenal were also reported to be interested in the midfielder.

But even though Arsenal finished third last season and Tottenham fourth, Cole has joined a Liverpool team who ended the Premier League campaign in seventh place and who haven’t won the English title since 1990.

However, former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp — Harry’s son –denied Cole had made his decision solely on the basis of his potential pay-packet.

“From what I know, compared to other players in the Premier League now, he’s not being greedy at all,” Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports.

“He just wants a good deal and rightfully so – he’s a free agent and he’s worked that situation nicely – but I know he’s not asking for anything astronomical, like what is being portrayed in the press.

“He’s just looking for the right club and he needs to play football now.

“He missed a lot of time at Chelsea last season with his knee injury and didn’t quite get back to the level he showed previously.

“He needs to go somewhere, be loved, and play football and get back to being the Joe Cole we all know.”

Iniesta fired home the winner when he was put through in the area by Cesc Fabregas. Keeper Maarten Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a hand to the ball he could not keep it out.

The defeat was heartbreaking for the Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John Heitinga was sent off in extra time. It was their third World Cup final loss after 1974 and 1978.

European champions Spain had looked the more assured early on in the clash at Soccer City as a nervous-looking Dutch side ceded territory to their slick opponents.

Stekelenburg was forced into a save after five minutes when Sergio Ramos headed a Xavi cross goalwards while Spain forward David Villa crashed a volley into the side netting with the goal looming.

But a series of freekicks and bookings, including two strong challenges by Dutch midfielders Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel, shook Spain out of their rhythm and stopped them from producing the swift-passing game that got them to the final.

BIZARRE INCIDENT

Netherlands offered little in attack and the nearest they came to a first-half goal was a bizarre incident when Gregory van der Wiel attempted to give the ball back in an act of sportsmanship.

The fullback’s 60-metre punt bounced up and over Spain captain Iker Casillas, forcing the startled keeper to leap and tip it to safety.

The game continued with frequent stoppages and few chances, until Wesley Sneijder split the Spanish defence with a perfectly-weighted ball into the path of Arjen Robben after 62 minutes only for Casillas to save brilliantly with his feet.

In a lively end to normal time Villa had a shot blocked in front of the line, an unmarked Ramos headed wildly over the bar from five metres out and Puyol was lucky to escape punishment after hauling down a furious Robben.

In extra time it was Stekelenburg’s turn to save with his feet when substitute Fabregas was sent clear by Iniesta.

Netherlands had to play with 10 men for the last 10 minutes of extra time when John Heitinga was sent off for hauling down Iniesta on the edge of the box.

The little midfielder got back on his feet and soon after was celebrating scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final to send the delighted Spanish fans into raptures.

Puyol headed home Xavi’s 73rd-minute corner after a Spanish onslaught to break a frustrating tactical deadlock and set up a final with Netherlands on Sunday at Soccer City in Johannesburg when new world champions will be crowned.

“Our players from defence to attack were extraordinary and we played a great game,” Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said after his side had created the majority of the chances.

“We have another game to play, let’s see if we are capable of being comfortable on the ball, in good physical shape and see if we can win. Holland represent the values of Dutch football very well and they’ll be very tough rivals,” he said.

The result was a repeat of Spain’s 1-0 win over the Germans in the 2008 European Championship final and was thoroughly merited, with the Spaniards relentless in pursuit of a goal while Germany struggled to rattle the opposing defence.

Spain started brightly in both halves and always looked threatening against a nervous German defence, with the pacy Pedro’s inclusion instead of misfiring striker Fernando Torres paying off from the outset thanks to his dangerous forays.

Pedro played a pivotal role in most of Spain’s attacks, linking up well with Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso against a Germany side under pressure and showing only brief glimmers of their counter-attacking flair.

PATIENT SPAIN

Germany tested Spain’s patience with steadfast, albeit at times desperate, defending to shut out the final ball and keep menacing marksman David Villa at bay.

The Spaniards came agonisingly close in the 58th minute with a Pedro shot that forced a spectacular save from Manuel Neuer before Iniesta cut the ball across the face of goal just a metre ahead of the sliding Villa.

Germany remained on the back foot and 17 minutes from time were punished when Puyol charged into the area to head home the winner and leave Spain to soak up some late pressure before deservedly reaching the final.

Three-times champions Germany were a shadow of the side that trounced England and Argentina on their way to the last four but still looked dangerous in their few ventures towards goal, with Piotr Trochowski squandering a chance to score after 67 minutes.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said they lacked their usual edge and tipped Spain to beat Netherlands in the final.

“Of course, we are disappointed as you would be when you lose a semi-final,” Loew told a news conference.

“I have to congratulate the Spanish team. Over the past two years they have been the most skilled team of all and they showed that. We weren’t good enough tonight.”

Villa, tournament joint top scorer with five of Spain’s seven goals, praised his team and said reaching the final had been their only goal since winning the European Championship.

“Never in the history of our country has this happened. We have a group who deserve it all,” he said.

“We’re very happy to be in the final, that was our objective, but now we want to be champions.”

The quarterfinal at Ellis Park exploded into life in the second-half with both goalkeepers saving spot kicks before Spain striker David Villa pounced in the 83rd minute to keep his team in with a chance of lifting the trophy for the first time.

Villa is now the tournament’s top scorer with five goals.

“It’s a good moment for Spanish football,” said coach Vicente del Bosque, who now has to plot a repeat of Spain’s 2008 European championship final win over Germany knowing they will have to raise their game to match their sparkling opponents. It was tough for Paraguay, playing in their first World Cup quarterfinal, after they succeeded in nullifying Spain’s talented strike-force and created chances of their own, defying predictions of an easy workout for the European champions.

Looking distinctly underwhelmed by their illustrious opponents, Paraguay’s beanpole striker Oscar Cardozo combined well with his nippier partner Nelson Valdez to create a string of half-chances. Valdez even had the ball in the net after 41 minutes but Cardozo was ruled offside in the move.

Paraguay’s manager Gerardo Martino was proud but frustrated.

“We gave our all, we had opportunities, but unfortunately Spain converted and Paraguay didn’t,” he said. “We didn’t have luck with us. It was a game we could have won. Now we have to resign ourselves to this tough blow.”

PENALTY FLURRY

Before Villa popped up witht he winner, the game appeared headed for extra time after both sides had missed from the spot in an extraordinary flurry of activity that woke up the 55 359-strong crowd early in the second period.

First, referee Carlos Batres ruled Spain defender Gerard Pique had hauled down Cardozo in the penalty area.

The striker sent his spot kick low to the left of Iker Casillas but Spain’s captain and goalkeeper saved comfortably.

Moments later at the other end, Spain were awarded a penalty after Villa went down under a challenge from Antolin Alcaraz.

Xabi Alonso netted high to Justo Villar’s right, sparking celebrations on the Spain bench, but the referee made him retake the penalty kick after players from both sides encroached.

Alonso struck his next attempt low to Villar’s left but this was also saved. In the aftermath, substitute Cesc Fabregas, on for ineffective striker Fernando Torres, appeared to be brought down by the keeper but the referee awarded a corner.

With both sides pressing for a late winner, Spain substitute Pedro hit the post following a brilliant run by Andres Iniesta.

Villa picked up the rebound and struck a right-foot shot that remarkably went into the net off both posts.

When the whistle went, Spain’s players rushed towards their skipper Casillas while Paraguay’s Cardozo sobbed in the centre.

“I’d like to congratulate Paraguay on playing a very serious game,” the Spain keeper said. “Maybe being honest, this wasn’t one of our best performances.”

Though Spain probed and prodded Paraguay throughout, they lacked fluency in their passing and precision in crossing.

The result means that despite a fantastic start to the tournament by South American teams, Europe now has three countries in the semifinals — Spain, Germany and Netherlands — to South America’s one representative, Uruguay.

Spain should be wary of Germany, who thrashed Diego Maradona’s Argentina 4-0 in Saturday’s first quarter-final after dispatching England 4-1 in the previous round.

“Germany have played a brilliant World Cup so far. They must be tremendously motivated and we are also at the top of our game,” Iniesta said. “It is going to be a beautiful battle.”

Spain play Germany in Durban on Wednesday after Uruguay meet Netherlands in the first semifinal in Cape Town on Tuesday.

A double from striker Miroslav Klose on his 100th international appearance, along with goals from Thomas Mueller and defender Arne Friedrich ensured the convincing win over a lacklustre Argentina.

“It’s insane to beat Argentina 4-0. It’s hard to find the words for a result like that,” Mueller told German television after the match. “I think Germany is quaking right now and that’s the right way to celebrate this.”

Man-of-the-match Bastian Schweinsteiger added: “That gives you goose bumps seeing the way people are celebrating at home.

“We may have to play Spain next — they’re the best team in the world, in my view. But we’re good enough, we believe in ourselves.”

German coach Joachim Loew said his team did “everything nearly perfectly”, praising the defence for neutralising the threat from Fifa World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

“What the team showed today in terms of determination to win was the sort you would expect from champions, also the ambition they showed, the speed and attacking tempo we showed in the second half, it was absolute class,” he told reporters.

“We were highly disciplined, but we were also willing to put in the extra effort.”

DREAM START

Germany got off to a dream start when midfielder Mueller snatched his fourth goal of the tournament, heading in a curled Schweinsteiger free kick after just three minutes.

Dictating the pace early in the first half, Germany refused to fall back after their quick lead, pressing high in Argentina’s half and coming close to more goals through Sami Khedira and Klose.

Germany, who beat Argentina on penalties at the same stage of the tournament in 2006, gradually allowed their opponents to come forward, responding with lightning-quick counter-attacks.

The Argentines, with playmaker Messi often stifled by two or three defenders, tried desperately to level with long-range shots before Klose doubled the German lead in the 68th minute when Lukas Podolski put in a perfect pass from the left and the striker tapped in from close range.

Friedrich got a third with his first international goal in the 74th minute, finishing from a metre out after Schweinsteiger’s cross.

Klose completed the rout with his second in the 89th minute when he volleyed home a cross from Mesut Ozil for Germany’s fourth and his 14th World Cup goal, just one short of Ronaldo’s all time record.

“We just had a bad game. If you make mistakes like that, you go home,” Argentine forward Carlos Tevez said. “We knew they could be dangerous on set-pieces and on the counter-attack.”

Germany now play the winners of the other quarterfinal between Spain and Paraguay later on Saturday.

Uruguay’s 4-2 shootout win after a 1-1 draw took them into the last four for the first time in 40 years where they will face Netherlands, who earlier shocked Brazil 2-1, and stopped Ghana becoming the first African side to reach the semis.

Gyan blasted his spot kick against the bar with the last kick in added time on a night of pulsating drama at Soccer City that not even a Hollywood scriptwriter would have penned.

Uruguay made the most of being let off the hook to progress with Fernando Muslera saving two of Ghana’s penalties before a cheeky chipped spot kick from Sebastian Abreu that was full of Latin bravado and panache delivered the spoils.

Uruguay celebrated their good fortune with unbridled joy on the pitch while Gyan broke down and wept. Ghana’s Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac struggled to hold back the tears at the post-match news conference.

“At the end we had a historic opportunity. It would have been a fairytale. We didn’t deserve to lose in this way,” Rajevac said, his eyes swollen as he bit repeatedly at his bottom lip.

SUAREZ HANDBALL

The difference between the sweet taste of victory and bitter defeat turned on a handball by Uruguay forward Luis Suarez on the line that denied Ghana a goal in the final seconds.

While he was sent off for the offence, and will miss the semifinal, Uruguay got an effective lifeline that they snatched to book a meeting with the Dutch in Cape Town on Tuesday.

“We did what we had to do to win without playing brilliantly,” was Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez’s response to a question about the credibility of his side’s success.

Gyan had netted two penalties in the first round of the tournament but struck Friday’s effort high, grazing the top of the crossbar and then clutching his head in his hands as the opportunity of a lifetime slipped by.

Ghana had taken the lead on the stroke of halftime when Sulley Muntari, restored to the starting lineup after an earlier bust-up with the coach, fired a speculative shot from long range that deceived Uruguay keeper Muslera.

It came after the Africans had weathered a jittery opening spell as Uruguay’s much vaunted attack of Suarez and Diego Forlan set up three good early chances.

Uruguay equalised 10 minutes into the second half when Forlan struck a wicked swerving free kick over the top of the defence and keeper Richard Kingson.

But it was the Black Stars who had the better of the late chances in a flowing game that taxed the physical conditioning of both sides.

Missed chances in extra time suggested the game would limp to the lottery of a shootout but it suddenly came alive when Kevin-Prince Boateng narrowly missed with a header in the 118th minute before the scarcely believable finish unfolded.

Brazil, the five-times champions, took a 10th minute lead through Robinho and dominated the first-half against a Dutch team which initially looked outclassed.

The Dutchmen sent their strongly favoured opponents packing after unleashing a scintillating second half sucker-punch that saw Brazil crumble having produced a dazzling display of soccer in a match they had looked set to win.

Midfielder Wesley Sneijder was the man of the moment for Netherlands, heading home the winner on 68 minutes and driving a goal-bound cross eight minutes after the break that was steered into his own net by Felipe Melo.

“It’s fantastic, we are in the last four in the World Cup — we beat Brazil,” an ecstatic Sneijder said.

“You have to be happy with that. If you eliminate Brazil, one of the biggest, best teams of this championship, the feeling is relief.”

Netherlands will meet the winner of either Ghana or Uruguay, who play in Johannesburg later on Friday, in their first semifinals appearance since the 1998 World Cup.

Brazil at times played smooth, breathtaking soccer, with Robinho and Kaka creating chances from nothing with silky footwork and neat breaks that had the Dutch running around in circles and staring at defeat.

Robinho had an early goal disallowed for offside but got Brazil off the mark on 10 minutes when he latched on to a pinpoint 30-metre through ball from Felipe Melo to beat the onrushing keeper from inside the area.

BRAZIL SUBSIDE Netherlands opted for tough and untimely tackles to try to disrupt Brazil’s rhythm and nearly conceded a second on the half hour mark when Kaka unleashed a sumptuous strike that was acrobatically turned away by Maarten Stelkelenburg.

But the Brazilian onslaught subsided after the break when the Dutch emerged like a completely different team, with Arjen Robben in the thick of all the action, linking up well with Sneijder, and Dirk Kuyt always troubling the defence.

Netherlands levelled on 53 minutes after a rare mistake from Brazil’s usually impenetrable defence. Sneijder drove in a weighted cross which keeper Julio Cesar missed completely before it hit the head of Felipe Melo and ended up in the net.

The goal was a killer blow for Brazil, who were wound up by their opponents’ physical approach and fell to pieces before Sneijder popped up to head home after Kuyt flicked on Robben’s 68th-minute corner.

Tempers flared throughout the match and Felipe Melo was given his marching orders 17 minutes from time after stamping on Robben, venting his frustrations at the Dutch striker’s ease in tumbling to the ground under challenges.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk praised his players’ resolve and reiterated his belief that his team were genuine candidates to lift the World Cup.

“Two years ago I said we have a mission to come here to become world champion. You have to believe in something completely,” he said.

“I think you could see all that we have. For 45 minutes we went full throttle and we were rewarded for it.”

Brazil coach Dunga, whose angry antics in the dugout had been as entertaining as his team’s play, admitted he was taken aback by the defeat.

“We are all extremely sad and we didn’t expect it,” said Dunga, who made it clear the match was his last game in change.

“We were not able to maintain the same rhythm in the second half. I feel very proud to have been at front of these players and of the dignity the Brazilian team has always shown.”