Sevilla, who trailed 2-1 from the opening match, looked to be heading out of the competition when Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao gave their opponents the lead Wednesday night.

Jesus Navas gave the home side hope before the interval, but a red card for Gary Medel in the second half complicated matters further.

Ivan Rakitic’s eventual equalizer came too late for Sevilla, who also saw Geoffrey Kondogbia sent off in the dying seconds to cap a miserable evening.

With the rain lashing down at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Atletico were in front after just six minutes thanks to Costa, who held off the challenges of two defenders before drilling home from 10 yards out.

It took Sevilla 20 minutes to create its first meaningful chance, with Navas looping a ball to the far post where Medel headed narrowly wide.

And the miss came back to haunt them nine minutes later when Atletico scored again. Costa was at the heart of the move, whipping in a cross from the left to Falcao, who hit a first-time shot into the bottom right corner.

This time Sevilla managed to respond, and 10 minutes later Navas had added his name to the scoresheet, smashing home an angled shot off the right post following a cross from Jose Antonio Reyes.

That sparked a spell of pressure from the home side, and it should have been level three minutes before the interval but Rakitic failed to finish Medel’s assist and directed a header wide from an unmarked position.

Sevilla pushed again in the second half, but Alvaro Negredo was denied after 53 minutes by a parried save from visiting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Moments later Costa should have put the match beyond doubt for Atletico, but he failed to make the most of his chance from a few yards out and, under pressure from a defender, poked a shot wide of the left post.

Sevilla’s evening took a further turn for the worse after 76 minutes when Medel was shown first a yellow card and then a red for dissent.

Atletico failed to finish off its opponents though, and Sevilla grabbed a late if immaterial equalizer in stoppage time when Kondogbia’s through ball found Rakitic, who finished right footed into the bottom corner.

The match then finished on a sour note for Kondogbia, who saw a straight red in the final seconds for bringing his foot down on Costa.

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But Schalke scorer, midfielder Jermaine Jones, will miss the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 12 through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the competition — 10 minutes before scoring.

Jones called the yellow card “stupid” but said the team was “absolutely satisfied” with the result.

Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring against the run of play in the 12th, displaying great skill to lift the ball over Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes with the back of his heel before blasting the ball past Timo Hildebrand.

Jones was booked in the 35th after calling for a yellow card for an opponent, but finished off a swift counterattack to equalize before the interval. Jefferson Farfan ran onto Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s ball forward before playing it into the centre for the American to score emphatically.

“Whenever it comes to the crunch, we’re there,” said Hildebrand, referring to the club’s poor midseason form.

Huntelaar, who recovered from an eye injury to play, missed two good chances to improve Schalke’s record of just one win from its last 13 games across all competitions.

Galatasaray defender Dany Nounkeu cleared from the Dutchman in the first minute, when Jones drew a save from Fernando Muslera and Farfan played in the rebound.

A wayward pass from Schalke midfielder Roman Neustaedter led to the opening goal, with recent signings Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba both involved before Selcuk Inan found Burak Yilmaz to score his seventh goal of the competition.

Huntelaar then missed with the goal at his mercy after failing to connect with Hoewedes’ header at the far post.

Two minutes later, Hildebrand saved from Drogba and former Schalke midfielder Hamit Altintop struck the crossbar from the rebound.

Hildebrand was again called into action to deny Burak Yilmaz, before Jones drew the sides level.

Sneijder was taken off at halftime after failing to deal with Schalke’s forays down the right.

However, the visitors maintained most of the possession after the break, only to be let down by the final ball.

The 19-year-old Julian Draxler berated Huntelaar for failing to read his intentions as another pass went astray in the penalty area.

Huntelaar and Burak Yilmaz had chances to win at either end, but the Dutchman fired over before being replaced, while the impressive Turkey striker was narrowly wide of the far post.

Galatasaray midfielder Nordin Amrabat laid out the strategy for the return leg: “The formula for victory is very simple. We need to score and win (in Gelsenkirchen). But it won’t be an easy task.”

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The Gunners face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night and manager Arsene Wenger had made several changes, with Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla all starting on the bench.

Even so, there should still have been enough quality to see off the lower-division Championship side.

Gervinho missed a great chance at the end of the first half that proved costly as Colin Kazim-Richards’ scrappy effort after 72 minutes proved enough to inflict Arsenal’s first home FA Cup defeat since their move to the Emirates Stadium and hand Rovers a memorable win.

Wenger offered no excuses for the loss.

“We had 11 international players on the pitch at the start of the game. We had a lot of the ball and [Blackburn] defended well. We had 16 shots at goal, they only had one shot at goal,” he said. “We made a massive mistake on the goal and we were not good enough to win the game, it is as simple as that.

“Not one defeat is acceptable. You are in this job to win every single game.”

Arsenal now faces the possibility of an eighth season without silverware, unless it can come through in the Champions League. The home fans vented their frustrations as boos rang out around the Emirates at the final whistle.

“You do not want your fans to be happy when you lose at home to Blackburn when the team has one shot at goal,” Wenger said. “It is very painful and very disappointing to lose a game like that. What is important now is to focus on the next one.”

Blackburn, which still has not conceded a goal in this season’s FA Cup, fashioned an early chance when a free kick from the left was flashed through the Arsenal six-yard box and Markus Olsson knocked the loose ball wide at the far post.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had been given a chance to impress in midfield for Arsenal, and the England international was soon on the ball, releasing Tomas Rosicky down the right only for the Czech winger to clip his attempted cross behind.

Oxlade-Chamberlain then decided to do it himself, charging into the Blackburn penalty area and cutting a pass back across the six-yard box where Bradley Orr hacked clear.

The Rovers full back was shown a yellow card by referee Mike Dean in the 12th minute after scything down Gervinho as the Ivory Coast forward, back from the African Nations Cup, looked to break down the left.

Arsenal fans behind the goal at the Clock End called for a penalty when Rosicky’s cross hit Scott Dann on the arm as he blocked it behind for a corner, but the referee was not interested.

The home side continued to press, forcing a succession of corners.

In the 25th minute, Arsenal finally got the delivery right from Rosicky, and Abou Diaby rose to power a bullet header goalward, which Rovers goalkeeper Jake Kean beat away at full stretch with a magnificent reaction save.

Kean was on hand to palm away a looping header from captain Thomas Vermaelen, fit again following an ankle problem, as the Rovers goal was under siege again.

The best opening came just before halftime when Rosicky slipped Gervinho into the penalty area, but despite holding off the defender, the Ivory Coast forward dragged his shot wide of the post — before dropping to his knees and looking to the heavens.

Blackburn started the second half brightly.

Vermaelen had to be alert as he touched a cross behind with Jordan Rhodes waiting to knock the ball in at the far post.

Arsenal slowly regained momentum, and Diaby flashed a 25-yard effort wide.

Blackburn made a change after 63 minutes when Markus Olsson was replaced by former Arsenal man David Bentley, who rejoined his old club Rovers on loan from Tottenham — and received a less-than-warm welcome from the home support.

Rosicky crashed a 20-yard effort off the crossbar and Rovers defender Grant Hanley made an important block as Gervinho cut in from the right.

With 20 minutes left, Wenger had seen enough and made a triple substitution as Walcott, Wilshere and Cazorla replaced Gervinho, Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

However, out of nothing, Blackburn snatched the lead.

Martin Olsson burst into the left side of the penalty area and drilled the ball, which Wojciech Szczesny parried into the path of Kazim-Richards, whose scuffed follow-up effort bounced onto the post and in.

Arsenal immediately went on the offensive, with Walcott surging down the right, but was faced with a wall of blue shirts.

Diaby’s effort was charged down and Kean somehow saved a close-range header from Walcott before Giroud’s effort in stoppage-time was blocked as Rovers clung on for a famous win.

“To come to Arsenal and get through a cup tie is one thing, but to keep a clean sheet and defend as well as we did is another, and that is testament to our players,” said Blackburn boss Michael Appleton. “We have two man-mountains in the centre of defense.”

Later Saturday, a stoppage-time goal from substitute Matt Smith earned Oldham a 2-2 draw against Everton and a replay at Goodison Park.

Jordan Obita gave the Latics a 14th-minute lead at Boundary Park, smashing home with his left foot.

Victor Anichebe then leveled 11 minutes later with a crisp strike into the bottom left corner, and Phil Jagielka’s header three minutes after the interval looked to have done enough to give Everton the win.

However, Smith came out on top in a penalty-area scramble to head in an equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Luton’s impressive FA Cup run came to an end with a 3-0 defeat at home to Millwall. The nonleague side had stunned Norwich three weeks ago to reach this stage but found its Championship opponent one step too far at Kenilworth Road.

James Henry put the Lions in front after 12 minutes following a mistake by Janos Kovacs, with Rob Hulse adding another nine minutes before the interval from a tight angle. Dany N’Guessan then sealed the win with five minutes left to send Millwall through to the last eight.

A nonleague side has not made the FA Cup quarterfinals in 99 years.

Barnsley made it a hat trick of Championship teams in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory at League One’s MK Dons.

Chris Dagnall opened the scoring for the visitors after just three minutes before Marlon Harewood doubled the lead in the 20th minute.

MK Dons fought back in the second half with a goal from Dean Bowditch, but Dagnall’s second in stoppage time put the tie to bed. Alan Smith’s late dismissal rounded off a miserable afternoon for the home side.

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Despite having failed to properly test goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev with a number of chances the Reds seemed to be managing to hold on in their last-32 Europa League first-leg tie in the sub-zero Petrovsky Stadium.

But with 20 minutes remaining, Hulk powered home a brilliant 30-yard strike before substitute Sergei Semak converted from close-range moments later.

Liverpool — and in particular top scorer Luis Suarez — will have to rediscover their shooting boots for the return leg next week otherwise their last chance of a trophy this season will be lost.

For that reason, he selected virtually a full-strength side with captain Steven Gerrard starting his first away game in Europe this season.

The Russian champions fed off the fervor of their fans and displayed a sharpness which defied their two months without a competitive match as both striker Alexander Kerzhakov and Hulk, the latter from distance, were denied early on by Jose Reina.

In between, Suarez responded by turning Nicolas Lombaerts and rolling a shot past goalkeeper Malafeev and across goal but wide of the far post.

The Belgian defender was not having the best of nights as he then inexplicably passed the ball to Suarez who drove into the area, rounded Malafeev but was denied from a narrow angle as Lombaerts recovered to block.

However, Liverpool, in trying to play a cagey European-style game, sank further back into their own half and it only served to invite on the hosts who saw Danny’s header easily saved and Hulk hit the post.

The Reds’ attacking was sporadic at best on a pitch cutting up badly but five minutes before halftime, Suarez almost pinched a cheeky goal when the Zenit defense got themselves in a mess and Suarez backheeled Sterling’s low cross just wide.

Johnson had a shot blocked by Malafeev after a long, driving run early in the second half while Suarez fired wide again as Liverpool could not find a clinical edge inside the penalty area.

It was a failing which cost the Reds dearly on Monday as they were caught cold by West Brom, who scored twice late on at Anfield.

While they had not had the same dominance as they enjoyed against the Baggies, they were not exactly in trouble — and that was when they were exposed.

With 20 minutes to go Jordan Henderson was dispossessed and Hulk, who had previously threatened without being worryingly dangerous, smashed one in to give Reina no chance.

But the defending for the second goal less than three minutes later raised plenty of questions as right back Alexander Anyukov’s low cross was drilled home at the far post by Semak.

Gerrard’s free kick forced a low save from Malafeev but no-one was on hand to capitalize on the rebound but Liverpool appeared to still be going backwards rather than forwards.

It encouraged Zenit to go for what would surely have been the killer third and Viktor Fayzulin saw his long-range effort deflected narrowly wide.

Liverpool will require a much-improved performance in a week’s time if it is to turn around the deficit and keep its quest for silverware alive.

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Emmanuel Emenike gave the Super Eagles the lead just before the break and although Cheick Tiote equalized early in the second half, Sunday Mba’s deflected effort won the game for Nigeria, which will now face Mali in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Boubacar Barry, Yaya Toure and Gervinho all returned for the Elephants after they were rested for the 2-2 draw against Algeria.

Fedor Ogude was suspended for Nigeria but John Obi Mikel returned, while Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo was not 100 percent fit having picked up a knock in the opening match of the competition.

Nigeria created the first chance after just six minutes when a Victor Moses free kick from the right was headed over the bar by Brown Ideye from six yards out.

Souleymane Bamba produced a overhead kick from a Romaric corner after 13 minutes, but his effort went over the bar.

Nigeria had the best chance of what was a dull opening 30 minutes when Ideye played the ball through to Emenike on the counter-attack, only for the Spartak Moscow man to screw his shot wide from inside the box.

Emenike made up for that miss three minutes before the break, though, rifling home a 25-yard free-kick past Barry. The goalkeeper would have been disappointed with his effort, flapping at the ball as it whistled past his head and into the net.

Ivory Coast was level three minutes after the interval when Didier Drogba’s free kick from the left was headed home by Tiote from close range.

Nigeria fought back and almost took the lead were it not for Barry, who atoned somewhat for his earlier error.

Moses’ outswinging corner found Ideye at the far post but his close-range header was blocked by the stopper.

His counterpart at the other end, Vincent Enyeama, was next to impress by parrying Yaya Toure’s powerful shot from the edge of the area to safety.

Nigeria took full advantage of Enyeama’s save when with 12 minutes left Mba ran at the Ivory Coast back-line and, with few options available, he opted to shoot.

The ball deflected off Bamba and Barry who could only watch as the ball looped over his head and into the top corner.

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Edin Dzeko’s 12th goal of the season put the hosts ahead from close range midway through the first half only for Daniel Sturridge to smash home his fourth in six matches since his move from Chelsea.

An even better trademark Steven Gerrard strike put Liverpool ahead with 17 minutes to go only but Sergio Aguero salvaged a point with an exquisite shot from the narrowest of angles.

All the early pressure was with City but once Liverpool had weathered that initial storm, it started to come into its own. Luis Suarez, busy without being particularly threatening, flashed a shot across Joe Hart and wide of the far post as it seemed the visitors were about to take control.

That notion was dispelled in the 24th minute as some neat interplay from Silva and James Milner from a throw-in on the left saw the latter cross low for Dzeko to sneak behind Daniel Agger and tap home from close range.

If that goal was founded in simplicity, Liverpool’s equalizer was made of pure brilliance, although it was viewed as controversial by indignant City players and their fans. Agger appeared to go through Dzeko to get the ball but referee Anthony Taylor saw no foul and with the Bosnia international collapsed on the turf in their own half Liverpool played on.

The boos grew louder as the Reds made their way upfield but almost a minute had expired — with City momentarily winning the ball back on the edge of its area — before Sturridge scored. Gerrard rolled the ball forward to the former City striker who smashed a fierce left-footed shot past Hart.

Liverpool finished the half the stronger and having continued that after the break, Mancini made a tactical switch 10 minutes in when he replaced Matija Nastasic with Aleksandar Kolarov and went to a back three.

That appeared to re-energize City but Gerrard hit a sweet strike in the 73rd minute that was very reminiscent of his goal in the 2006 FA Cup final. Gael Clichy’s poor clearance from Jose Enrique’s cross dropped to the midfielder 30 yards out and the England captain controlled the ball on his chest before unleashing a dipping low volley which gave Hart no chance.

Martin Skrtel was introduced for the tiring Enrique and after almost scoring at one end was involved in a mix-up with Reina which allowed City to equalize. Aguero raced onto Gareth Barry’s pass and the goalkeeper’s rush of blood saw him charge out to the left edge of his area, from where the Argentina international turned him and fired in impressively from a narrow angle.

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