11 a.m. - Werder Bremen vs. Bayern Munich, Gol TV - Bayern Munich and Landon Donovantravel to the Weserstadion to face Werder Bremen on Sunday. Bayern thrashed Sporting Lisbon mdiweek, and will look to carry that form into the Bundesliga where they've suffered a recent dip in form.
2:55 p.m. - Lyon vs. Rennes, Setanta - In a match that could have major title implications, Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes face league leaders Lyon at the Stade Gerland. Rennes, who beat Lyon earlier in the year, are 10 points away from Lyon, but a win for Rennes could pull themselves (and the rest of the chasing pack) closer to the seven-time league champions.
A tough night for MNT players in the UEFA Cup, as both Aston Villa and Standard Liege were eliminated from European competition. Brad Guzan and Aston Villa went down 2-0 to CSKA Moscow (3-1 on aggregate) while Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege bowed out meekly with a 1-1 draw to Braga (4-1 on aggregate).
Michael Orozco and San Luis fell 1-0 to Paraguayan side Libertad in a Group 8 Copa Libertadores clash last night. Orozco went 90 minutes for San Luis, who were undone by an early Luis Ramírez goal. The loss drops San Luis to the bottom of Group 8. Next up in the Copa Libertadores is a match away to Universitario of Perú on Mar. 10.
Fulham progressed to the sixth round of the FA Cup, courtesy of tonight's 2-1 win over Swansea. Clint Dempsey scored the tying goal for Fulham, who had gone behind early in the second half. Dempsey turned home a Simon Davies corner in the 77th minute, before teammate Bobby Zamora scored four minutes later to seal Fulham's passage to the quarterfinals. There they will meet Manchester United. Come back later as we scour the internet for highlights...
MNT Goalkeeper Brad Guzan caught up with us at ussoccer.com and we asked the Aston Villa goalkeeper about his first season in the Premier League, preparations for this week's UEFA Cup game with CSKA Moscow, and his experience so far in World Cup qualifying.
Standard Liege's title hopes took a shot on Sunday, when Oguchi Onyewu's team was defeated 4-2 by rivals Anderlecht. The victory lifts Anderlecht four points above Liege, with both teams having played the same number of games. The loss capped a tough week for Liege in which the reigning Belgian champs also lost 3-0 to Braga in the UEFA Cup. Gooch and Co. will try to turn things around in the second leg of that playoff later this week...
Tim Howard was hardly busy as Everton tied 0-0 with Newcastle United. Howard was required to make zero saves as Newcastle played most of the second half down a man.
Borussia Mönchengladbach gave up a two goal lead but managed to find a late winner in their 3-2 victory over Hannover 96. Michael Bradley played the full 90 minutes for 'Gladbach, while Steve Cherundolo made a late substitute appearance for Hannover after recovering from injury.
Bayern Munich failed to take the summit of the Bundesliga after going down 2-1 to FC Cologne. Donovan came off the bench to start the second half, but couldn't help his team come back from two goals down at the Allianz Arena.
In England, Jonathan Spector got the start for West Ham but two early goals condemned the Hammers to defeat against Bolton. West Ham fought back valiantly, with Spector getting the assist on Scott Parker's second half goal, but it proved to be a mere consoloation effort as Bolton held out for the 2-1 win.
Jay DeMerit and Watford claimed a vital away win in the English Championship, beating Blackpool 2-0 to boost their chances of avoiding the drop. DeMerit captained the side and played the full 90 minutes for the Hornets.
2:55 p.m. ET - Nice v Rennes, Setanta - Faltering Rennes look to right the ship as Carlos Bocanegra'steam travels to face Nice on Saturday. Rennes have fallen off the pace in Ligue 1, but a victory here could reignite their claims to a UEFA Champions League spot for next season.
8 p.m. ET - Pachuca v Indios, Telefutura - José Francisco Torres and Pachuca will try to keep their unbeaten start going when they host Group 1 rivals Indios on Saturday night.
3 p.m. ET - Newcastle vs. Everton (replay), FSC - Try to stay away from the internet on Sunday before tuning in at the end of the weekend to catch Tim Howardtraveling to Tyneside to visit Newcastle United.
Clint Dempsey and Fulham were put to the sword by Manchester United last night, the league leaders overpowering Roy Hodgson's side to earn an easy 3-0 win. Of more interest to Hodgson will be how his team rebounds for Saturday' home game against West Bromich Albion.
Aston Villa fought back from one goal down to get a 1-1 draw with CSKA Moscow at Villa Park last night. Brad Guzan played the full 90 minutes for Villa in the net, making four saves. The tie heads back to Russia next week, with Villa taking the field at the Luzhniki Stadium with a mind to overturn CSKA's away goals advantage.
Elswhere in the UEFA Cup, Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege crashed to a disappointing 3-0 loss away to Braga. The Belgian champs will have to overturn that large deficit in next week's return leg if they want to have a hope of advancing to the next round.
Clint Dempsey and Fulham travel to Old Trafford to face league leaders Manchester United in a game that was originally slated to be played last August. It got postponed, blah blah blah, and now here we are nearly six months later ready to play the game. You can see it live on Setanta Sports, with coverage beginning at 2:55 pm ET.
Everton earned passage to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday. Tim Howard made seven saves for the Toffees, who have been drawn against the winner of West Ham/Middlesbrough in the upcoming round of eight.
Pachuca and José Torres defeated U.N.A.M. 3-2 on Saturday, keeping the Gophers top of Group 1 in the México Primera División. Torres played the full 90 minutes for Pachuca, who will face Puebla in a Thurdsay match-up south of the border.
Seventy-four minutes into their 5th Round FA Cup tie with Chelsea, Jay DeMerit and Watford were up 1-0 at Vicarage Road. Fifteen minutes later...well, that's soccer. A tough one for the Hornets who looked set to pull off the upset of the round before Nicolas Anelka's late hat-trick left the home side stunned...
Landon Donovan came on as a first half sub for the injured Luca Toni, but he couldn't help Bayern get the win against high-flying Hertha Berlin. Bayern fought back from a goal down, but a late goal from Adreiy Voronin sent Hertha to the top of the table.
Landon Donovan arrived in camp last night, landing in Columbus on Monday following Bayern's 3-1 victory over Dortmund the day before. Donovan came on as a second half sub, helping Bayern to score two late goals to grab the points at the Allianz Arena.
José Torres and Pachuca beat America 3-1 on Sunday, earning a tough away victory to take them to the top of Group 1. Torres played the full 90 minutes for Pachuca, and the diminutive midfielder will now head north to join up with the U.S. national team in Columbus. He's expected to arrive tomorrow afternoon.
Everton beat Bolton 3-0 on Saturday, with the emphatic victory keeping them at 6th in the table. Brazilian debutant, Jo, scored twice for the Toffees who ran out to a comfortable victory at Goodison Park. Tim Howard played 90 minutes and had to make three saves in the win.
Michael Bradley and Borussia Mönchengladbach were victim of a last minute equalizer on Saturday, drawing league leaders TSG Hoffenheim 1-1. 'Gladbach took the lead towards the end of the first half, and held on for the majority of the second period until a late goal from Wellington rescued a point for the league leaders. Bradley played the full 90 minutes for 'Gladbach who plays Werder Bremen next Saturday.
José Torres and Pachuca carried a 1-0 deficit into the second leg of their Copa Libertadores qualifier with Universidad de Chile on Wednesday. Though Pachuca fought hard, their 2-1 win was not enough to send them into the competition proper, and the Mexican side crashed out on away goals. Torres played the full 90 minutes for Pachuca, who took the lead in the 86th minute but failed to find the decisive goal in a frantic final few minutes. Pachuca returns to Primera División action this weekend with a match against Club América on Sunday.
Brad Guzan helped Aston Villa to a 3-1 victory over Doncaster on Wednesday night. Guzan made four saves in goal for Villa, who advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup with the easy victory. Interestingly, Villa's next three games come in three different competitions. On Saturday they take on Blackburn in the Premier League. After the international break they'll meet victorious Everton on Feb. 14 in the FA Cup before hosting CSKA Moscow in the first leg of the UEFA Cup round of 32 on Feb. 18.
Jozy Altidore has completed a loan move to second division side Xerez CD, and will be unveiled on Monday according to Xerez' website. With Villarreal's squad returning to full fitness after some early season injuries, Altidore has found playing time hard to come by in recent weeks so hopefully this move gets him some experience with the side that is currently leading the Spanish second tier.
On skysports and soccernet you can find rumors stating that former MNT striker Brian McBride is in talks to make a loan move back to Fulham. Believe what you want, but one thing that's certain is McBride's legendary status at the London club. The now-Chicago Fire player scored 40 goals in over 150 appearances for Fulham, served as the club's captain, and returned late last season after injury to spearhead a successful fightback against relegation. The Blog is pretty sure he'd be welcomed back at Craven Cottage...
He's also the subject of numerous tribute videos on YouTube. Including this one.
Rennes and Carlos Bocanegra were held to a 0-0 draw by Toulouse at home on Saturday. With that, Rennes missed the opportunity to close the gap with leaders Lyon, who are in action today. In fact, the match between Ligue 1's 4th and 5th place sides was pretty dour, by all accounts. Up next for Rennes: a match with Le Havre before the international break.
Standard Liege and Oguchi Onyewu kept up their good form in Belgium with a 3-0 win over Roeselare. The win keeps Liege at the top of the table, two points ahead of Anderlecht, who still has a game in hand.