When last the Premier League was coming off of a full slate of matches, a couple of managers had to spend the Monday after cleaning out their offices, saying their goodbyes, and rubbing their sore behinds after getting the boot.

This weekend’s (plus Monday) slate of showdowns saw more of what you’d expect right about now – a couple of results affecting the title race and the top four, a couple of impressive performances by sides who needed them, and a couple of depressing performances by sides who didn’t need them.

So, who came out looking good, and who didn’t? Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Winners

Fulham

With an easy 2-0 win over West Brom on Sunday, Fulham are within two points of Wigan for seventh place, with a game in hand. Why does that matter? If Manchester United win the Carling Cup and the FA Cup, or someone else that finishes 6th or higher wins the FA Cup, the side that finishes 7th gets a place in the UEFA Europa League Cup, which Fulham have participated in, oh, all of once (2002/03, when they reached the third round under the old format). After a trip to Arsenal on the weekend – a trip that doesn‘t look as daunting as it used to, the Cottagers host Middlesbrough and Blackburn, and then there’s a trip to Hull City that can produce at least a point.

They’ve been excellent at home this season, and if they can continue that trend and buck a bad trend of being quite the opposite away from Craven Cottage, a place in Europe is well within reach for Roy Hodgson’s squad. And to me, that’s a lot more noteworthy to talk about than a certain star-laden London side moving into third.

Manchester United

It was inevitable that United would allow a goal, and it was about time Roque Santa Cruz scored again, frankly. But, Edwin Van der Sar’s record remains intact, United got three points, and thanks to a little help from their blue rivals, are now seven points in front. Matches in four different competitions over the next couple of weeks might make for a selection headache for Sir Alex Ferguson, but it doesn’t hurt to have a margin to rest some players in next week’s league trip to Newcastle if need be. Think Mark Hughes will enjoy his new wine cellar?

Tottenham

Resting several key players in Thursday’s UEFA Cup defeat away to Shakhtar Donetsk might have helped deal a big blow to their hopes, but Harry Redknapp’s decision paid off, with Jonathan Woodgate popping up with an unlikely match winner, with his 84th minute goal giving Spurs a 2-1 win away to Hull City. That was only Tottenham’s second away win of the season, and it moved them five points adrift of the relegation zone. It’s still far too early for Spurs fans to breath easy, but getting those three points at the KC is massive for their hopes of being able to watch Premier League football at White Hart Lane next season.

Honorable Mention: Chelsea – Winning away from home? Their 1-0 win over Aston Villa is impressive, but at the same time, it’s not surprising. Now if they can only beat Wigan at home on the weekend…

Losers

Arsenal

With Aston Villa losing at home to Chelsea in the lunchtime kickoff on Saturday, Arsenal went into their match against Sunderland with a chance to close the gap on fourth to four points. Sure enough, they did close the gap, but instead of four, it’s at six after an inexplicable goalless stalemate. Andrei Arshavin did make his debut, but the absence of several key attacking players, including the seemingly cursed Eduardo, clearly shows. The Gunners aren’t exactly catching any breaks on the injury front, but you still have to expect them to come out the victor at home against Sunderland. I’m no Arsenal fan in the least, but this is sorely disappointing to watch.

Hull City

Sure, they may still be in a pretty respectable 13th place, and sure, they may still be six points adrift of the drop zone, but Hull City are really letting sure survival slip away by the day. They were in line for at least a point against Spurs, but allowing Woodgate‘s late goal consigned them to a defeat and a 10th straight league match without a victory. The Tigers kick off March with a six-pointer at home to Blackburn on Sunday, and there’s also a winnable home match against Newcastle later in March. Come away with six points in those, and you have to feel good about their chances for survival. Come away with zero, one, or two, and the dogfight is really on.

Liverpool

Not to say that they had the greatest chance of overtaking Manchester United in the first place, but after Sunday’s disappointing home draw against Manchester City, Rafa Benitez might be stuck hoping that United somehow get burnt out with all of the matches they’ve had and will have. As if getting a positive result at Old Trafford in three weeks wasn’t imperative already, even a draw won’t be particularly helpful.

Dishonorable Mention: Middlesbrough – Saturday’s home match against Wigan was winnable, but the resulting goalless draw – their 14th straight league match without a win – kept them firmly entrenched in the bottom three. They went through a horrid stretch last season and ended up getting away with it. When are they going to get the memo this time around?

It could be that the top four in the Premier League will consist of the usual suspects when all is said and done, but this is certainly fun while it’s lasting, for the fans at least.

The battle for the Premier League title and for the Champions League spots, and the battle for survival saw several hopefuls on either end face critical matches this past weekend, and for a couple who were particularly wasteful on the weekend, failure proved to be costly to the highest degree.

Who came out of the weekend with reason to hold their heads up heading into the midweek international break, and who’s already looking towards next weekend…or to the want ads?

Winners

Aston Villa

Still waiting for the bubble to burst and for Villa to fall back? It seems like Chelsea and Arsenal are waiting for that to happen, and. Maybe a tough slate over the next couple of months will bring them down to earth, but don’t hold your breath. Saturday’s 2-0 win at Blackburn makes it a club-record seven straight away wins and pushes Villa to third, two points ahead of Chelsea.

At this point, there’s only one candidate for Manager of the Year, and that’s Martin O’Neill.

Jo

If you hadn’t been watching the first several months of the Premier League season but then saw Jo’s debut brace against Bolton on Saturday, you’d have thought that David Moyes has unearthed some brilliant young Brazilian talent.

It’s too early to say definitively, but if he keeps scoring on a regular basis, he will not only show that he can do the business in the Premier League, but if Everton are to lock down sixth and push for fifth or fourth, he could be the difference.

Liverpool

The table still reads the same as it did at the end of last weekend, with Manchester United atop the table. But instead of being six or seven points behind United and having to look up at hard-charging Aston Villa, Liverpool are only two points back. Against Chelsea, it was two late, late goals by Fernando Torres. At Portsmouth on Saturday, it was second-half comebacks from 1-0 and 2-1 down, culminated by another late winner from Torres. Onions!

Just when many were ready to write off their title challenge, Liverpool have woken up and remain in the thick of it. Leaving it late every week is going to send a lot of fans to the ER, but it’s about the end result, not how you achieve it.

Newcastle

Sure, it was West Brom, but you have to start somewhere, and Saturday’s 3-2 win was huge for Newcastle. Not only was it their first win since December 21st (2-1 over Tottenham), but anytime you can get max points in a relegation six-pointer – and away from home nonetheless, it’s a good weekend. Now they just have to build on it and solidify their survival with plenty of time to spare.

Losers

Chelsea

Avram Grant and Jose Mourinho are looking really good right now, aren’t they? There aren’t any excuses to be made for a goalless home draw against Hull City, though Hull do deserve plenty of credit for holding Chelsea scoreless. Then again, that doesn’t seem as difficult of a job as it used to be, which shows how much the wheels have fallen off even in the span of just a few months.

Thusly, it’s no surprise that they are now fourth, and that the man leading them in their Champions League tie against Juventus in a fortnight could be Ray Wilkins.

Portsmouth

Bad enough to throw away a lead twice, but even worse that after having the lead twice, you come away with nothing. When you’re not very good away from home, the least you can do is squander golden opportunities at home, and being up a goal not once, but twice against Liverpool in the second half is about as golden as it gets.

Ultimately, the late collapse was the nail for Tony Adams, who‘s out of a job as of this morning. A nine-match winless streak, two wins in 16 league matches, and multiple embarrassing home defeats just won’t do, no matter how delusional you might be about your job security.

In the table, Portsmouth are 16th, and they have a game in hand on Tottenham (15th), Stoke (17th), Middlesbrough (19th), and West Brom (20th). But they’re going nowhere fast, and it’s up to caretaker manager Paul Hart and then the new full-time manager (may it be Avram Grant, Alan Curbishley, Sven-Goran Eriksson, or someone else) to get the ship righted in time to avoid the drop.

But look on the bright side – David Nugent scored again on Saturday. Who knew that he’d be their star right now, of all people? I suppose it’s only fitting.

Tottenham

Speaking of wasted opportunities, Tottenham squandered one as well, as they didn’t capitalize on being a man up for nearly an hour in Sunday’s derby against Arsenal.

A point does help their cause somewhat, but there’s no reason why Spurs shouldn’t have gotten the three points. That’s something Harry Redknapp might come to regret, because there’s so little room for them to drop points in winnable matches at this juncture of the season. I still think they’ll beat the drop, but they’ve got to really crank it up quick, fast, and in a hurry.

We’re about to head into a new week, and if you’ve missed anything on SL over the last week, here’s your chance to get caught up on some of the top topics from the site and the SL forum.

UEFA Champions League 08-09 – Group Stage Draw LIVEBLOG

Marco Pantanella brought you the complete Champions League group stage draw, so if you missed any of the pairings, he‘s got you covered.

Arsene Wenger – Legacy at the Crossroads

BD Condell takes a look at Arsene Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal and how their recent fortunes impact his legacy as a top manager.

If Style Won You Silverware

Who’s got the best and worst kits around? Oliver Fowler ranks Premier League kits from top to bottom and throws in a few extras for good measure.

Premier League Round 2 Winners and Losers

Yours truly looks back on last weekend’s action in the Premier League.

La Liga Roundtable: Who will win the 08/09 Primera?

Raphael Honigstein, Guillem Balague, and Gabriele Marcotti give their predictions for the new La Liga campaign.

Here are the top talking points from the last week on the SL forum, which, if you haven’t joined as of yet, you should do so immediately to get in on the discussions.

Give Your Impressions…

How are the Premier League sides looking in the early going? Weigh in with your opinions.

Champions League Is Finally Here!

The Champions League is set to get underway, and that means it’s time for a discussion on who’s got it easy and who’s got a tough road ahead.

Best Strike Force

If you have the dream team up front, who would it be? Some pretty interesting answers, I’ll say.

Football Trivia

Think you’re a football fact machine? Test yourself and others.

Favorite Sports Besides Football?

SL is frequented and run by rabid football fans, but they love more than just football.

Of course, this is just a sampling of all the content that’s been churned out over the last week, so to get caught up on all of it and on much more from the last few weeks, just check out the SL Tracker, or you can peruse the SL archives.

There’s still one more fixture left to be played in the second round of Premier League fixtures, but it’s time to take an early look at the winners and losers from the weekend’s action.

Chelsea and Liverpool have gotten their title challenges off by taking maximum points from their first two league ties and are assured of sitting atop the table at the end of Monday night, but they aren’t the only ones with a reason to feel good as a new week commences.

However, things are not nearly as rosy for some other sides, who have a little something to say for themselves after the weekend.

So, let’s take a look first at the winners.

Winners

Chelsea and Liverpool

Not only have both Chelsea and Liverpool gotten off to a 100% start through their first two matches, but they already have some separation from their title rivals out of the gate.

Liverpool seem intent on giving their fans many a heart attack this season, but as long as they keep getting the three points, it’s welcome excitement. The late victories aren’t always the most deserving ones, but once again, three points is three points.

On the flip side, Chelsea have wrapped up the points early on against Portsmouth and Wigan, and Deco, well, he’s proven to be quite the bargain thus far, hasn’t he?

You can be sure that Manchester United, and very likely Arsenal, won’t let them get too far away too quickly, but the Blues and Reds have definitely thrown down the gauntlet early on.

Fulham

After letting an early 1-0 lead slip away in a 2-1 defeat at Hull on opening weekend, the only way for Fulham was up, and boy, did they go up. They took full advantage of a poor Arsenal side to take a deserved three points in a 1-0 victory over the Gunners, and after seeing their early lead disappear against Hull, made sure Brede Hageland’s 21st minute strike held up, withstanding Arsenal’s late pressure where we’ve seen many falter and let points slip away.

Spending as they did this summer shows that this is a side that has ambition, and you can imagine that they’ll be even more competitive when they have a healthy Andy Johnson in their ranks. If they can maintain that fighting, nothing-to-lose spirit that helped them escape relegation last season, there’s hope for Roy Hodgson’s side to push for more than just being safe this time around.

Newcastle

Sure, there were far too many empty seats at St. James’ Park on Saturday, but the ones who were there got to see the Magpies pick up three points in a 1-0 triumph over Bolton. It’s certainly good to see Michael Owen upright and doing what he does best (score goals, not injure himself), and maybe, just maybe, there’s some hope for Newcastle after all.

It’s much too early to be overly excited, but Kevin Keegan has got to be encouraged about coming out of the first two weekends with points. Maybe the supporters are waiting a little longer before spending their money on watching their side play, but if they can go to Arsenal and put in another good performance, then that might give reason for more butts to fill the seats.

Losers

Arsenal

Two rounds in isn’t exactly time to panic if you’re Arsene Wenger, especially considering how Manchester United stuttered out of the gate last season and ended up winning the title. But, while he may be trying to stay as cool as a cucumber, he can’t be happy. After an underwhelming performance in a 1-0 win over West Brom, the Gunners were equally as unconvincing at Craven Cottage on Saturday, and it resulted in a 1-0 defeat to Fulham.

You can talk about their failure to sign so on and so on thus far all you want, but it’s not about who you don’t have, but who you do, and there’s not a lot inspiring about Arsenal right now. Maybe all that went on this summer with players leaving/wanting to leave/being linked with moves has taken its toll, but Arsene needs to lay the boot into his boys, and fast.

There might be a signing or two in store before they take on Newcastle, but whatever side Arsene puts out on the pitch on Saturday, they need to step it up to make sure they don’t suffer the same fate that United did.

Tottenham

This isn’t how it was supposed to be for Tottenham. Yes, the absence of Dimitar Berbatov doesn’t help, and neither does his attitude, but to be one of only four sides not to have a point (and that could be three, if Portsmouth can get a good result against Manchester United today) right now is going completely against the script.

You’d have expected at least a win and a draw against Middlesbrough and Sunderland, but alas, second-half defensive lapses in both matches have proved to be Tottenham’s downfall.

With a visit to Stamford Bridge looming next Saturday, Spurs really need to sell Berbatov get it right, otherwise they’re going to be in full-on catch-up mode the rest of the way if they want that top-four finish.

Aston Villa

If the first couple of weeks are any indication, when you tune in for an Aston Villa match this season, you’re going to be in for plenty of excitement.

Villa’s first two matches have produced 11 goals, which is all good and well when you’re coming out on top in those goalfests, but they can’t afford to throw away points or have regular defensive lapses if they want to make a legitimate challenge for a top-four or top-six finish.

Saturday, Martin O’Neill’s side came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits against Stoke, but allowed Mamady Sidibe to head in the winner off of a last-second throw-in (?!).

Last season, dropped points from the start of the season against Liverpool to the end against West Ham proved to keep Villa from earning an automatic place in Europe and instead having to make their way into the UEFA Cup through the now-defunct Intertoto Cup; I‘m pretty sure Martin O‘Neill doesn’t want to see it becoming a recurring theme again. Firepower certainly isn’t an issue with the likes of Agbonlahor and Carew bagging goals, but you know what they say about defense and championships.

Are Chelsea and Liverpool the two to beat? Can Tottenham kick their early funk and get their push for a high finish back on track, or are they bound for another mid-table showing? Do Arsenal need to make a couple of big signings to be a serious contender, or can they do it with the squad that they have? We’re not out of August yet, but there’s already plenty to talk about, so discuss away!

Just in case you’ve missed anything on SL over the last several days, here’s a quick recap of some of the top topics from the last week.

Football Rivals You Love to Hate

Scott the Red takes an in-depth look at top football rivalries in the UK.

Can Scholes Join Ronaldo, Ferdinand, and Van Der Sar in UEFA’s 2008 Team of the Year?

Ahmed makes his picks for UEFA’s best players at their respective positions.

Wenger Talks About Barry – Is It Wrong?

Arsene Wenger has allegedly publicly admitted his interest in Gareth Barry – right or wrong, Arsenal fans?

Bentley v Beckham – Which David Would You Pick for England?

Ahmed posed a question for the readers as to which of the two Davids should have been picked for England’s friendly against the Czech Republic.

Glory Fans – Not So Bad After All?

Another excellent one from Scott the Red, this time on the positives and negatives of glory fans.

Of course, this is just a sampling of all the content that’s been churned out over the last week, so to get caught up on all of it and on much more from the last few weeks, just check out the SL Tracker.

Today, we’re starting a new feature here on SL that you’ll be seeing this time every week, as we take a look at some of the top discussions from the past week on the SL forum.

If you’re a regular reader of the site, and you haven’t signed up for an account on the forums, well, shame on you! I kid – hopefully this is an incentive for you to go and have another place to vent or state your opinions on the world of football.

Well, without further ado, let’s take a look at five notable talking points from last week.

(To check out a particular topic, just click on the headline for most of them, though the link is pointed out in two of them.)

MLS Expansion to a European-Style Format?

A couple of days ago, forum member GoRevsandManU posed a question as to whether Major League Soccer should go to a pyramid-style, relegation/promotion format involving the United Soccer League’s first and second divisions once it gets enough teams.

This particular topic (which you can check out here) hasn’t seen a lot of responses, but it’s one that I wanted to point out because it’s a good question.

MLS is currently slated to expand to 16 teams over the next couple of seasons, adding Seattle Sounders FC next season and a club in Philadelphia in 2010, and the league also wants to add a further two teams by 2011, with cities like Atlanta, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Montreal, and Vancouver in the mix.

Is it a feasible option for the MLS to go to the popular format in the future? Short answer, not in the near future. There’d have to be restructuring in the way that players go to clubs, the talent pool would have to be expanded to include not only more foreign players (thereby necessitating a change in some of the rules that MLS currently has), but also accelerate the formation of academies throughout America’s domestic leagues – something that takes time and money.

However, another potential complication could be the NCAA, which might have some objection to the MLS dipping into their pool of players, but that could all be solved by the two sides working out an arrangement where MLS prospects (much like is the case with NHL prospects that are drafted) can play in college if they so choose.

Now, MLS is building a nice little niche for themselves, but hypothetically, it could be something that works in the long run. Sure, MLS might prefer to see more American players in their ranks than foreign players, but a) variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and b) having academies and an expanded scouting pool/push to get more younger players involved with professional teams at an earlier point could pay dividends for the future for the national team.

The biggest issue in all of this, more so than talent, might be money. From sponsorships, to investors, to an increase in TV revenue (and viewership, on the same level), the money needs to be there, and that’s something that may take a little time. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Premier League didn’t get their big-money TV deals overnight, did they?

Certainly an interesting point that was posed, and one that bears some thought.

The FA vs. Joey Barton

Joey Barton is a pretty big pain in the ass hot topic right now, even though there are quite a lot of people who seem to wish that he would just grow up or go away already.

Ahmed started up a discussion about why it’s taken so long for the FA to get the ball rolling on punishing Barton for the assault on former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo that took place in 2007, and he’s also expounded on Mr. Barton in a post, which you can see here.

When it comes to Barton, it’s as simple as this – whatever his malfunction is, it’s clear that there is (at least) one, and if he doesn’t get his act together, his football career could not only be finished in short order, but he could be staring at significant time in the slammer, where I don’t think he’ll be wanting to detach someone’s retina. We’re all a little hard-headed at one point, but most of us know how to stay out of jail, at least for more than the odd public intoxication or indecent exposure charges.

Premier League Predictions

The start of the Premier League season is just a couple of weeks away, so it’s never too early to start making predictions on who’s going to finish where this season.

I’ve put my predictions up on there, and so should you.

£20m Striker Challenge?

If you had to buy a top-class striker for £20m or less, who would you buy?

A lot of the big names are out of the equation, but there are plenty of options to choose from.

There are a couple of Premier League strikers who could probably go for around £15m in Roque Santa Cruz or Obafemi Martins.

But, if you want to go outside England, just take your pick – there are proven names like Real Zaragoza’s Diego Milito, Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano, Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu, or if you want the oldie but still goodie, Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose.

If you want to go with youth or potential, you’ve got the likes of Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi (though his price tag may be more than £20m in the near future), St. Etienne’s Bafetimbi Gomis, or Turkey super-sub Semih Senturk, who plies his trade at Fenerbahce and is one to watch for the future (and the present, for that matter).

Those are just a few options that I’d go with, but there are many, many more who would be just as good.

Lyon and the Champions League

Our last forum spotlight is on a thread started up by user FrankF27 early in the week on the topic of whether Lyon can get over the hump and win the Champions League.

Lyon have dominated Ligue 1 for the last seven years, winning seven straight championships, but when it comes to the Champions League, OL have fallen a little short, making the quarterfinals and knockout stages multiple times, but not getting past that stage.

Only one French side has ever won the European Cup/Champions League, and that was Marseille in 1993 (the first tournament known as the Champions League), but there have been five runner-up finishes by French teams, most recently by Monaco in 2004.

Lyon consistently have world-class talent, whether they nurture it in their youth system or buy it with the money that they’ve received from perennially selling off a top talent or two, but they haven’t been able to get it done just yet.

Not only does the luck of the draw help out, but you have to get favorable results, whether it’s home or away. Continuity, however, might be a key issue with Lyon. They’ve switched managers quite a few times over the last several years (and are breaking in another new one), and the squad list is a revolving door of names – very, very good names, but a revolving door nonetheless.

These five are just a sampling of what’s up for discussion on the SL forum right now. So, if you’ve got an account and haven’t been making use of it, or you don’t have an account yet, head on over, facilitate, initiate, participate, but don’t instigate.

There were six games spread over this holiday weekend culminating in an exciting double header. Only DC and Toronto didn’t play, making the potential for a lot of movement. We saw 9 out of 14 teams switch positions and with Superliga coming up, teams needed to make these last games count.

1. (1) New England Revolution (10-4-3)

It’s hard to put in words what New England has been capable of doing in the unpredictable MLS. Usually in the MLS, if you can string together three or four wins, you’ll be right near first place but, New England keeps distancing themselves from the pack. This time, a 2-1 win over the Galaxy and New England has to be considered a favorite going into next week’s Superliga.

2. (2) DC United (7-7-1)

DC were idle this past weekend but nobody made a convincing surge to go by them and they retain the number two spot for now. DC in fact won’t play a league game until July 22nd because of Superliga so if someone can make a push, DC could be moving down the rankings.

3. (3) Columbus Crew (8-4-3)

An exciting 2-2 draw against Chicago was a fun game to watch but it won’t take them past DC. Columbus scored a fortuitous 87th minute goal to tie and for most of the night, Chicago were the better team. Columbus were slightly handicapped as their coach Sigi Schmid was at his daughter’s wedding and his assistant was managing the game.

4. (5) Chicago Fire (6-5-3)

Chicago were once considered the best team in MLS but a horrid loss of form has seen them drop down the standings and the power rankings. With that being said, it appears that Chicago are back to early season form after playing excellent possession football for almost the whole game against Columbus. Chicago rise up a spot because of their great play even though they squandered the three points in the last minutes of the game.

5. (6) Toronto FC (6-4-4)

Toronto were idle this week and with nobody behind them pushing hard up the rankings, Toronto will actually move up a spot. A week of rest hopefully will serve them well as MLS reaches its busiest part of the season.

6. (7) Houston Dynamo (4-4-8)

Houston Dynamo are the “Kings of ties.” Houston continues to play well but no wins are coming. On national TV Thursday, Houston played to a 0-0 draw with plenty of goal mouth action between Houston and Salt Lake. Houston move up because of their good play recently even though they didn’t get the desired result.

7. (4) LA Galaxy (6-6-3)

LA, for the past two weeks has showed why they will only ever be a mediocre team unless they get defensive help. New England ran circles around Abel Xavier and company and can consider themselves unlucky not to have scored four or five goals. The offense still showed up to play, but LA’s defense is so debilitating that sometimes they can’t overcome themselves. It is rumored that they will sign a Argentinean defender soon so hopefully they can improve the back line.

8. (10) Chivas USA (6-6-3)

Chivas USA dominated a horrendous San Jose team for a full ninety minutes plus stoppage time. It was by pure grit and determination that San Jose survived as long as they did. Ante Razov’s curling free kick two minutes from time saved Chivas from an embarrassing draw. Chivas jumps ahead of Salt Lake because of the way the dominated San Jose and the fact that they picked up a win.

9. (9) Real Salt Lake (5-6-5)

Real Salt Lake seem to be a real contender for the Western Conference title. They continue to play an aggressive attacking style which has seen them move up not only the rankings, but also the league table. Real stay still due to their draw and Chivas’s comprehensive victory.

10. (13) Colorado Rapids (6-8-1)

Colorado shocked me on Friday. They played in front of a sell-out crowd in Denver and beat New York 4-0. This is the same Colorado team that has been quite abysmal all year. It was a beautiful game played by Colorado and they scored some spectacular goals. If they can keep this run going, they could easily be vying for the Western Conference crown come fall.

11. (11) FC Dallas (4-6-6)

Dallas got another draw, what else is new. This one was however quite lucky. A beautiful 40 yard cross was headed on the run by Abe Thompson. It could be the best goal of the season. Dallas however continues to struggle for wins and until they get their act sorted out, they are not real contenders.

12. (13) Kansas City Wizards (4-5-5)

Kansas City earned four points in their past two matches, a good sign for a team that has been struggling since the first few weeks of the season. They have also signed Josh Wolff so maybe, their offensive woes will be solved.

13. (8) New York Red Bulls (5-5-5)

A 4-0 dismantling by Colorado shows how badly New York needs re-enforcements. It is said that Juan Carlos Osorio has 4 or 5 players who will join soon, so hopefully there is relief ahead for New York fans. Five spots is a lot for a team to fall but after their display against Colorado, they deserve nothing better.

14. (14) San Jose Earthquakes (3-9-3)

Another week, another disappointing result. The only record San Jose is chasing right now is the first team to ten losses. That’s how sad their season has been. I’d like to be optimistic about San Jose’s chances at a playoff spot but, they simply don’t have a shot.

So, that was Week 15’s power rankings. Did you agree or disagree with anything? Your thoughts below.

The teams for the Blue Square Premier playoffs had already been decided ahead of the final day of the season but, although the final fixtures would just shakedown the final playoff pairings, there was still a decent smattering of last-day drama.

The expected pairings for the playoffs before kick-off were Torquay taking on Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion and Exeter City facing Cambridge United but, with typical footballing predictability, conventional wisdom went out the window.

First off was the clash between potential finalists Burton and Exeter, where a point would have been enough to keep the Grecians in fourth place. But the Exeter camp was hit with illness before the kick-off and it was an unfamiliar team that took to the field at the Pirelli.

Not that this stopped the game getting off to an explosive start, when Dean Moxey carried on where he’d left off on Tuesday night against Stafford by netting after three minutes, but just six minutes later Burton’s prolific marksman Daryl Clare equalised.

Burton must have thought they’d won the game when Shaun Harrard struck twice in the last ten minutes to put them 4-2 up but a first senior goal for full-back George Friend and an injury-time equaliser from City left honours even at 4-4, and Burton in 5th and Exeter in 4th.

So far, as expected. But in Devon and Cheshire matters were taking a slightly different twist. For Cambridge to snatch second place they needed to beat Northwich by two clear goals Torquay to lose at home to Crawley.

Jimmy Quinn’s men duly obliged their duties as Brazilian striker Magno Viera bagged a brace in either half to potentially move the U’s into second place, depending on the Torquay result, where Crawley were definitely ruining the Gulls’ party. Two goals in either half for the Red Devils meant that Tim Sills’s late goal was little more than a consolation for Paul Buckle’s team, who slipped to third and a playoff semi against in-form local rivals Exeter.

As for who’ll make it to Wembley – well, that’s anybody’s guess in the cliche that is the playoff lottery. Torquay may have spent their entire season in the top five, but this counts for nothing once the regular season finishes, as Hereford United found out to their cost, twice losing in the semis in successive seasons after sitting in second for much of the year. Meanwhile, Nigel Clough is already talking up his side’s underdog status – Burton are the only team in the playoffs never to have played in the league and will be less fancied than Cambridge – but the Brewers have a habit of grinding out unexpected results, although Cambridge have finished the season with three wins on the bounce.

Elsewhere in the non-league picture

Mansfield are staring into the non-league abyss after Rotherham sneaked a freak 40-yard winner at Field Mill, that leaves the Stags stuck in the relegation zone with just one league game left, and they could be relegated before then without even kicking a ball. After Dagenham, Notts County and Macclesfield all won, Chester are the only other team who could drop out of the league, but they have a game in hand at Stockport tonight, and just a draw will be enough to save Simon Davies’ men’s league status. Even then, they’ll get another chance at home to Macclesfield on the last day of the season, meaning the future looks very bleak for Mansfield.

In the Blue Square South any one of seven teams could have theoretically taken the final two playoff spots. In the end, Braintree Town were the last-day winners, leaping from seventh to the final spot in fifth after Eastleigh, who occupied that position at the start of the day, wet down 4-1 away to Thurrock. Newport County, who started in sixth, failed to take advantage of Eastleigh’s loss and the Welsh team lost 2-1 at home to fourth-placed Fisher Athletic. Newport manager Peter Beadle is already counting the cost of failure after the club subsequently sacked him.

Braintree will now play Eastbourne Borough in the first playoff, while Fisher take on Hampton and Richmond, while at the bottom of the Blue Square South, St. Albans managed to pull off a great escape, leaving Weston-Super-Mare to head down along with Dorchester Town and Sutton United.

No such surprises in the Blue Square North where Southport and Barrow both kept their nerve to see off Harrogate Town, the only other team who could have snatched a top five finish. That means Barrow will take on AFC Telford and Southport take on Stalybridge Celtic. At the bottom, Leigh RMI, Vauxhall Motors, and Hucknall were already down before the last day.

The teams that go up to the Blue Square Premier will take the place of Stafford, Droylsden, Farsley Celtic and Altrincham, with the latter team going down after a draw at Weymouth, while Halifax, who’d been pitched into a relegation battle after taking a ten point deduction for going into administration, survived by the skin of their teeth. What’s more this could be a rare year in the Conference where none of the relegated teams get reprieved due to off-the-pitch problems with teams elsewhere. And that, as much of anything, is reason to celebrate what’s been an exciting non-league campaign.

Soccerlens will bring you full previews ahead of this week’s playoff semi-finals. First up will be the first leg of Exeter City vs Torquay United on Thursday. Will it be two appearances in two years at Wembley for Tisdale’s team or will Buckle’s boys batter the Grecians? We’ll give you the lowdown on the Devon derby doubled header.

It’s been a rather exciting week for American soccer fans. For the benefit of those overseas (and all those in the US that are living under a rock), I have compiled some of the more newsworthy items in the past week or so:

Cuban Olympic team depleted

In any major competition, teams are going to lose players due to injuries, fatigue, or suspensions, but the U-23 Cuban National Team has taken this to a new level. After drawing 1-1 with the US U-23 Team on Tuesday, five members of the Cuban team defected, soon followed by two others.

The Cuban Football Association has condemned these players, labeling them as “cowards” and describing their acts as “treason”.
These players can apply for US citizenship after a year in the country because of a US law affectionately known as the “wet foot, dry foot” policy. In the meantime, these players were due to be on trial with Miami FC of USL-1, the US Second Division, but the club has withdrawn their offer after speaking with Confederation officials.

Cuba started with ten men on the field Thursday and lost 2-0 to Honduras. The competition continues throughout the week in various US cities.

For full reports on the story, go here and here.

SuperLiga 2008 teams and schedules announced

Major League Soccer and the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol announced the teams and the schedule for the 2008 edition of the SuperLiga. Four teams from each MLS and the Premera Division will compete for the highest prize of any cup competition in North America (one million dollars).

The MLS competitors will be DC United (Supporters Shield winners), Houston Dynamo (MLS Cup winners), New England Revolution (MLS Cup runners-up), and Chivas USA (Western Conference champions).

The Mexican teams will be Atlante (2007 Apertura champions), CD Guadalajara (eleven-time champions), Santos Laguna (two-time champions), and Pachuca (2007 SuperLiga winners).

For an official release, as well as the groups and schedule, go here.

Sueño MLS set for final matches

Sueño MLS is a program run by FC Dallas and Chivas USA (separately) that allows anybody to try out for the teams. The programs start with a general trial, which can have thousands of participants. The field is narrowed down to sixty, then eighteen. The last eighteen play a match and have a final training session before the winners are announced. 2007 Sueño MLS winner Jorge Flores is currently on the Chivas USA first team and the United States Under-20 National Team.

Many of the talented young players who turn out for this event are teenagers, 15 to 18 years old, but there are some older players that are still chasing the dream. Had I known about it earlier, I might have participated, but I can try next year I guess!

For Sueño MLS Chivas USA news and features, look here, and for Sueño MLS FC Dallas news and features, look here.

Along with all these happenings, look out for my review of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter final first leg and preview of the second leg, coming soon.

I won’t mention anything about what happened to Arsenal’s Eduardo over the weekend, since it’s been talked about plenty already, but I send my get well wishes towards him, and hope he’s back scoring goals (but not against Manchester United) again as soon as possible.

It was a pretty important weekend of football in the Premier League, with the race for the title and for European places getting ever tighter as we edge towards the home stretch.

At the other end, the relegation battle is ongoing, and though it’s almost a given that Derby will be playing Championship football next term, several other sides are fighting to not join the Rams in the second level.

So, here’s a look back at the weekend that was.

Manchester United Rout Newcastle…Again, Close Gap at Top

Lost in the Eduardo injury is the fact that Arsenal only managed a 2-2 draw at Birmingham, with James McFadden netting a last-minute penalty to give the 10-man Brummies a vital point.

How inspired Arsenal were after the injury, I don’t know, but Theo Walcott’s superb five-minute brace in the second half had the Gunners on track for a win until McFadden’s late equalizer.

The draw pushed Arsenal’s lead at the top to six points, but that didn’t last too long, as Manchester United went out and handed Newcastle a 5-1 thrashing at St. James Park.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been scoreless thus far in February, netted in each half to take his total for the season to 29, and Wayne Rooney did the same.

After putting six past the Magpies in the second half at Old Trafford last month, it was 2-0 at the break with goals from Roo and Ron, and strikes from the duo and a late one by Louis Saha finished off the rout and pulled United within three points.

I don’t know if Newcastle fans are looking ahead to next season and saying that will be where King Kev turns it around, but they might need to look at right now, even if they don’t want to, because their side’s place in the top flight is anything but secure. Their winless streak is now at 10 matches in the league, and they’re starting to slip perilously close to the danger zone.

I know they’re not very good at all, and they’re in desperate need of some talent, but the players that they have right now need to get it together in a hurry and get some wins, which to his credit, Sam Allardyce did get a few of during his short tenure.

Battle for Fourth Still Tight

Fresh off of their big win over Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Liverpool didn’t exactly get off to a dream start against visiting Middlesbrough, as Sanli Tuncay gave Boro a ninth-minute lead.

But, Fernando Torres erased that deficit and then some by firing Liverpool into the lead with two goals in two minutes near the half-hour, and then finishing off his hat trick with a strike shortly after the hour mark. Stewart Downing pulled one back late, but the Reds held on to move to 47 points and take fourth on goal difference from Everton (both with 26 matches played).

On Sunday, Aston Villa (27) joined Everton on 47 with their 2-1 win at Reading, who I’ll talk about more shortly.

Portsmouth (44 from 27) are still hanging close, with Jermain Defoe’s 69th minute penalty giving Pompey a 1-0 win over Sunderland. Manchester City are trying their best to do the same as well, but missed a great chance to tighten things up even further with their 2-0 home defeat to Everton, who are now back in fourth on 50, after Monday’s victory at Eastlands.

Going Down?

Above the bottom-placed Rams are Fulham (19 points), who missed out on a valuable point on Saturday, thanks to a late, controversial winner by Nobby Solano in a 1-0 win for West Ham at Craven Cottage.

Occupying the other relegation place is Reading (22), who are sinking further and further into the abyss, with Sunday’s loss to Villa their club-record eighth in a row in the league.

After following up a runaway Championship title in 2005/06 with an eighth-place finish in their first season up, things have gone from bad to worse to worst for the Royals. Coming into the season, I actually thought they could push for a place in the UEFA Cup, but they’ve missed the mark, to say the least, because of a defense that’s been generous with the goals, especially away from the Madejski. Reading have picked up only three points (three draws) in 13 away league matches this season, so if they want to harbor any real hopes of staying up going down the stretch, nicking away points is crucial, starting Saturday at Boro.

I wonder if Steve Coppell is wishing he’d jumped off the ship when he was talking about taking a break from management.

Birmingham (23) are a point above the relegation zone after their draw with the leaders, and two points above them are Bolton (25), who celebrated their advancement to the UEFA Cup round of 16 by getting thrashed 4-1 at Blackburn. Wigan picked up three big points by beating Derby 2-0, and are on 26 points along with Sunderland.

Then there’s Newcastle, six points better than Reading. In the end, they should have no problem staying up, but it’s not nice to scare your fans like that, is it boys?

Rough Week for Adebayor

Entering Arsenal’s FA Cup tie against United, Emmanuel Adebayor had scored 13 goals in his previous nine appearances.

On Wednesday night against AC Milan, Adebayor missed a golden opportunity in the final seconds, hitting the bar on a shot that would have given the Gunners an advantage heading to the San Siro.

On Saturday, Adebayor couldn’t find the net despite a few good chances in the draw against Birmingham.

Maybe having to play with Nicklas Bendtner up front knocked him off of his game, or it could be he was just trying to make Bendtner look good.

Goals of the Weekend

Theo Walcott vs. Birmingham: Nice mazy run and superb finish to put Arsenal up 2-1 on 55.

Fernando Torres vs. Middlesbrough: Thundering strike to put Liverpool up 2-1. If the defender had moved just a few inches to the right, he would have been in a great deal of pain.

Wayne Rooney vs. Newcastle: Curling shot to put Manchester United up 4-1 in the 80th minute. Great pass by his former teammate to set him up, yes?