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European Rewind: Liverpool win Carling Cup, Juve ties Milan, and more

Liverpool getty

By JOHN BOSCHINI

One wouldn't expect one of the games of the season to come out of the Carling Cup but that's exactly what happened when Liverpool edged Cardiff City via penalties in a thrilling final at Wembley.

Liverpool seemed to have dispatched the Championship side when Dirk Kuyt scored a wonderful goal in the 108th minute but Cardiff refused to give up. Ben Turner capped a mad scramble inside the box with a toe-poke under Pepe Reina with under three minutes left in the second period of extra time.

The ensuing penalty kick was symptomatic of the exhausting previous 120 minutes as Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam failed to convert Liverpool's first two penalties. Things were worse for Cardiff as Kenny Miller and Rudy Gestede hit the post and Anthony Gerrard, Steven's cousin, rolled the decisive penalty wide of the post. The win gives Liverpool their first piece of major silverware since 2006.

In Italy, Juventus and AC Milan played to a 1-1 draw as controversial refereeing decisions grabbed the post-game headlines.

AC Milan were by far the better team in the first half. Antonio Nocerino pounced on a poor pass from Juventus and fired a deflected shot past Gianluigi Buffon in the 14th minute. The home team's lead should have been doubled when Sulley Muntari's header clearly crossed the line before Buffon palmed it away but the goal was not given.

Juventus had their own reason to complain in the second half when Alessandro Matri's goal was unfairly disallowed for offsides 11 minutes from time. The visitors eventually got their equalizer in the 83rd minute when Matri scored. Juventus remain the only unbeaten side in Europe but find themselves a point behind Milan with a game in hand.

Here is a look back at all the results, including the North London Derby, from around Europe.

England

The reports of Arsenal's death have been greatly exaggerated. The Gunners rattled off five unanswered goals at the Emirates for an emphatic 5-2 victory over Tottenham in the North London Derby. An early goal from Louis Saha and a penalty from Emmanuel Adebayor put the visitors up midway through the first half and it seemed like another devastating loss was in the cards for Arsenal, However, an offensive explosion unlike anything the Gunners have displayed this season came in a 28-minute span starting just before halftime.

Barcay Sagna, Robin Van Persie and Tomas Rosicky put Arsenal ahead with Theo Walcott adding a brace to complete the rout. The win moves Arsenal level on points with Chelsea with the Gunners taking fourth place on account of goals scored. The Blues got back on track with a comfortable win over Bolton. Both Manchester clubs rolled to easy victories to increase their lead at the top of the table.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

Chelsea 3, Bolton Wanderers 0
Newcastle United 2, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Queens Park Rangers 0, Fulham 1
West Bromwich Albion 4, Sunderland 0
Wigan Athletic 0, Aston Villa 0
Manchester City 3, Blackburn Rovers 0
Arsenal 5, Tottenham Hotspur 2
Norwich City 1, Manchester United 2
Stoke City 2, Swansea City 0

CARLING CUP SCOREBOARD 

Final

Cardiff City 2, Liverpool 2 (Liverpool wins 3-2 on PKs)

SPAIN

Two remarkable goals from the league's brightest stars gave Real Madrid and Barcelona one-goal victories.

Lionel Messi's stunning free kick with nine minutes to go gave Barcelona a 2-1 win over Athletico Madrid. It was a much-needed away win in the league for the defending champions. Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid's lead at 10 points with the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano.

LA LIGA SCOREBOARD

Racing Santander 1, Sporting Gijon 1
Real Betis 1, Getafe 1
Malaga 5, Real Zaragoza 1
Espanyol 1, Levante 2
Villarreal 2, Athletic Bilbao 2
Rayo Vallecano 0, Real Madrid 1
Osasuna 2, Granada 1
Real Sociedad 1, Mallorca 0
Valencia 1, Sevilla FC 2
Atletico Madrid 1, Barcelona 2

GERMANY

Franck Ribery scored twice to get Bayern Munich back on track following Champions League disappointment with a 2-0 win over Schalke. Bayern move up to second place and to within four points of Borussia Dortmund. The current league leaders were comfortable in a 3-1 victory over Hannover.

Borussia Monchengladbach suffered a setback to their title hopes with a 1-1 draw against Hamburg. 

BUNDESLIGA SCOREBOARD

Borussia Monchengladbach 1, Hamburg SV 1
FC Augsburg 3, Hertha Berlin 0
FC Cologne 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2
Mainz 4, Kaiserslautern 0
VfB Stuttgart 4, SC Freiburg 1
VfL Wolfsburg 1, TSG Hoffenheim 2
Werder Bremen 0, Nurnberg 1
Bayern Munich 2, Schalke 04 0
Borussia Dortmund 3, Hannover 96 1

ITALY

The crisis at Inter Milan continues as a 1-0 loss to Napoli extends their winless streak in all competitions to eight games. Napoli, on the other hand, are moving up the league table and are into fifth place, five points off a Champions League spot.

The final nail in Cesena's relegation coffin may have come in the form of a 1-0 loss to Chievo Verona. The Seahorses are 10 points from safety with 14 games left to play.

SERIE A SCOREBOARD

Genoa 2, Parma 2
AC Milan 1, Juventus 1
Atalanta 4, AS Roma 1
Cagliari 1, Lecce 2
Catania 3, Novara 1
Chievo Verona 1, Cesena 0
Siena 4, Palermo 1 
Bologna 1, Udinese 3
Lazio 1, Fiorentina 0
Napoli 1, Inter Milan 0

FRANCE

Paris Saint-Germain earned a last-gasp equalizer to draw 4-4 with Lyon in what may be the game of the season in Ligue 1. Lyon 4-2 lead into the last 20 minutes of the game before Ceara and Guillaume Hoarau clawed back a much-needed point.

Montpellier moved to the top of the table when a late goal from John Utaka gave the home team a 1-0 victory over Bordeaux. Montpellier are now unbeaten in six games and hold a one-point advantage over PSG.

LIGUE 1 SCOREBOARD

AC Ajaccio 2, Dijon 1
AJ Auxerre 0, St. Etienne 0
Evian Thonon Gaillard 2, AS Nancy Lorraine 0
Montpellier 1, Bordeaux 0
Nice 1, Caen 0
Valenciennes 2, Lorient 0
Lyon 4, Paris Saint-Germain 4
Brest 1, Marseille 0
Toulouse 2, Sochaux 0
Stade Rennes 1, Lille 1

NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven took advantage of AZ Alkmaar's 3-3 draw with Heerenveen to move into first place with a 3-2 win over Feyenoord. Zakaria Labyad scored in the winner in the 80th minute after Eindhoven surrendered a two-goal lead in the second half.

EREDIVISIE SCOREBOARD

RKC Waalwijk 1, Vitesse Arnhem 0
NAC Breda 4, ADO Den Haag 0
Roda JC Kerkrade 0, De Graafschap 2
VVV Venlo 3, SC Heracles Almelo 1
NEC Nijmegen 4, FC Groningen 0
Excelsior 1, Ajax 4
PSV Eindhoven 3, Feyenoord Rotterdam 2
FC Twente 1, FC Utrecht 0
AZ Alkmaar 3, Heerenveen 3

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What did you think of the weekend's action? Were you caught up in the Carling Cup final? Surprised by Arsenal's demolition of Tottenham? Did the officials ruin the spectacle of Juventus vs. AC Milan?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As an American, to experience the North London Derby in person yesterday was even better than the high bar I had set.

    Sat in the lower deck about 4 seats from the visiting section. To watch (and listen) the fans go back and forth was simply incredible. What a change in emotion.

    It made tremendous sense about 30 min into the match when the Spurs were singing “we want you to stay, arsene, we want you to stay”. And it even made more sense in the 70th minute when the Gooners were singing that exact song back at their rivals.

    Not sure I will ever be want to attend another Premier League match (well, except for Everton-Liverpool).

    Reply
  2. I agree Jozy is not there yet, but I do think if he works hard the potential is there. I still believe in Jozy. As for Dempsey, I had not really thought of Dempsey at Liverpool, but you are absolutely right. He would fit right in.

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  3. They did beat Chelsea and Man City to make the final. It is their first trophy in 6 years right? Seems a big enough deal to me to celebrate.

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  4. As much as I love Jozy, he wouldn’t get off the bench at Liverpool, except for maybe Cup competitions. And he’d probably STILL be on the bench for those. Suarez, Carroll, Bellamy, Kuyt all are better than Jozy.

    Dempsey, however, would be perfect for Liverpool IMHO. They obviously need help scoring, and Dempsey playing off Suarez would be a pretty great pair. Dempsey also has a lot more positional flexibility than Jozy, he could get into the lineup in a variety of ways.

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  5. I know, mainly I’m just making fun of Liverpool. I’m also referring to the fact that Liverpool and plenty of other people are acting like this is now a signal that Liverpool are going to start winning everything again. I mean, Birmingham won it last year, so it’s not like the Carling Cup is a barometer of future success. If United was in the state Liverpool are currently in, I’d be embarrassed for them with the wild celebrations and claims too, but perhaps I’m making too big a deal of it, they are allowed to celebrate how they wish…

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  6. Teams always celebrate winning trophies — I’m not sure what the big deal is with them spraying some champagne around. Man U celebrated winning the league cup pretty mightily a couple years ago. As they always do.

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  7. Also, does a secondary person approve the summaries for this article? Both Manchester clubs rolled to easy victories? United won at the last second 2-1 and was anything but easy. And Arsenal’s death great exaggerated? They got destroyed by AC Milan, are going to lose Van Persie, lost to Sunderland in the FA Cup, may not make the Champions League, and are a shadow of the team they used to be, and one great game against Tottenham changes all this? At least try to make some sense…

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  8. I find it quite amusing how big of a deal Liverpool is making this win. It’s the least desirable trophy in the season, and they are acting like they won the Champions League. But I guess Liverpool has to take what they can get these days, and this “justifies” the obscene transfer fees they’ve paid for some average players…

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  9. I saw an article on another Web site about the need for the American owners to spend some money to bring in some help up top for Liverpool and had this thought: From a PR standpoint Jozy Altidore would be perfect for Liverpool. That leaves the question whether Jozy could cut it for a top team in the Premiere League. I think possibly he could. His improvement the past six months at AZ has been amazing and, at only 22, still plenty of upset potential if he keeps working hard.

    Reply
  10. I guess Liverpool supporters are happy with their owners now.

    You know…since we didn’t see any American flags burned this weekend.

    Reply

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