By JOHN BOSCHINI
The FA Cup has lost some of its prestige with the rise of the Premier League but Sunday's clash between Manchester United and Manchester City was a glimpse at the drama knockout competitions can provide in a 3-2 win for United.
United were up by three goals before halftime thanks to two goals from Wayne Rooney and a stunning strike from Danny Welbeck. The main talking point of the opening period was the controversial sending off of Vincent Kompany. The City captain lunged in two-footed and mostly avoided contact with Nani but Chris Foy brandished a red card anyway.
Despite being down a man, City scored two goals with a free kick from Aleksander Kolarov and Sergio Aguero's clinical finish but couldn't find the elusive equalizer.
Barcelona lost more ground to Real Madrid in the chase for the La Liga title after a 1-1 draw with Espanyol. Alvaro Vasquez scored with four minutes left to cancel out Cesc Fabregas' first-half equalizer. Real Madrid rolled over Granada 5-1 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
Here is a look back at all the results from Europe's top leagues.
ENGLAND
It's something of a tradition that the third round of the FA Cup features a side far down the English pyramid knocking off a side from the Premier League. This year, the dubious honor went to Wigan, who were knocked off by League Two side Swindon Town. Bolton almost fell to the same fate but scored late to force a replay with Macclesfield. Andy Carroll also scored in Liverpool's third-round win. The fourth round draw contained more drama as Liverpool and Manchester United will face off in three weeks time.
FA CUP THIRD ROUND
Liverpool 5, Oldham Athletic 1
Bristol Rovers 1, Aston Villa 3
West Bromwich Albion 4, Cardiff City 2
Watford 4, Bradford City 2
Tottenham Hotspur 3, Cheltenham Town 0
Swindon 2, Wigan Athletic 1
Sheffield United 3, Salisbury City 1
Reading 0, Stevenage 1
Nottingham Forest 0, Leicester City 0
Norwich City 4, Burnley 1
Newcastle United 2, Blackburn Rovers 1
MK Dons 1, Queens Park Rangers 1
Middlesbrough 1, Shrewsbury Town 1
Macclesfield Town 2, Bolton Wanderers 2
Hull City 3, Ipswich Town 1
Gillingham 1, Stoke City 3
Fulham 4, Charlton Athletic 0
Fleetwood Town 1, Blackpool 5
Everton 2, Tamworth 0
Doncaster Rovers 0, Notts County 2
Derby County 1, Crystal Palace 0
Crawley Town 1, Bristol City 0
Coventry City 1, Southampton 2
Brighton 1, Wrexham 1
Barnsley 2, Swansea City 4
Dagenham & Redbridge 0, Milwall 0
Birmingham 0, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Peterborough United 0, Sunderland 2
Sheffield Wednesday 1, West Ham United 0
Chelsea 4, Portsmouth 0
Manchester City 2, Manchester United 3
SPAIN
Real Madrid refocused their sights on the league title with a dominating win over Granada. Karim Benzema scored two and Sergio Ramos, Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo added goals of their own. Things are getting worse and worse for the Yellow Submarines of Villareal. The injury-ravaged side dropped down into the relegation zone after a 2-2 draw with Valencia.
Malaga 0, Athletico Madrid 0
Real Madrid 5, Granada 1
Real Sociedad 0, Osasuna 0
Racing Santander 1, Real Zaragoza 0
Levante 0, Mallorca 0
Espanyol 1, Barcelona 1
Real Betis 2, Sporting Gijon 0
Villareal 2, Valencia 2
Getafe 0, Athletic Bilbao 0
Rayo Vallecano 2, Sevilla 1
ITALY
There were no real surprises at the top of the table as Serie A kicked off 2012. AC Milan are still on top with a victory over Atalanta with Juventus right behind them after beating Lecce. Inter Milan also started with a bang after a 5-0 thrashing of Parma on Saturday.
Inter Milan 5, Parma 0
Siena 4, Lazio 0
Palermo 1, Napoli 3
Novara 0, Fiorentina 3
Lecce 0, Juventus 1
Cagliari 3, Genoa 0
Bologna 2, Catania 0
Atalanta 0, AC Milan 2
AS Roma 2, Chievo Verona 0
Udinese 4, Cesena 1
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What did you think of this weekend's results? Was the Manchester Derby exciting? Surprised to see Barcelona drop points? Surprised at the lack of surprises in Serie A?
Share your thoughts below.
… except it wasn’t a sliding tackle, and there was nothing legal about it. Kompany lunged in with both feet off the ground (make the tackle “out of control”), studs up, and one leg to either side of Nani. It’s clear testament to Nani’s skill that he wasn’t seriously injured by this scissor tackle. Whether or not he got the ball or touched the player is irrelevant–it was a reckless tackle made without any regard to the opposing player, and that’s why it is a red card. This referee (Chris Foy) has a long history of seriously penalizing players for these kinds of dangerous plays which can wreck careers, which is something we should appreciate.
That being said, I’ve long been a fan of Kompany and his play; I think this tackle smelled more of desperation when he realized Nani was about to go clear on goal and there was no Hart back there. Most of the time he is a model professional who plays hard yet fair, so I will be surprised if he gets slapped with any form of lengthy suspension.
The problem with the regard card is not that the referee are not allowed to give a red card for a reckless challenge. The problem is that it is quite extraordinary for an EPL referee to give a straight red for a sliding tackle which does not result in any contact between the two players. This season alone, several much rougher, bone crunching, studs up, challenges resulted in a yellow card or there was no call. In this instance, there was no contact, Nani who normally goes down quite easily at the slightest contact, jumped over and landed on his feet and even tried to win the ball back. In EPL a challenge like this is normally a no call or at most a yellow. I personally agree with you that the refs should be protecting skilled players from reckless challanges, but giving a red card in this instance is a significant departure from how they normally call the game in the EPL.
I want nigel de jong’s career to be ended by a reckless tackle. I don’t want him to die on the field, I just don’t want him to end (or seriously threaten) the career of anybody else.
holden, ben arfa, xavi alonso’s xiphoid process.
Not everyone is De Jong, this is true.
I certainly agree being angry is perfectly normal, but to wish career-ending injuries or the like on players is shameful. I know some players have a history of being reckless, but that doesn’t mean every player is…
I agree.
There would be more outrage and perhaps even some feigned anger. Though, could you blame them (us)?
That’s our boys. There’s nothing wrong with that and I think you’d find that’s fairly common in this sport.
Of course not, but the mere possibility that one of our precious players could have gotten injured by a reckless, two-footed challenge would be too much for everyone to handle. Who cares if this is an American website, so Americans are allowed to make idiotic comments like wishing ill will towards any player who touches a hair on an American player?
Did Kompany break someone’s leg or tear up their knee?
That’s news to me.
PS: You’re posting on an American website.
PS If Kompany had made that challenge on an American yesterday, you’d all be crying like bitches…
So you’re saying City lost because of the goalie? Granted I have no idea why Hart was rested, but the back-up saved a PK and was not at fault for any of the goals. I definitely agree United needs way better goalkeepers right now…
Getting a point from Valencia is good, but Villarreal blew a 2-goal lead.
City are the favorites because they have Hart and not De Gea playing keeper for them.
Who started at GK for both teams in the FA Cup? The result is less surprising after observing that.
This is just not United’s season I think. Even when they beat City away, they are still being derided by critics and City are being heralded. I saw the game, and I completely agree United should have destroyed City a la the first half, and I was disappointed that they gave away two cheap goals. But now City are favorites to win the league even more? I guarantee if the score line was switched no one would be saying the same thing about Unitd. If United loses, I’m sure they’d be in “total meltdown crisis” mode, but if they win, City now have the ability to focus on the title and will surely win it? Give me a break. United beat the title favorites, richest team in the world, and defending FA Cup holders at their own stadium, for Christ’s sake, and had lost two bad games beforehand. Is United really that legendary where even a win is a bad thing?