Arshavin didn’t even have to score this time. Cesc Fabergas netted in a brace for Arsenal who are now undefeated for 20 Premier League matches. Their 2-0 victory over struggling Middlesbrough was one of the easiest they’ve had in a while, even if the score line doesn’t fully project that.

Arsenal who face Manchester United in the first leg of the Uefa Champions League Semi Finals on Wednesday played with their strongest lineup available and really hardly had any problems handling Boro who haven’t lost to the gunners since 2006.

Arsenal now have pretty much cemented their 4th place finish with Villa 10 points behind them and 12 points left to play for, and still hold a glimmer of hope to catch Chelsea at third, a place that qualifies for the Group stage of the Champions League automatically.

Boro on the other hand and their manager Gareth Southgate moved closer to relegation. The players looked lacking belief in their survival cause on the pitch today. Maybe the knowledge of facing United next week depressed them already, with the way United looked yesterday.

Cesc Fabergas, 26th minute

Cesc Fabergas, 67th minute

Image: Source

They’ve done it again… being behind 2-0 57 minutes into the game didn’t deter Alex Fergusons’ Red Devils and 22 minutes later the scoreboard read: Manchester United 5   Tottenham 2

I don’t think Liverpool fans still believe. They beat Hull City 3-1 earlier, with Alonso and Kuyt (twice) doing the damage for the reds, but I don’t think anyone has any doubt, if they still had any before today, that the title is going for the third season in a row and for the 18th time in their history (tying number one overall with Liverpool) to Old Trafford.

Tottenham stunned United by leading 2-0 after 32 minutes with goals from Darren Bent and Luka Modric, and stayed ahead till the break. A very dubious penalty given to Manchester United 12 minutes into the second half opened the flood gates and Manchester started an incredible comeback, that brought the old spirits of their 5-3 victory over Tottenham from a few years ago which came after being down 3-0 at half time.

We’re more for Liverpool and Blackburn here at SPORTIGE, but some of us, well more like one of us, still believed that there’s hope to overthrow the Ferguson dictatorship this year. This game pretty much destroyed those hopes and dreams and there’s nothing more left to do but to raise the white flag, cause nothing except some sort of divine intervention can stop Sir Alex Ferguson from claiming his 11 Premiership title.

Darren Bent, 29th minute

Luka Modric, 32nd minute

Cristiano Ronaldo (PK), 57th minute

Wayne Rooney, 67th minute

Cristiano Ronaldo, 68th minute

Wayne Rooney, 71st minute

Dimitar Berbatov, 79th minute

A new day and a new hat trick hero. After Mario Gomez doing it for Stuttgart it was Inzaghi’s turn to do it for AC Milan as they grabbed second place in the Serie A.

Serie A

We’ll start our tour today in Italy and we’ll begin with Milan who mauled Torino 5-1. Inzaghi scored three, Kaka scored one from the penalty spot and Ambrosini added the last one in the final minute. Milan are now tied at second with Juventus, both teams with 64 points, 6 games to go in the season. Remember – May 10th, Juventus come to Milan to play the Rossoneri.

Fiorentina who had a chance to climb to fourth after Genoa’s loss yesterday didn’t capitalize on the opportunity and were defeated 3-1 by unpredictable Udinese 3-1. D’agostino with two and Kwadwo Asamoha scored for the winners, Dario Dainelli grabbed one for the losers.

AS Roma who are also still in the chase for that coveted fourth place were able to beat Lecce 3-2 in the Stadio Olimpico. Roma led 2-0 with goals from Totti and Brighi, but Lecce were able to even the score by the 55th minute with goals from Gianni Munari and Dimitrios Papadopoulos. Totti grabbed the winner for Roma minutes later from the penalty spot.

Genoa still hold the fourth spot with 57 points, leading Fiorentina (5th) by 2 points and Roma (6th) by 5.

English Premiership / FA Cup Semi Final

After Chelsea secured their place in Wembley for the FA Cup final, Everton did the same by beating Manchester United after Penalty kicks. The match went goalless for 120 minutes in a very disappointing match. Alex Ferguson will probably draw a lot of criticism for fielding mostly second lineup players, who eventually got knocked out and their dreams of a quintuple over. Everton will play in the Finals for the first time since 1995, when they won it by beating Manchester United 1-0.

In League Play Tottenham made things much worst for Newcastle by beating them 1-0 with Darren Bent scoring the goal. Manchester City Practically finished their season by beating WBA 4-2 and drifting away from the relegation zone for good. Robinho, Onuha, Elano and Daniel Sturridge scored for City while Chris Brunt scored the two for WBA who can start getting ready for Championship play next year.

As for Newcastle, they are buried at 19, 4 points from safety. We warned Shearer not to take this job.

French Ligue 1

The biggest game of the night in Europe was played in Bordeaux, who hosted the seemingly eternal champions Lyon.

Alou Diarra’s goal gave Bordeaux their first win against Lyon in 10 years but more importantly puts them at second place, 2 points behind Marseille. The same Marseille that went to Lorient a few hours earlier, went behind early in the first half (Kevin Gameiro, 8th minute) and the same Marseille that put together a second half comeback. Renato Civelli tied things up at the 60th minute and Brandao brought the win to Marseille 10 minutes from time.

PSG grabbed an impressive 3-0 victory over last placed Le Havre with goals from Giuly, Rothen and Horaru. They rose to fourth with 59 points, 5 points behind leaders Marseille and only a point behind Lyon. Things are certainly hot and steamy in France, 6 games to go till the finish line.

German Bundesliga

Hamburg went level with Bayern Munich at second with 54 points after beating Hannover 2-1 highlighted by Mladen Petric scoring both goals. Like Bayern they are now 3 points behind leaders Wolfsburg with 6 games to go.

Hertha Berlin were another to team to grab a come from behind victory, beating Werder Bremen 2-1. Mertesacker put the visitors ahead just before the half but Simunic and Rafael were able to keep the 3 points in Berlin who are now back at fourth, 5 points behind Wolfsburg and still dreaming of a championship.

Our final word comes from Holland, were PSV destroyed Ajax 6-2 in a game that instead of helping them win a championship like in a normal year actually clinched the title for AZ, their first since 1981.

Ajax are still in a battle with Twente for the second place, the last spot leading to the Champions League and are only one point behind them, but this defeat to PSV might shatter their confidence for the remaining 3 games. Van Gaal can send flowers to Edson Mendez, Ibrahim Afellay, Nordim Amrabat, Jason Culina, Balazs Dzsudzsak and Otman Bakkal for both giving him his first title with AZ and for sticking it to Ajax. I’m sure he enjoyed it.

New week coming up (at least for those who go back to work on Sunday) and a new tradition – recapping the major leagues in Europe and picking our performer of the day. If you put your mouse on the picture, you can guess who it is. So, after we’re through with the introduction, let’s get down to business.

English Premiership / FA Cup Semi Final

We begin our tour with the best league in European soccer right now, the English Premier League, but not with league play.

Arsenal and Chelsea clashed at Wembley playing for the right to appear in the FA Cup final this afternoon. Chelsea came out on top despite going behind early on to a Theo Walcott goal 18 minutes into the game. Chelsea didn’t go into shock and grabbed the equalizer 15 minutes later with a goal from Florent Malouda.

The Blues went on to dominate the gunners throughout the match and got the goal they deserved 6 minutes from the end from Didier Drogba who is just in lethal form of late, probably thanks to his new coach. Chelsea go on to their second final in three years. They won it last time around.

None of the Top 4 took part of league play as Man United play Everton tomorrow in the second semi final while Liverpool wait for Arsenal on Tuesday.

We did have some important games regarding the relegation battle. Stoke defeated Blackburn at home 1-0 as Liam Lawrence scored in the second half to put Stoke 8 points above relegation and pretty much safe for another Premiership season. Blackburn on the other hand are in deep trouble.

Portsmouth beat Bolton 1-0 from the legs of veteran Kanu while Sunderland beat Hull City 1-0 as well with a goal from Djibril Cisse but both teams aren’t safe yet. Boro drew 0-0 at home to Fulham, keeping them under the red line at 18th but Newcastle, placed 19th have a game in hand.

Aston Villa and West Ham finished their game with a one all draw, as Diego Tristan scored a late equalizer for The Hammers after Heskey put Villa in front 11 minutes into the game. The draw means Villa will probably have to give up their Champions League dream for next season.

Tottenham host Newcastle in a game which means the world to the visitors from up north while Man City host WBA. Man City are coming off their UEFA cup exit and need a win so they don’t get caught up in relegation battles for the last month of the season.

Spanish La Liga

The main interest in the Spanish first division was of course the Real Madrid chasing Barcelona and hoping for Los Cules to slip up in the earlier game. Like in recent weeks, the status quo was maintained. Barca played in Getafe and won 1-0 from a Lionel Messi goal, putting the pressure on Real who played immediately afterward against Recreativo Heulva. The Champions did their job and also grabbed a 1-0 victory from the legs of Brazilian Marcelo.

Deportivo won in Bilbao and Atletico Madrid won 3-0 at home against Numancia to keep both teams in the race for Champions League place while waiting for Valencia and Villareal to play today and hope they both drop points.

The Bottom in Spain is on fire with all teams positions 20-10 in the mix. Mallorca was the only one of those teams to get points today, with a 1-1 draw at Malaga.

Italian Serie A

Only 2 games in Italy on Saturday, but one of those was the Derby d’Italia with Juventus playing hosts to Inter Milan and hoping of winning to keep some chance of catching up with the league leaders who lead them by 10 points. They didn’t, but they managed to grab an equalizer in injury time to end the game at 1-1.

Inter grabbed the lead in the 64th minute through young phenom Mario Balotelli and despite Juventus playing with 10 men from the 76th minute (Tiago was sent off) their Czech defender, Zdenek Grygera managed to grab the late equalizer and keeping the lead at 10 and the distance between them and third place Milan at 3 points.

Lazio beat Genoa at Genova 1-0 with Mauro Zarate continuing his good form and winning it for Lazio. This goal kept Lazio’s hopes of a Champions League place alive and also helped Fiorentina and AS Roma with the same cause in their chase after fourth placed Genoa. A Fiorentina win in Udinese today will put them at fourth.

French Ligue 1

The Main Focus in the French League on Saturday was Tolouses’ visit to Grenoble in their attempt to catch up with Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux. Unfortunately for them, Grenoble needed a win to keep clear of the relegation zone and won 1-0 from a Laurent Courtois penalty kick. Tolouse are now 5 points below Marseille and a game more, but with the craziness this year in France you never know. Bordeaux host Lyon today in huge game with huge implication on the title race so it’s still anyone’s game.

Marseille, coming off a home defeat to Shakhtar in the UEFA Cup, play today at Lorient, a very tough outing against a very unpredictable team.

Elsewhere Nantes beat Nice 2-0 to help their cause of surviving another season in the top division ( Bagayoko, Bekamenga). St Etienne drawing 0-0 at home against Lille which kept them at 19th and Sochaux losing at home to Auxerre (Kahlenberg) helped Nantes as well.

German Bundesliga

The Craziest league in Europe this season produces our performer of the day, but first, the Top 2. Wolfsburg had Leverkusen pay a visit to their fortress (Undefeated at home this season) and stayed top of the league for another week with Grafite scoring two, reaching 22 goals this season, a league best. Wolfsburg won 2-1.

Bayern kept their place at second with Luca Toni scoring for them to come away with a 1-0 against Armenia Bielefeld. Hamburg can tie them with 54 points if they win their game at Hannover today.

And for today’s star, Mario Gomez of Stuttgat. Stuttgart came away with a 3-0 victory in Cologne to put them currently at third, 6 points behind Wolfsburg. Mario Gomez scored the hat trick for Stuttgart bringing his tally to 15 this season, and giving him our Saturday star award.

It’s like we didn’t need to come back for these 2nd legs, except for the Dynamo Kiev vs PSG game, that ended in a 0-0 draw first time around. As for the rest of the games? All teams could  of stayed home and let the results from last week speak for themselves, but at least we had a lot of goals, 15 all around. Enjoy.

Dynamo Kiev – Paris Saint-Germain : 3 – 0, 3-0 aggregate.

Goals for Dynamo : Ismael Bangoura (4th minute), Mikael Landreau (o.g, 15th minute), Ognjen Vukojevic (61st minute)

Udinese – Werder Bremen : 3 – 3, 4-6 aggregate.

Goals for Udinese : Gokhan Inler ( 15th minute), Fabio Quagliarella ( 31st and 38th minute). Goals for Bremen : Diego (29th minute, 51st minute), Claudio Pizarro (74th minute)

Marseille – Shakhtar Donetsk : 1 – 2, 1-4 aggregate.

Goals for Marseille : Hatem Ben Arfa (43rd minute). Goals for Shakhtar : Luiz Fernandinho (29th minute), da Silva Luiz Adriano (90th minute)

Manchester City – Hamburg SV : 2 – 1, 3-4 aggregate.

Goals for Man City : Elano (penalty, 17th minute), Felipe Caicedo (50th minute). Goals for Hamburg : Jose Paolo Guerrero (12th minute).

A fantastic goal from Theo Walcott early on led the way to a relaxed and fluid performance from the gunners who scored again from Adebayor (5th goal in 5 games) and a converted penalty kick from Robin Van Persie. So  after we had last night set us up with a great match up to look forward towards, Barcelona and Chelsea the second night gave the fans the big name match up most craved for, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Anyone with some extra cash can fly over to London on the first week of May for 2 games day after day in the English Capitol, with Arsenal hosting Man U on the 5th and Chelsea hosting Barca on the 6th, both 2nd leg matches.

Chelsea and Liverpool finished their 2nd leg of the Champions League Quarter Final in a thrilling (big understatement) 4-4 draw. Liverpool opened with 2 goals within the first half hour from Fabio Aurelio and a penalty kick from Xabi Alonso to take them leading 2-0 at the half. (Reminder: Chelsea won the first leg 3-1 in Liverpool).

The second half brought us 6 goals, with Chelsea scoring 3 straight, one own goal from Jose Reina, Liverpool’s goalkeeper, One Super free kick from Alex and another one from Frank Lampard.

Liverpool came back with 2 quick goals from Dirk Kuyt and Lucas to put them 4-3 in front, needing one more goal in the final 8 minutes to knock off Chelsea, but Frank Lampard was there for the Blues in the 89th minute to end it in a 4 all draw and put Chelsea in the next stage. But words don’t do this game justice, here are the goals.

Fabio Aurelio, 19th minute, 1-0 Liverpool

Didier Drogba/Jose Reina (Own Goal), 51st minute, 2-1 Liverpool

Alex, 57th minute, 2-2

Frank Lampard, 76th minute, 3-2 Chelsea

Lucas, 81st minute, 3-3

Dirk Kuyt, 82nd minute, 4-3 Liverpool

Frank Lampard, 89th minute, 4-4

P.S. : Sorry Xabi Alonso, but a penalty kick doesn’t cut it to get into the highlight film

A game in which Valladolid had just as much chances as Real eventually turned out as another victory for the Blancos, with goals from Raul (44th) minute and Arjen Robben (82nd) which keeps the title race quite alive for the remaining 8 games.

1-0: Raul

2-0: Robben

Despite the championship ramifications of Inter dropping points at home to Palermo and Juventus losing in Genoa to almost completely lose any hope of catching up with Inter, the biggest game in Italy this weekend was played in Rome.

In the 120th version of the Rome derby Lazio dealt a serious blow to AS Roma’s fading Champions League hope with a 4-2 victory in the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio still have UEFA cups aspirations of their own and even though it’s a long shot, a win in the most important game of the year for them could give them the lift they need for the rest of the season.

As usual, il Derby Capitolino provided a heated match in the latest chapter of this fierce and violent rivalry. 6 goals, 7 yellow cards, 3 red cards and 55′000 fans with both teams shooting 40(!!) times at goal in wild 90 minutes shootout.

Lazio opened with a blitz on Doni’s goal and scored twice in the first 4 minutes from Goran Pandev and Mauro Zarate. AS Roma regained their sensed quickly and after a series of corners were able to score from one, Phillipe Mexes being the right man in the right spot.

Lazio scored 13 minutes into the second half courtesy of Stephan Lichtsteiner, and the game which was relatively calm until that point went over the edge. Panucci was sent off (unjustifiably by himself) in the 62 minute, which didn’t disturb Daniele De Rossi from getting one for Roma in the 80th minute to make it 3-2. Mexes and Matuzalem got into a fight of their own and were both sent off in the 80th minute . Aleksandar Kolarov put away any hopes of a draw by scoring in the 85th minute with a clever yet weak ball to Doni’s corner.

Roma are now ranked 6th, 8 points behind 4th placed Genoa and chances look slim. Lazio are ranked 9th, 5 points behind Roma who currently hold the final spot for European qualifying.

Before we give you the video of the goals, here are some stats we found interesting:

• This was the first time 6 goals were scored in a Rome Derby since the 5-1 Roma victory back in March 2002.

• This was the first time Lazio scored 4 goals in a Derby since their 4-1 victory back in January 1998.
• Besides Pandev who netted his 2nd Derby goal, all players scored their first career goal in the Rome Derby.

• Lazio have won the last 3 games with them considered the hosts with an aggregate score of 10-4.