FA Cup Weekend

In England, the hectic League schedule gives way to the FA Cup for this weekend. The third round of football's oldest competition sees the insertion of Premier League clubs into the fray. Here's what's going on this weekend:

• Everton face a trip to League Two side Macclesfield, as Tim Howard and company will look to advance past the stage where they were knocked out last year by Oldham. Everton are beset with injuries and the latest news is that Louis Saha is out for an additional month (um...big surprise, cough). Apparently the pitch at Moss Rose, Macclesfield's ground, is having a shocker but the latest is that the game is set to go ahead.
• Fulham and Clint Dempsey travel to Hillsborough to take on Frank Simek and Sheffield Wednesday. Like Everton, Fulham have been knocked out in this stage in the past two years, but this time around things are set up a bit different. The Cottagers are riding a nine game unbeaten run which has taken them into the top half of the table. Here's a video preview of the game over at Fulham's website. Simek has recently returned to full fitness for Wednesday, who are in 13th place in the Championship, and a recall to the side could be in order.
• Aston Villa take on Gillingham, with Brad Guzan's team looking to build on recent league success. Six of the past seven years they've been knocked out at this stage, so a win against the League Two outfit would do nicely. Guzan has played in other cup matches this year for Martin O'Neil's side, so he could be in line to make the start on Sunday.
• Other matches of interest include: Jonathan Spector and West Ham United taking on Barnsley, Jay DeMerit and Watford meeting Scunthorpe United, and Eddie Johnson and Cardiff City going up against Reading.
  

Saturday Results

• Clint Dempsey and Fulham drew with Manchester City, extending their unbeaten run to five games in the Premier League.
• DaMarcus Beasley started for Rangers as they thrashed Hamilton Academical 7-1 at Ibrox.
• Michael Bradley came on as a second half sub in Borussia Mönchengladbach's 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
• Frank Simek went 90 minutes for Sheffield Wednesday in their draw with Southampton.
• Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes came back from a goal down, tying Caen 1-1 to make it 15 games unbeaten in Ligue 1.
• Jozy Altidore started and played all 90 minutes as Villarreal came back from three goals down to draw 3-3 with Getafe.
• Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege lost 2-1 to Zulte-Waregem in the Belgian League.
  

Wednesday Results

In Germany Steve Cherundolo and Hannover were beaten 3-0 by Hertha Berlin. In France, Rennes tied 0-0 with Valenciennes, with Carlos Bocanegra playing the full game at left back for the his club.


Jozy Altidore and Villarreal lost 5-0 Club Polideportivo Ejido in the Copa del Rey. That one didn't go down too well. Villarreal will look to set things right on Saturday when they take on Athletic Bilbao in La Liga.

In Sweden, Charlie Davies came on as a second half sub in Hammarby's 2-1 victory over Halmstads.


In the Championship earlier this week, Jay DeMerit and Frankie Simek are making their way back from injuries. DeMerit went 90 minutes in Watford's 2-0 loss to Preston on Tuesday. Simek completed his long road to recovery by coming on as a second half sub in a 1-0 loss to Plymouth.

WEEKEND WRAP UP

Scotland:
With a 2-0 win on Saturday, DaMarcus Beasley and Rangers made it two victories in a row before they travel to Spain for their crunch Champions League match with Barcelona. Beasley retained his place in the starting eleven as Rangers hosted Inverness at Ibrox, and it took only seconds for the home side to gain the lead through Kris Boyd. With their early advantage, Rangers didn’t look back, and the result was put out of reach for the visitors with an additional goal in the second half.

Portugal:
Over on the Iberian Peninsula, Freddy Adu again came off the bench for Benfica, who needed more late heroics to earn a 2-1 win against Paços Ferreira. This time the goal came from Greek international Kostas Katsouranis, after he tapped in a rebound off a Rui Costa free kick in the 84th minute. Adu came off the bench in the 81st minute for his fourth consecutive appearance for Benfica, who will travel to Glasgow to face Celtic this week. Check out highlights of the game here.

England:
Tim Howard and Everton made it four wins in a row with their 3-1 victory over Birmingham on Saturday. The Toffees were in danger of dropping points, after Birmingham’s Olivier Kapo tied the game for Steve Bruce’s side in the 80th minute. However, late goals from Lee Carsley and record-signing Yakubu stole victory for an Everton team that now sits at eighth in the table, just shy of a qualification spot for Europe. Speaking of Europe, David Moyes’ team will travel to Germany this week, where they’ll face FC Nürnberg on Thursday in the UEFA Cup. You can see highlights of this weekend’s game here.

Jonathan Spector again came off the bench for West Ham early in the second half, this time with the Hammers defending a 1-0 lead against Bolton. Unfortunately, however, a late stoppage time goal from Bolton's Kevin Nolan meant that the game finished in a draw and the points were shared. Full highlights of the game here.

Meanwhile, Derby County’s troubles are mounting, as they went down 2-0 to Aston Villa. Neither Eddie Lewis nor Benny Feilhaber appeared in the game.

In the Championship, Watford suffered their first loss of the season, crashing to a 3-0 defeat at home to West Bromich Albion. After only 10 minutes, Jay DeMerit collided with an opposing player and had to be stretchered off with what looked to be a calf injury. We’ll keep you updated as we hear the prognosis.

Also in the championship, Sheffield Wednesday earned a 2-1 victory over Plymouth, as Frank Simek made his return to the starting lineup after a brief layoff through injury. The win moves the Owls away from the relegation zone, and they’ll look to further climb the table when they host West Brom on Tuesday.

Holland:
Michael Bradley and Heerenveen beat PSV 2-1 to move up to fifth in the table. Bradley was again in the starting lineup for Heerenveen, whose victory ended a bad week for the Eindhoven club: on Wednesday, manager Ronald Koeman departed the club to take over at Valencia.

Belgium:
Standard Liege and Oguchi Onyewu drew 0-0 on Saturday against Excelsior. Despite remaining undefeated on the season, the draw sees Gooch’s club fall to second place, one point behind Club Brugge.

Brief Recap from England...

Some quick notes about a few results from the English Leagues this weekend:

Bobby Convey came off the bench in the second half, and provided some spark in Reading’s 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic. The Royals snatched all 3 points, courtesy of a late winner from James Harper …


Meanwhile, Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra took part in an absolutely thrilling 3-3 draw against Manchester City and Craven Cottage. Twice the Cottagers went ahead, but both times Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side fought back, eventually even taking the lead. However, the scoring wasn’t finished and Fulham managed to grab a late equalizer through Hameur Bouazza …

Benny Feilhaber and Jonathan Spector came off the bench for Derby County and West Ham United, respectively. Unfortunately, however, both sides were on the losing end of their matches …

Over in the Championship, Frank Simek played a full 90 minutes as Sheffield Wednesday beat Hull 1-0, and finally obtained their first points of the season. Jay DeMerit started for Watford as they managed a 1-1 draw with QPR at Loftus Road. For Wednesday, they remain bottom of the table but are now level only 3 points away from moving out of the relegation zone. Watford, on the other hand, continue their good start to the season, though their lead at the top of the table has now been trimmed to only two points