Weekend Watch Recap: A Mixed Bag

Saturday

Liverpool v Havant and Waterlooville: The minnows acquitted themselves magnificently, twice going ahead in a first half in which they were, by all accounts, the better team. They eventually gave in and lost 5-2, but Havant and Waterlooville did themselves proud, and Liverpool supporters gave the part-timers a well-deserved standing ovation as they left the pitch.

PSV v Excelsior: Oh man, just a brutal result — Excelsior drew level with the leaders in the 80th minute through Geert den Ouden, only to give up the winner in the 90th minute. Excelsior are still dead last in the Eredivisie, and PSV are still top.

Vitória Guimarães v Benfica: 3-1 to Benfica, including a brace from Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo, who brings his total for the season — his first with the club — to seven in BWINLiga matches. Now, if only Porto would lose three or four more times (thank you, Sporting), things could get interesting in Portugal.

Sunday

Real Madrid v Villarreal: I think Ray Hudson came about six times during this match. Granted, he’s not very picky, but it really was a good one: Villarreal went to Madrid looking for the win and gave Real all they could handle, forcing Iker Casillas to tip the ball over the bar the secure the home side’s 3-2 win in the closing seconds. Two goals for Real from Robinho (Who apparently is a “gangsta” — say that in a Geordie accent for the full, horrific effect.) and one from substitute Wesley Sneijder combined with Barca’s draw to put the defending La Liga champs nine points clear at the top of the table.

Sivasspor v Fenerbahçe: Fenerbahçe absolutely ran away with this one, handing Sivasspor their first home loss of the season by a score of 4-1 and replacing them at the top of the table. The match featured a brace from Mateja Kezman, who’s got his scoring boots on — he also had four in Fenerbahçe’s 10-4 Turkish Cup demolition of Alanyaspor earlier this week.

Murcia v Levante: OH MY GOD LEVANTE WON! They made it hard on themselves, of course, scoring an own goal to pull Murcia level at two with only a minute left. Miraculously, late substitute Pedro Sanchez Gil grabbed the winning goal in the 91st minute (albeit from an offside position), giving Levante only their third win of the season and their first since November; they’re still 10 points from safety, but damn that must have felt good.

Udinese v Inter: Despite going down to 10 men only 20 minutes into the match, Inter stood firm and the game ended 0-0, the fourth draw in a row between these two sides.

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Category: BWIN Liga, Dutch Eredivisie, England, Europe, Serie A, Spain La Liga, World Football