Whitecaps Capture USL1 Title

At Rochester, New York:

The Vancouver Whitecaps shut out the Rochester Raging Rhinos 3-0 to win the championship of the United Soccer Leagues' First Division (one division below Major League Soccer). Details here.

Revolution, Dynamo, Playoff Bound; Crew Not

Time now for a rundown of Saturday's Major League Soccer action:


At Foxborough (or Foxboro), Massachusetts:

The New England Revolution has reached the MLS playoffs for a fifth consecutive year thanks to a 3-1 home win over the Colorado Rapids. Steve Ralston scored a goal and assisted on another for the winners. Details here.


At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

Teenager Jozy Altidore scored the only goal in the New York Red Bulls' 1-0 home win over the playoff-bound Chicago Fire. For Jozy, it was his third goal in four games, and it helped New York's playoff chances. Details here.


At Columbus, Ohio:

For the Columbus Crew, there was good news and bad news. The good news was that thanks to three different goal scorers (Joseph Ngwenya, Jacob Thomas, and Jason Garey, in the 22nd, 66th, and 76th minutes respectively), the Crew secured a 3-1 home win over playoff-bound FC Dallas. The bad news is that because of New York's victory, Columbus was eliminated for postseason contention. Details here.


At Houston:

Brian Ching scored the only goal of the match in 86th minute, propelling the Houston Dynamo to a playoff-berth-clinching 1-0 home win over DC United, who still clinched the Supporters Shield for the best record in MLS, and a berth in next year's CONCACAF Champions Cup. Details here.


At Kansas City:

Real Salt Lake and the Kansas City Wizards battled to a high-scoring 3-3 draw. RSL's Jason Kreis scored the equalizer in the 81st minute. Details here.


At Carson, California:

The Los Angeles Galaxy, in a home match, on goals from Peter Vagenas (29'), Landon Donovan (67'), and Alan Gordon (80'), horsewhipped Chivas USA 3-0, thus keeping their own playoff chances alive, while keeping the Goats from clinching a playoff berth of their own. Details here.

Eredivisie Action, Saturday, September 30

Three games dotted the Saturday Dutch Eredivisie schedule:


At Tilburg:

Adail Ramzi's goal in the 63rd minute was all visiting Roda JC Kerkrade needed in their 1-0 road victory over Willem II Tilburg. Details here.


At Rotterdam:

Excelsior kept visiting Sparta Rotterdam winless in Eredivisie play thanks to their 3-1 win. Details here.


At Enschede:

After trailing 2-0 and 3-1, Twente Enschede came roaring back with three unanswered goals to defeat RKC Wallwijk 4-3 at home, with Kennedy Bakircioglu knocking in the game winner in the 87th minute. Details here.

Lyon Wins Again

Here's a rundown of Saturday's action in France's Ligue 1:


At Montbeliard:

Lyon rode the back of Sylvain Wiltord's 78th-minute goal to a 1-0 road win over Sochaux. For OL it was their seventh win in eight league games. Details here.


At Sedan:

Sedan went into the win column for the first time this league season, thanks to a 1-0 home win against Rennes as Stephane Noro scored the game's only goal, in the 40th minute on a successful penalty kick. Details here.


At Lille:

Nicolas Fauvergue came off the bench to score the only goal (68') of Lille's 1-0 home win over struggling Nice. Details here.


At Valenciennes:

AFC Valenciennes, powered by goals from Eric Chelle (71') and Freddy Bourgeois (90'), shut out visiting Bordeaux 2-0. Details here.


At Lorient:

Lorient battled Troyes to a home 0-0 deadlock. Details here.


At Monte Carlo:

AS Monaco picked up a needed 2-1 home win over Le Mans, thanks to Jeremy Menez, who scored the game winner in the 82nd minute. Details here.

Scottish Premier League Action, Saturday, September 30

Time for a rundown of Saturday's Scottish Premier League action:


At Inverness:

Ross Tokely scored the game winner in the 90th minute as Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC racked up their first home league win of the season, 1-0, over Dunfermline. Details here.


At Motherwell:

Scott McDonald scored twice (82' and 86') as Motherwell delivered visiting Kilmarnock a 5-0 frontier-style fistbeating. Details here.


At Paisley:

David van Zanten scored the only goal of the match in the 39th minute as St. Mirren picked up a 1-0 home win over Hibernian. Details here.

Wolfsburg Stuns Bayern

In Saturday's play in Germany's Bundesliga:



At Wolfsburg:

Mike Hanke scored the game's only goal as VfL Wolfsburg stunned FC Bayern Munich with a 1-0 home win, their first league victory this season. Details here.


At Aachen:

Thanks to goals from Jan Schlaudraff (48') and Sascha Rosler (49'), Alemania Aachen came from behind to defeat visiting VfL Bochum 2-1. Details here.


At Bielefeld:

Three second half goals lifted Arminia Bielefeld to a 3-1 home win over Energie Cottbus. Stats here.


At Bremen:

Thanks to a Borussia Mochengladbach defensive lapse in which Aaron Hunt (33'), Christian Schulz (35'), Diego (38') all scored, Werder Bremen picked up a decisive 3-0 home win. Details here.


At Frankfurt:

Visiting Hamburg SV twice battled back from behind to gain a 2-2 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt. Details here.


At Nuremberg:

Christof Babatz scored in the 85th minute, lifting Mainz to a 1-1 road draw with FC Nurnberg. Details here.

Easy Win For Lazio; Reggina, Atalanta Draw

Here's Saturday action in Italy's Serie A:


At Bergamo:

With both goals within the first six minutes of play, visiting Reggina and Atalanta settled for a 1-1 draw. Details here.


At Turin:

Helped along by two Massimo Oddo (PK-54', 68'), Lazio handed homestanding Torino a 4-0 beatdown. Details here.

Barcelona Wins One On The Road

At Bilboa:

In Saturday's lone La Liga match, in their contest minus injured striker Samuel Eto'o, FC Barcelona spotted Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 lead before coming back for a 3-1 road win. Details here.

Blades End 12-Year Premiership Victory Drought

In Saturday action in the English Premier League:


At Sheffield:

Phil Jagielka's goal during the first minute of second-half stoppage time lifted Sheffield United to a 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough. This marked the Blades' first win in England's top flight division since 1994. Details here.


At Bolton:

Gary Speed and Ivan Campo each scored a goal in Bolton Wanderers' 2-0 home win over Liverpool. Details here.


At London:

Robin van Persie scored a goal in each half of Arsenal's 2-1 road win against struggling Charlton Athletic. Details here.


At London:

Gabriel Abgonlahor's 45th-minute equalizer helped Aston Villa pick up a point resuting from their 1-1 road draw with Chelsea. Details here.


At Liverpool:

Micha Richards scored the game-tying goal in the fourth minute of stoppage to enable visiting Manchester City to gain a 1-1 draw with Everton. Details here.

Dutch Treat For Said And NEC

At Nijmegen:

In Friday's lone Dutch Eredivisie match, Said Boutahar scored twice (11' and 74') to lead NEC Nijmegen to a 2-0 home win against SC Heracles Almelo. It was NEC's first win of the Eredivisie season. Details here.

Hot Time In Dortmund

At Dortmund:

In Friday's lone Bundesliga match, Ebi Smolarek scored twice (5', 76') as Borussia Dortmund settled for a 2-2 home draw with Hannover 96. Vahid Hashemian (74') and Szoboics Huszti (77') tallied for the visitors. Details here.

Who's Going To The UEFA Cup Group Stage?

On Thursday, the forty first-round two-match, total goals sets in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup concluded with the winners advancing to the group stage.



At Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic:

Tomas Sedlacek scored the series-winning goal in second-half stoppage time, as Mlada Boleslav took game two 4-2, and the series with Marseille 4-3 on aggregate, this after dropping the opener 1-0. Thus, the Czech club moves on to the group stage. Details here.


At Nancy, France:

Homestanding AS Nancy Lorraine, after dropping their series opener 1-0, bounced back with a 3-1 win over FC Schalke 04, thus taking the series 3-2 on aggregate. Details here.


At Palermo, Italy:

Following up their 1-0 opening road win, US Citta di Palermo advanced to the group stage with a 3-0 whitewashing of visiting West Ham United. Details here.


At Seville, Spain:

Defending UEFA Cupholders Sevilla finished their first-round demolition of Greek side Atromitos by winning the home leg 4-0 and easily winning on aggregate 6-1. Details here.



At Verona, Italy:

With the score level on aggregate after 180, it took overtime to decide this two-game set, and Wendel scored the game winner to lead visiting Sporting Braga into the group stage by an aggregate of 3-2 (despite Chievo Verona taking the second match 2-0 in regulation time, thus forcing the added thirty minutes). Details here.


At Leverkusen, Germany:

After an opening scoreless draw, Bayer Leverkusen racked a 3-1 home win in game two and knocked out Swiss side FC Sion by that same score on aggregate. Details here.


At Odense, Denmark:

After a 2-2 deadlock in Berlin, OB retuned home for the second leg, blanked Hertha BSC Berlin 1-0, thanks to Mads Timm's goal in the 62nd minute, sending a glad Mads and his fellow Striped into the group stage. Stats here.


At Lens, France:

After a scoreless opening draw in Greece, French side Lens returned home and posted a series-clinching 3-1 win over Ethnikos Achnas to move to the group stage. Stats here.



At Brondby, Denmark:

After an easy 4-0 opening win at home, Eintracht Frankfurt, on goals from Aleksander Vasovski (5', 52') gained a series-clinching 2-2 tie with Brondby IF, winning the series on aggregate, 6-2. Details here.


At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Thanks to a 2-2 road draw against CSKA Sofia, Turkish club Besiktas advanced 4-2 on aggregate, thanks to an earlier 2-0 home win. Stats here.


At Pasching, Austria:

Ibramhima Bakayoko scored the only goal of the match (56') to help visiting Livorno to a 1-0 win over Superfund FC, thus propelling the Italian club into the group stage with a 3-0 total goals win in the series. Stats here.


At Newcastle, England:

Newcastle United followed up their 1-0 series-opening road win in Estonia with a 2-1 home triumph over FC Lavadia Tallinn, with Obafemi Martins scoring both goals (47' and 50') for the Magpies, who win the series 3-1 on aggregate. Details here.



At Tel-Aviv, Israel:

Following up their 1-0 opening win in Ukraine, Hapoel Tel-Aviv registered a 3-1 home win, winning their two-game set with Chornomorets Odessa on aggregate, 4-1. Details here.


At Parma, Italy:

Following up their 1-0 opening win in Russia, Parma locked up their series with Rubin Kazan with another 1-0 victory, this time at home, thus the Italian side won the series 2-0 on aggregate. Daniele Paponi scored the only game in the match in the 48th minute. Stats here.

At Heerenveen, Netherlands:

A scoreless home draw against Portugese side Vitoria Setubol was enough for SC Heerenveen to advance to the group stage, for their earlier 3-0 win in Portugal held up. Stats here.

At Bucharest, Romania:

After a tough 4-3 road win in Greece, Dinamo Bucharest pounded FC Xanthi 4-1, with Claudiu Niculescu scoring twice. This enabled the Romanian club to advance to the group stage as they defeated the Greek side 8-4 on aggregate. Stats here.



At Gent, Belgium:

Despite losing the opener in Moscow 2-1, Zulte-Waregem, thanks to goals from Tim Matthys (57') and Tony Sergeant (82'), defeated Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0, and overtook the Russian club to win the series on aggregate 3-2. Stats here.


At Auxerre, France:

AJ Auxerre followed up their 2-1 opening-match win in Zagreb with an even more impressive 3-1 home win over Dinamo Zagreb and advanced to the group stage by taking the series, 5-2 on aggregate. Stats here.


At Zurich, Switzerland:

Following up their 4-0 beatdown in Sweden, Grasshoppers, with five different goal scorers, buried Atvidabergs FF 5-0 at home to finish their two game 8-0 demolition of the Swedish club. Stats here.


At Skopje, Macedonia:

As if they didn't have to clobber poor FK Rabotnicki, Swiss side FC Basel followed up their 6-2 home triumph with a 1-0 home win to dispatch the Macedonian club on aggregate 7-2. Stats here.



At Kayseri, Turkey:

Thanks to their earlier 3-2 home win, Dutch side AZ Akmaar, by tying homestanding Kayserispor 1-1, advanced to the group stage on aggregate, 4-3. Stats here.


At Rotterdam, Netherlands:

Here's where the away goals, as all the goals in this two-game set were scored in the opening game in Bulgaria. By battling Lokomotiv Sofia to a 0-0 home draw, Feyenoord Rotterdam advanced on aggregate 2-2, with both goals scored in that first match on the road. Stats here.


At Belgrade, Serbia:

To go with their 2-0 home win back in the Czech Republic, Slovan Liberec took the return leg against Red Star Belgrade 2-1 to eliminate the Serbian side on aggregate, 4-1. Stats here.


At Groningen, Netherlands:

FK Partizan Belgrade's 4-2 home win in match one held up as FC Groningen picked up a 1-0 home win in match two, thus allowing the Serbian side to reach group stage on aggregate, 4-3. Stats here.



At Lovech, Bulgaria:

With a 3-1 road win, Maccabi Haifa won their two game set with PFC Litex Lovech with a 4-2, thus enabling the Israeli side to reach the group stage. Stats here.


At Zaporizhia, Ukraine:

Dimitrios Papadopoulos scored the only goal (14') as Greek side Panathinaikos, after their 1-1 home draw, won their two-game set with Metalurg Zaporizhya by beating the home club 1-0 in game two, thus winning the two-game set on aggregate, 1-0. Stats here.


At Brugge, Belgium:

Bosko Balaban scored the series winning goal in the 89th minute, lifting Club Brugge to a 1-0 win over visiting MFK Ruzomberok, thus coupled with their earlier 1-0 win in Slovakia, enabling the Belgian club to reach the group stage on an aggregate of 2-1. Stats here.


At Thessaloniki, Greece:

After losing the first match 1-0 at home, Wisla Krakow bounced back on the road against Iraklis, by evening the aggregate for the series thanks to Nikola Mijailovic's goal in the 90th minute of the regulation match, forcing overtime, during which Roberto Mauro Cantoro popped in the series-winner in the 100th minute. By winning 2-1 on aggregate, the Polish club moves on to the group stage. Stats here.



At Randers, Denmark:

Fenerbahce SK followed up their 2-1 home win at Istanbul with a 3-0 pasting of Randers FC on the road, thus winning the series on aggregate, 5-1. Stats here.


At Amsterdam:

In a follow-up to their 5-2 sledgehammering of IK Start in Norway in the opener, Ajax of Amsterdam treated their home fans to another frontier-style fistbeating of the Norwegian club, 4-0, as they put their guests out of their misery, winning the series on aggregate, 9-2. Markus Rosenberg scored twice in this game for the group stage-bound Dutch club. Stats here.


At Vienna:

After an opening 1-1 draw in Warsaw, FK Austria Vienna advanced to the group stage by beating Legia Warsaw 1-0 at home and winning the series on aggregate, 2-1. Roman Wallner's goal in the 65th minute sent The Violets to the group stage. Details here.


At Blackburn, England:

After their series-opening 2-2 road draw at Salzburg, Blackburn Rovers, in the home leg, took control of the two-game set with Red Bull Salzburg, thanks to goals from Benedict McCarthy (32') and David Bentley (56'). The Rovers' 2-0 win placed them into the group stage with their 4-2 total-goals victory. Details here.



At Pamplona, Spain:

Thanks to a 0-0 home draw versus Trabzonspor, coupled with their earlier 2-2 draw in Turkey, Osasuna, by taking advantage of the away goals rule, advanced on aggregate, 2-2. Stats here.


At Glasgow, Scotland:

Rangers booked their ticket for the group stage following their 2-0 home win (both game and set-on-aggregate) over Molde (following the two clubs scoreless deadlock in Norway). Details here.


At Funchal, Portugal:

With the two-game set between Rapid Bucharest (who won the opening match at home 1-0) and CD Nacional (whose Juliano Spadacio scored the only goal of the second game's regulation time in the 29th minute) deadlocked after 180 at 1-1, the Romanian club went to work in overtime with goals from Emanoil Badoi (91') and Lucian Burdujan (100'), thus enablilng Rapid to reach the group stage on an aggregate of 3-1. Stats here.


At Vigo, Spain:

After winning their first game on the road 1-0, Celta Vigo finished off Standard Liege back home 3-0, to win their series with the Belgian club 4-0 on aggregate. Stats here.



At Paris:

After the scoreless draw on the road, Paris Saint-Germain took out Derry City, winning the home leg 2-0 and advancing on aggregate by that same score. Edouard Cisse (6') and Pedro Pauleta (41') scored the only goals of the match---and series. Details here.


At Prague:

A 0-0 home draw with Hearts allowed Sparta Prague to advance to the group stage, thanks to their earlier 2-0 win at Edinburgh, Scotland. Details here.


At London:

Tottenham Hotspur followed up their earlier 1-0 road win with a 1-0 home win against Slavia Prague, thus wrapping up their two-game set 2-0 on aggregate. Robbie Keane scored the only goal of this second match in the 80th minute. Details here.


At Barcelona:

After a 2-2 draw in Bratislava, Espanyol racked up a 3-1 home win to send Artmedia Bratislava packing. The Parakeets advanced to the group stage on aggregate, 5-3. Stats here.

Chalk Up Another Chicago Fire US Open Cup Title

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Thanks to goals from Nate Jaqua (10'), Andy Herron (16'), and Tiago (88'), Chicago Fire won their fourth US Open Cup championship by defeating the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 on Wednesday night. Details here.

Another US Open Cup Triumph For Chicago Fire

At Bridgeview, Illinois:



Thanks to goals from Nate Jaqua (10'), Andy Herron (16'), and Tiago (88'), the Chicago Fire won their fourth US Open Cup championship with a 3-1 win over the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy. Details here.

Another US Open Cup Triumph For Chicago Fire

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Thanks for goals from Nate Jaqua (10'), Andy Herron (16') and Tiago (88'), the Chicago Fire won the US Open Cup title for the fourth time, defeating the defending cupholding Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1. Details here.

UEFA Champions League Group Stage, Matchday #2, Continued

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we present for your approval, a rundown from Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.



GROUP A:


At Bremen, Germany:

Lionel Messi's equalizer in the 89th minute enabled defending titleholders FC Barcelona to salvage a 1-1 road draw with Werder Bremen. Details here.


At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Chelsea, thanks to Didier Drogba's natural hat trick (39', 52', and 68') handled Levski Sofia on the road, 3-1. The top time defending Premiership champs, with two wins in as many matches (6 points), sit atop the Group A stadings, two points clear of Barcelona. Details here.


GROUP B:


At Moscow:

In the first Champions League match ever played on artificial turf, a goal from Nani in the 59th minute enabled Sporting Clube de Portugal to gain a 1-1 road draw with Spartak Moscow. The draw places The Lions in second place in Group B with 4 points (after one win and one draw in two games). Details here.


At Milan:

Late second-half goals from Claudio Pizarro and Lukas Poldoski propelled FC Bayern Munich to a 2-0 road win against winless Inter Milan. The win puts Bayern atop the Group B standings at a perfect 6 points. Details here.


GROUP C:


At Liverpool:

Peter Crouch scored twice (9', 52') as Liverpool raced out to a 3-0 second-half lead, then held off a furious Galatasary rally to hang on for the 3-2 home win. The Reds are tied with PSV Eindhoven atop Group C at 4 points (1 win and 1 draw). Details here.


At Bordeuax, France:

Mika Vayrynen popped in the only goal (65') in PSV Eindhoven's 1-0 win on the road over Bordeaux, allowing PSV to remain tied atop Group C with 4 points. Details here.


GROUP D:


At Donetsk, Ukraine:

Visiting Greek side Olympiacos and FC Shakhtar Donetsk battled to a 2-2 draw. Details here.


At Valencia, Spain:

Miguel Angel Angulo (13') and David Villa (29') tallied in the first half to lift Valencia CF to a 2-1 home win over AS Roma. The win puts Valencia in first place in Group D with a perfect 6 points while AS Roma sits in second with 3. Details here.

2006-07 UEFA Champions League Group Stage, Matchday #2

Okay, boys and girls, welcome to Tuesday's results from group stage play in the UEFA Champions League for 2006-07:

GROUP E:

At Bucharest:

Visiting Lyon, on goals from Fred (43'), Tiago (55') and Karim Benzema (89') dominated Steaua Bucharest 3-0, improve to 2-0 (6 points) in group play. Details here.


At Madrid:

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice to help Real Madrid bounce back from their opening group-stage defeat to hammer Dynamo Kiev 5-1 in front of the home fans. Real now with one win and won defeat for three points. Details here.


GROUP F:


At Lisbon:

Louis Saha, in the 60th minute, scored the only goal in Manchester United's 1-0 road win over SL Benfica. The Red Devils are 2-0 (6 points) and atop Group F, as they avenged their group-stage loss from last year against the Eagles. Details here.


At Glasgow:

Kenny Miller's successful penalty kick during the 36th minute lifted Celtic to a 1-0 home win over FC Copenhagen. The Bhoys now have three points after one win in two starts in group play and are second in Group F. Details here.


GROUP G:

At Moscow:


Thanks to Dudu's goal in the 59th minute, CSKA Moscow racked up a 1-0 home win over Hamburg SV. With one win and one draw in two games (4 points), the Horses now sit in second place in Group G. Details here.



At London:


With goals from Thierry Henry (38') and Aleksandr Hleb (48'), Arsenal remained unbeaten and untied after two matches (6 points) with a 2-0 home blanking of FC Porto. Details here.


GROUP H:


At Athens:

Thanks to Julio Cesar's 28th-minute equalizer, AEK Athens were able to salvage a 1-1 home draw with RSC Anderlecht. Details here.


At Lens, France:

AC Milan was held to a 0-0 road draw by Lille. Still, the Red-Blacks sit atop Group H at 4 points, while the Mastiffs are tied for second with 2. Details here.

Bolton Knocks Off Pompey 1-0

In Monday's lone Premiership match, Kevin Nolan's goal in the 22nd second minute lifted Bolton Wanderers to a 1-0 win on the road over Portsmouth. Details here.

Kenneth Perez Paces Ajax Past NEC Nijmegen

Here now, boys and girls, is a rundown of Sunday's Dutch Eredivisie action:



At Amsterdam:

Kenneth Perez scored both goals (60' and 82') in Ajax Amsterdam's 2-0 home win over NEC Nijmegen. Details here.


At Kerkrade:

Second-half goals from Shota Arveladze (69') and Moussa Dembele (78') paced AZ Alkmaar to a 2-0 win over Roda JC Kerkrade. Details here.


At Groningen:

RKC Waalwijk and homestanding FC Groningen settled for a 1-1 stalemate. Details here.


At Utrecht:

Gregoor van Dijk was the hero of the day for the home fans, as his 90th minute successful penalty kick gave FC Utrecht a 1-0 win over SC Heerenveen. Details here.


At Rotterdam:

In a battle of two local clubs, homestanding Feyenoord deated promoted side Excelsior 1-0, as Jonathan De Guzman's goal, scored in the 8th minute, held up.
Details here.

Lens, Nantes, Pick Up Home Wins

Two games in Sunday Ligue 1 play:



At Lens:

Jussie's 5th minute penalty kick lifted Lens to a 1-0 home win over struggling AS Monaco. This puts Lens into third place in France's top-flight standings. Details here.



At Nantes:

Homestanding Nantes, on goals from Dimitri Payet (38') and Guillaume Norbert (48'), racked up a 2-1 win over Marseille. Details here.

Hearts Drop Aberdeen 3-1

At Aberdeen, Scotland:



In Sunday's lone Scottish Premier League match, three second half goals propelled Heart of Midlothian FC (Hearts) to a 3-1 road win over Aberdeen. Details here.

Another Busy Sunday in Italia Serie A

Eight games dotted the Sunday Serie A schedule:



At Ascoli:

Visiting Sampdoria and Ascoli settled for a 1-1 draw. Details here.


At Parma:

With four differnet goal scorers, AS Roma went on the road and gave Parma a 4-0 beatdown. Details here.


At Empoli:

Thanks to goals from Luca Saudati (28') and Sergio Almiron (54'), Empoli FC racked up a 2-0 home win over Palermo, helping to knock the Sicilian side off the top of the Serie A table. Details here.


At Reggio Calabria:

Reggina settled for a 1-1 home draw with Torino. Details here.


At Milan:

Inter Milan won a tight 4-3 match against visiting Chievo Verona, as Hernan Crespo scored twice. Details here.


At Siena:

Cagliari Calcio and 10-man homestanding AC Siena battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.



At Rome:

Sebastiano Siviglia scored the only goal of the match in the 69th against his former team, leading Lazio to a 1-0 home win over Atalanta. Details here.


At Udine:

Vincenzo Iaquinta scored the only goal (40') in the Udinese 1-0 home win over Fiorentina. Details here.

Maxi Shows The Way For Atletico Madrid

Nine games on tap on Sunday in La Liga in Spain:



At Madrid:

Two late goals by Argentinian forward (and World Cup star) Maxi Rodriguez (85' and 89') propelled Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 come-from-behind home win over FC Sevilla. Details here.


At Valencia:

Olivier Kapo scored both goals (at 18' and 75') in Levante UD's 2-0 home blanking of Deportivo La Coruna. Details here.


At Barcelona:

FC Barcelona salvaged a 1-1 home draw with Valencia, thanks to Andres Iniesta's 49th-minute equalizer. Details here.


At Vigo:

Thanks to one goal scored in each half, Osasuna picked up a 2-0 road win versus Celta Vigo. Details here.


At Mallorca:

Gaston Maxi Lopez, in the 77th minute, tallied the only goal in Mallorca's 1-0 home win over Espanyol. Stats here.


At Getafe:

In a game in which three red and six yellow cards were issued, but no goals were scored, Athletic Bilbao and Getafe battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At San Sebastian:

Recreativo Huelva, with two goals from Antonio Sanchez de la Calle (39' and 49') and the game winner from Florent Sinama Pongolle (90'), picked up a thrilling 3-2 road win over Real Sociedad. Details here.


At Tarragona:

Racing Santander, on goals from Nikola Zigic (48' and 90') gained a 2-2 road draw against Gimnastic de Tarragona. Details here.


At Villarreal:

Homestanding Villarreal posted a 3-2 win over Real Zaragoza. Details here.

Cottbus and Nuremberg Tie While Bochum Wins

Two games were played Sunday in Germany's Bundesliga:



At Cottbus:

Steffen Baumgart's goal in the 83rd minute enabled Energie Cottbus to gain a 1-1 home draw with 1.FC Nurnberg (Nuremberg). Details here.


At Bochum:

VfL Bochum notched its' first win of the season with a come-from-behind 2-1 home win versus Arminia Bielefeld. Details here.

Aussie Propels Toffees To Draw With Magpies

At Newcastle, England:

Australian midfielder Tim Cahill's 40th minute equalizer propelled visiting Everton to a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in Sunday's long English Premier League match. Details here.

MLS Action, Saturday, September 23

Well, friends and neighbors, here's a look at Saturday's Major League Soccer action:



At Columbus, Ohio:

Jason Garey's goal in the 80th minute enabled the homestanding Columbus Crew to gain a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo to keep their flickering Eastern Conference playoff hopes alive. Details here.


At Washington:

Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez each had a goal and two assists to lift DC United to a 4-3 win over the visiting New York Red Bulls. The win clinches the Eastern Conference regular season championship, and best record in the entire league (winning the Community Shield) for DC. Details here.


At Foxboro, Massachusetts:

The Kansas City Wizards and homestanding New England Revolution each helped their playoff chances with a 1-1 draw. Details here.


At Frisco, Texas:

With goals from Carlos Ruiz (9') and Kenny Cooper (14'), FC Dallas clinched a Western Conference playoff berth by beating Real Salt Lake, and damaging the visitors playoff hopes, 2-1. Details here.


At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Andy Herron's successful penalty kick in the 84th minute lifted the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 home win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, clinching an Eastern Conference playoff berth, and delivering a crippling blow to Los Angeles' playoff chances. Details here.


At Carson, California:

Francisco Mendoza's goal in the 34th minute lifted homestanding Chivas USA to a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. The win moved the Goats into second place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Houston. Details here.

PSV, Twente Enschede, Vitesse Arnhem Saturday Dutch Winners

Here's a rundown of the three Saturday Dutch Eredivisie matches:



At The Hague:

Maybe ADO Den Haag should be put on trial getting off to such a lousy start to their season, as the home team fell to PSV Eindhoven 2-0. Details here.


At Enschede:

Twente Enschede picked up a 2-0 home win over Sparta Rotterdam. Edwin van Bueren (18'----an own goal---he wore Sparta colors) and Blaise N'Kuto (PK-48'---he wore Twente Enschede colors) provided the scoring. Details here.


At Arnhem:

Danko Lazovic scored thrice (37', 52' and 75') to lift Vitesse Arnhem to a 4-0 fistbeating of visiting Heracles Almelo. This maked the Yellow-Blacks first home win of the season. Details here.

Celtic Wins Old Firm Showdown

Here's Saturday action in the Scottish Premier League:



At Glasgow:

Celtic, on goals from Thomas Gravesen (35') and Kenny Miller (74') won the latest edition of the Old Firm Derby, blanking visiting Rangers 2-0. Details here.


At Kilmarnock:

Visiting Inverness CT and Kilmarnock battled to a 1-1 draw. Details here.


At Dundee:

Noel Hunt scored the equalizer in the 64th minute (some three minutes after Calum Elliot scored first for the visitors) as homestanding Dundee United settled for a 1-1 draw with struggling Motherwell. Details here.


At Dunfermline:

Dunfermline Athletic, on goals from Darren Young (46') and StevieCrawford (73'), came from behind to register a 2-1 home win over St. Mirren. Details here.


At Edinburgh:

Kenny Milne scored the only goal of the match in the 9th minute, to propel Falkirk to a 1-0 road win over Hibernian. Details here.

Lyon Rolls Past Lille 4-1

In Saturday action in France's Ligue 1:



At Lyon:

5-time defending titleholders Lyon, with three second-half goals, two of those from Fred (64' and 70') ended visiting Lille's three game league winning streak against OL, and picking up their fifth straight Ligue 1 win, 4-1. Details here.


At Nice:

Thanks to late second-half goals from Cedric Varrault (85') and David Bellion (pk-90'), homestanding Nice picked up a nice, and badly needed, 2-0 win over Valenciennes. Details here.


At Auxerre:

Thanks to Benoit Pedretti's late equalizer in the 75th minute, after coming off the bench, AJ Auxerre denied visiting Sedan what would have been their first win of the season with a 2-2 draw. Details here.


At Paris:

Visiting AS Nancy Lorraine and Paris Saint Germain battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Bordeaux:

Thanks to goals from Jean-Claude Darcheville (49') and Wendel (50'), homestanding Bordeaux came from behind to defeat Troyes 2-1. Details here.


At Rennes:

Visiting St. Etienne and Rennes battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Le Mans:

Badara Sene's goal in the 71st minute enabled visiting Sochaux to gain a 2-2 draw with Le Mans. Details here.


At Toulouse:

Lorient and homestanding Toulouse settled for a 0-0 draw. Details here.

Real Madrid Blanks Real Betis 1-0

At Seville, Spain:



In Saturday's lone La Liga match, Mohamadou's 7th minute tally held up as Real Madrid picked up a 1-0 road win versus 10-man Real Betis. Stats here.

Saturday Bundesliga Action

Here now is a rundown of the Saturday action in the German Bundesliga:



At Munich:

FC Bayern Munich came from behind to defeat visiting Alemania Aachen 2-1. Details here.


At Gelsenkirchen:

Homestanding Schalke 04, on goals from Kevin Kuryani (57') and Cassio Souza Soares Lincoln (89'), blanked VfL Wolfsburg 2-0. Details here.


At Hamburg:

Bastian Reinhardt's goal in the 68th minute salvaged a 1-1 home draw for Hamburger SV against Werder Bremen. Details here.


At Stuttgart:

Alexander Meier came off the bench, scored the game-tying goal in the 88th minute, and lifted visiting Eintracht Frankfurt to a 1-1 draw with VfB Stuttgart. Details here.


At Hannover:

Thomas Brdaric's goal in the 74th minute enabled Hannover to grab one point in their 1-1 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Details here.


At Mainz:

Hertha BSC Berlin, thanks to Kevin-Princ Boateng's goal in the 56th minute, picked up one point resulting from their 1-1 road draw against FC Mainz 05. Details here.

Two Games, Two Draws In Serie A

Two games were played in Italian top-flight calcio:



At Leghorn:

Livorno and visiting AC Milan battled, I say, battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Catania:

Heady times for soccer in Sicily, with the island sporting three Serie A clubs, and one of them, Palermo, topping the division. The other two clubs, Messina and homestanding Catania, battled to a 2-2 draw. Details here.

Gunners, Reds, Rack Up 3-0 Winds

Time now for a wrap-up of Saturday's English Premiership action:



At London:

Frank Lampard scored both goals in Chelsea's 2-0 road win over Fulham. Details here.


At London:

Arsenal picked up their first regular season win at Emirates Stadium by downing struggling Sheffield United 3-0, with all three goals scored in the second half. Deatils here.


At Liverpool:

Thanks to goals from Mark Gonzalez, Dirk Kuyt, and John Arne Riise, Liverpool defeated strugging and visiting Tottenham Hotspur 3-0. Details here.


At Birmingham:

Aston Villa maintained their perfect home record at Chalton Athletic's expense, 2-0. Details here.


At Manchester:

Manchester City knocked off visiting West Ham United 2-0. Details here.


At Middlesbrough:

Shabani Nonda bagged his goal in the uniform of visiting Blackburn as the Rovers downed Middlesbrough 1-0. Details here.


At Reading:

Christiano Ronaldo's game-tying goal in the 73rd minute enabled Manchester United to salvage a 1-1 draw with homestanding Reading. Details here.


At Wigan:

Visiting Watford and Wigan Athletic battled to a 1-1 draw. Details here.

Scoreless Draw At Breda

At Breda, Netherlands:

In the lone Friday game in the Dutch Eredivisie, Willem II Tiburg and homestanding NAC Breda played to a 0-0 draw. Details here.

Glad Times For Borussia Mochengladbach

At Mochengladbach, Germany:



In Friday's lone German Bundesliga match, Carlos Eduardo de Souza Floresta popped in the only tally in 39th minute of homestanding Borussia Mochengladbach's 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Details here.

Revs Blank Bulls 2-0

At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

In Wednesday's only Major League Soccer match, the New England Revolution helped their playoff chances by knocking off the homestanding New York Red Bulls 2-0, as Taylor Twellman and Andy Dorman each scored a goal for the victors. Details here.

Reds Blank Magpies 2-0

At Liverpool:

Goals by Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso paced Liverpool to a 2-0 win over visiting Newcastle United in Wednesday's only Premiership match. Details here.

Busy Wednesday In Serie A

For you folks out there, here's a rundown on a full Wednesday of action in Italy's top soccer division:



At Rome:

Hernan Crespo scored the only goal of the match (44') as visiting Inter Milan handed AS Roma their first defeat, 1-0. Details here.


At Bergamo:

Empoli and homestanding Atalanta played to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Milan:

AC Milan edged visiting Ascoli 1-0 as Marek Jankulovski scored the game's only goal in the 68th minute. Stats here.


At Florence:

Adrian Mutu's goal in the 17th minute held up as Fiorentina defeated visiting Parma 1-0. Stats here.



At Genoa:

Homestading Sampdoria erased a 3-0 halftime deficit and gained a 3-3 draw with Udinese. Details here.


At Messina:

Christian Rigano scored both goals (in the 23rd and 84th minutes) in homestanding Messina's 2-0 blanking of Reggina. Details here.


At Turin:

Mario Frick scored twice to lead visiting AC Siena to a 2-1 win over Torino FC. Stats here.


At Cagliari:

Visiting Livorno picked up their first point of the regular season with a 2-2 draw against Cagliari. Details here.


At Palermo:

US Citta di Palermo, paced by five different goal scorers, won a high-scoring 5-3 affair with visiting Catania Calcio. Stats here.


At Verona:

Massimo Oddo's successful penalty kick in the 62nd minute provided all the scoring in visiting Lazio's 1-0 win over Chievo Verona. Details here.

Let's Hear It For FH Hafnarfjordur! NARF!

By clinching their third consecutive Icelandic league title (thanks to this past Saturday's 4-0 home win against Vikingur), FH Hafnarfjordur became the first club to secure a spot in qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League. Details here.

Ground Broken On Red Bulls' New Stadium

Ground was officially broken Tuesday on the New York Red Bulls' new $140 million stadium which is slated to open in July, 2008. Details here.

Here's Michelle

Yessir, friends and neighbors, that is what Michelle Lissel, Fox Sports World Report's own Saskatoon Sunflower looks like.


Photograph from Andy Mead/Icon SMI

Sad News

The co-host of the nightly Fox Sports World Report, Michelle Lissel, is leaving that program on Friday of this week so that she could join the media and public relations department with the Major League Soccer expansion club Toronto FC. We here at Soccer or Association Football wish Michelle all the best with her new gig. The FSWR, which is seen here in the States on Fox Soccer Channel and in Canada on Fox Sports World Canada, won't quite be the same without its Saskatoon Sunflower.

MLS Action, Sunday, September 17

Time now for a wrapup of Sunday's Major League Soccer action:



At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Andy Herron scored the only goal of the match in the 62nd minute as the homestanding Chicago Fire blanked DC United 1-0. The game was interrupted for 25 minutes because of a severe thunderstorm in the greater Chicago area. Details here.


At Houston:

Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.

Sunday Eredivisie Action

Here now, boys and girls, is a rundown of Sunday's action in the Netherlands:



At Eindhoven:

PSV Eindhoven, thanks to goals from Jefferson Farfan (8') and Rodrigo Alex (43'), held off Feyenoord Rotterdam 2-1 before the home fans. Details here.


At Kerkade:

Davy De Fauw (9') and Adres Oper (65') provided the scoring for Roda JC Kerkade as the home club stunned Ajax Amsterdam 2-0. Details here.


At Alkmaar:

FC Twente Enschede and home club AZ Alkmaar battled to a 2-2 draw. Details here.


At Heerenveen:

Homestanding SC Heerenveen whitewashed NEC Nijmegen 3-0. Details here.


At Rotterdam:

Stefano Seedorf tallied one for visiting FC Groningen, the only goal in the 1-0 win for The Pride Of The North against Sparta Rotterdam. Details here.

Hibs Stun Rangers 2-1

In Sunday play in the Scottish Premier League:



At Edinburgh:

Hibernian FC, with Christopher Killen scoring twice, including the winning goal in the 81st minute, came from behind to knock off visiting Rangers 2-1. Details here.


At Motherwell:

Jamie Mole scored the only goal in the 69th minute as Hearts picked up a 1-0 road win versus Motherwell. Details here.

Sunday Action In Ligue 1

Here's a review of the Sunday action in France:



At Nancy:

Visiting (and 10-man) Rennes and AS Nancy Lorraine battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Monte Carlo, Monaco:

David Hellebuyck scored the game-winning goal in the 54th minute as Paris Saint Germain won one on the road, downing AS Monaco 2-1. Details here.


At Montbeliard:

Visiting RC Lens whitewashed Sochaux 3-0. Details here.


At St. Etienne:

Benoit Cheyrou scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to complete a come-from-behing 3-2 win for AJ Auxerre against homestanding St. Etienne. Details here.


At Marseille:

Homestanding Olympique de Marseille held off Bordeaux for a 2-1 win. Details here.

Sunday Bundesliga Action

Here's a rundown of the action Sunday in the German Bundesliga:



At Frankfurt:

Eintracht Frankfurt spotted visiting Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 lead 52 minutes into the game, then scored three unanswered tallies in their 3-1 victory. Details here.


At Berlin:

Hertha Berlin remained undefeated for the Bundesliga season, thanks to Christian Gimenez, who scored both goals in the home team's 2-0 win over FC Schalke 04. Details here.

Busy Sunday in Italia Serie A

Here now is a wrapup of action in the top flight of Italian soccer as played on Sunday:



At Ascoli:

Visiting Messina and Ascoli battled to a 1-1 draw Giampietro Perrulli scored the equalizer in the 90th minute for the home team. Details here.


At Catania:

Visiting Atalanta and Catania Calcio battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Empoli:

Homestanding Empoli FC settled for a 1-1 draw with 10-man Chievo Verona. Details here.


At Rome:

David Di Michele scored twice to pace Palermo to a 2-1 win over homestanding Lazio. Details here.


At Leghorn:

Christiano Lucarelli scored, I'd say, scored the only goal of the match in the 57th minute as Livorno defeated visiting Fiorentina 1-0. Details here, boy.


At Siena:

AS Roma all of their goals in the second half of their 3-1 win against homestanding Siena. Details here.


At Udine:

Udinese Calcio racked up their first win of the season, a 2-0 blanking of visiting and newly-promoted Torino. Details here.


At Parma:

Clarence Seedorf (25') and Kaka (pk-85') scored to lead visiting AC Milan past Parma 2-0. Stats here.

Busy Sunday In La Liga

Here's a rundown from a very busy Sunday in Spain's top-flight soccer league:



At Seville:

Homestaing Sevilla came from behind to defeat cross-town rival Real Betis 3-2. Details here.


At Bilbao:

Visiting Atletico Madrid hammered Athletic Bilbao 4-1. Details here.


At Barcelona:

Espanyol picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 win over visiting Celta Vigo, as Jonatas Domingos scored the game winner in the 55th minute. Details here.


At Pamplona:

Homestanding Osasuna, on goals from Pierre Webo (1') and Savo Milosevic (90'), defeated promoted side Gimnastic de Tarragona 2-0. Details here.


At Santander:

Visiting FC Barcelona had an easy time with Racing Santander, handling them 3-0.
Details here.


At Zaragoza:

Real Zaragoza, fueled by goals from Henrique Ewerthon (58') and Sergio Garcia (79'), downed visiting Mallorca 2-0. Stats here.


At Huelva:

Visiting Levante, thanks to the only goal in the match, in the 85th minute from Suarez Alexis (or is it Alexis Suarez?) defeated Recreativo Huelva 1-0. Details here.


At Valencia:

Valencia, paced by goals from Fernando Morientes (45') and Rodrigues Vicente (pk-66'), picked up a 2-0 home win over Getafe. Details here.


At Madrid:

Bouncing back after their Champions League midweek setback, homestanding Real Madrid, on goals from Jose Antonio Reyes (69') and David Beckham (90') blanked Real Sociedad 2-0. Details here.

Gunners Hand Red Devils Their First Defeat

In Sunday English Premier League Action:



At Manchester:

Arsenal knocked off previously unbeaten and untied Manchester United with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford, thanks to Emmanuel Adebaylor's goal in the 86th minute. Details here.


At London:

Two-time defending EPL champ Chelsea, on Didier Drogba's tally in the 42th minute, defeated visiting Liverpool 1-0. Details here.


At London:

Visiting Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur battled to a scoreless draw. Details here.


At London:

Visiting Newcastle United, on goals from Damien Duff (50') and Obafemi Martins (75') defeated West Ham United 2-0 Details here.


At Blackburn:

Homestanding Blackburn Rovers doubled up Manchester City 4-2. Details here.

MLS Action, Saturday, September 16

Time now for a recap of Saturday's Major League Soccer action:



At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

How's this for a 16-year-old? Young Jozy Altidore scored his first goal, in this, only his second MLS game, leading the New York Red Bulls to a critical 1-0 win over the fading Columbus Crew at home. Details of Jozy's goal and the match here.


At Salt Lake City:

Veteran Jason Kreis scored his MLS record 107th career goal, leading Real Salt Lake to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over FC Dallas, denying the visitors the opportunity to clinch a playoff berth, while keeping their postseason hopes alive. Details here.


At Carson, California:

The Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy played to a scoreless draw. Stats here.

Saturday Eredivisie Action

How 'bout a rundown of Saturday play in the top flight soccer league in the Netherlands?:


At Rotterdam:

Sebastiaan Steur scored twice in the first half ( at 35 and 38 minutes) to help lift homestanding Excelsior to a 3-2 triumph Willem II Tilburg. Details here.


At Almelo:

Everton Ramos da Silva scored twice (at 26 and 82 minutes) to pace homestanding SC Heracles Almelo to a 3-0 whitewashing of FC Ultrecht. Details here.


At Arnhem:

Mike Zonneveld came off the bench and scored the only goal of the match during second-half stoppage time to give visiting NAC Breda a 1-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem. Details here.

Lyon Atop Ligue 1 Standings

Five-time defending Ligue 1 champs Lyon traveled to Lorient and defeated the home club 3-1 to move to the top of the standing in France's top league. Details of Lyon's big win as well as the rest of the Saturday action here.

Scottish Premier League Action, Saturday, September 16

At Glasgow on Saturday, Stephen McManus scored the only goal of the match in the 31st minute, in homestanding Celtic's 1-0 win over Dunfermline. Details of this match plus news from the rest of Saturday's Scottish Premier League play, here.

Super Depor Blanks Villarreal 2-0

At La Coruna, Spain:

Joan Capdevila scored both goals in homestanding Deportivo La Coruna's 2-0 blanking of Villarreal in the only Saturday match in La Liga. Details here.

Arminia Bielefeld Knocks Off Bayern Munich

In Saturday action in Germany's Bundesliga:



At Bielefeld:

Homestanding Arminia Bielefeld came back from down one goal to upset previously undefeated FC Bayern Munich 2-1. Details here.


At Aachen:

Jan Schlaudraff scored twice, helping homestanding Alemania Aachen double up Borussia Mochengladbach 4-2. Details here.


At Nuremburg:

VfL Bochum and homestanding 1. FC Nurnberg battled to a 1-1 draw. Details here.


At Bremen:

Mario Gomez scored the game winner in the 87th minute, lifting visiting VfB Stuttgart past Werder Bremen 3-2. Details here.


At Dortmund:

Christian Worns scored the only goal of the match in the 82nd minute, sending homestanding Borussia Dortmund to a 1-0 win over Hamburger SV. Details here.


At Cottbus:

Energie Cottbus, on goals from Sergiu Radu (49') and Vlad Munteanu (61'), defeated visiting FC Mainz 2-0. Details here.

Reggina wins, Sampdoria and Inter Draw

Here's a rundown of the two games played Saturday in Italia Serie A:



In Reggina Calabria:

Homestanding Reggina. on Rolando Bianchi's goal in the 90th minute, defeated Cagliari 2-1. Details here.


At Milan:

Visiting Sampdoria and Internazionale (Inter Milan) battled to a 1-1 deadlock. Details here.

English Premiership Saturday Rundown

And now, ladies and gentlemen, a rundown of the Saturday English Premier League action:



At London:

Lomana LuaLua came off the bench to score the only goal of visiting Portsmouth's 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic. Details here.


At Bolton:

Visiting Middlesbrough and the Bolton Wanderers battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.


At Everton:

Visiting Wigan Athletic and Everton played to a 2-2 draw. Details here.


At Sheffield:

Kevin Doyle scored only 16 seconds into the match and helped pace visiting Reading to a 2-1 victory over fellow promotee Sheffield United. Details here.


At Watford:

Visiting Aston Villa and Watford battled to a scoreless draw. Details here.

Dutch Treat For RKC Waalwijk

In the lone Friday match in the Dutch Eredivisie, Tim Janssen's goal in the 86th minute sparked homestanding RKC Waakwijk to a 1-0 win over struggling ADO Den Haag. Details here.

Let's Hear It For Hannover 96!

In Friday's lone German Bundesliga match, Thomas Brdaric scored twice to lead Hannover 96 to a 2-1 road win against VfL Wolfsburg. Details here.

UEFA Cup Action, Thursday, September 14

Okay, boys and girls, time now for a rundown of Thursday's action in the first proper round of the 2006-07 UEFA Cup. The winners of these two-game, home-and-away, total goals series would advance to the group stage, with the 40 winning clubs split into eight groups of five teams each. The return matches will take place on September 28.

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany:

A late goal by Soren Larsen lifted homestanding FC Schalke 04 to a 1-0 win over AS Nancy-Lorraine. Details here.


At Bucharest, Romania:

Viorel Moldolvan, in the 43rd minute, scored the only goal in Rapid Bucharest's 1-0 series-opening win against CD Nacional of Portugal.


At Lillestrom, Norway:

Homestanding IK Start were gracious hosts as Ajax of Amsterdam plastered the Norwegian side 5-2. Details here.


At Kazan, Russia:

Let's hear it for 19-year-old Daniele Dessena. The Palma defenseman's late goal lifted the visitors to a 1-0 win over homestanding FC Rubin Kazan. Details here.


At Tallinn, Estonia:

Antoine Sibierski's goal in the 10th minute provided Newcastle United with the only goal in their 1-0 win over homestanding FC Levadia Tallinn. Details here.


At Marseille, France:

Habib Bamogo's first-half tally was the only goal in homestanding Olympique de Marseille's 1-0 win over Czech side Mlada Boleslav. Details here.


At London:

Italian visitors Palermo surprised West Ham United 1-0. Details here.


At Berlin:

Visiting Odense BK from Denmark battled Hertha BSC Berlin to a 2-2 draw. Stats here.


At Warsaw, Poland:

In a battle of two teams who were bounced out of the UEFA Champions League by losing in the third round of qualifying, Austria Vienna and homestanding Legia Warsaw played to a 1-1 draw. Stats here.


At Liberec, Czech Republic:

In another match featuring two teams eliminated from UEFA Champions League by losing in the third round of qualifying, homestanding FC Slovan Liberec, on goals by Tomas Frejlach (43') and Jan Blazek (90') shut out Red Star Belgrade 2-0. Stats here.


At Odessa, Ukraine:

Luciano De Bruno scored the only goal of the match in the 74th minute, propelling visiting Israeli club Hapoel Tel-Aviv to a 1-0 road win over FC Chornomorets Odessa. Stats here.


At Nicosia, Cyprus:

French side RC Lens and Cypriot side Ethnikos Achna FC battled to a 0-0 draw. Stats here.


At Xanthi, Greece:

In an exciting match, visiting Dinamo Bucharest, paced by Claudiu Niculescu's two goals, defeated Skoda Xanthi 4-3. Stats here.


At Moscow, Russia:

Goals by Dimitri Loskov (35') and Branislav Ivanovic (74') paced homestanding Lokomotiv Moscow to a 2-1 win over Belgian club SV Zulte-Waregem. Stats here.


At Bratislava, Slovakia:

Visiting RCD Espanyol de Barcelona and FC Artmedia Bratislava battled to a 2-2 draw. Stats here.


At Istanbul, Turkey:

A good start to the two-game set for homestanding Besiktas JK as they blanked PFC CSKA Sofia 2-0. Stats here.


At Belgrade Serbia:

Nebosja Marinkovic and Bojan Zalic each scored twice to pace homestanding FK Partizan Belgrade to a 4-2 win over Dutch side FC Groningen. Stats here.


At Trabzon, Turkey:

Visiting Spanish side CA Osasuna and Trabzonspor battled to a 2-2 draw. Stats here.


At Molde, Norway:

Visiting Rangers FC was held to a scoreless draw by Molde FK. Details here.


At Edinburgh, Scotland:

Sparta Prague, on goals by Daniel Kolar (34') and Miroslav Matusovic (71') stun homestanding Hearts (or shall we say Broken Hearts) 2-0. Details here.


At Salzburg, Austria:

Marc Janko's goal in the 90th minute lifted Red Bull Salzburg to a 2-2 draw with visiting English side Blackburn Rovers. Details here.


At Prague, Czech Republic:

Jermaine Jenas scored the only goal of the match in the 37th minute, as visiting Tottenham Hotspur blanked SK Slavia Prague 1-0. Details here.


At Norrkoping, Sweden:

Visiting Grasshoppers of Zurich, on goals by Ayarza Diego Leon (12'), Ribeiro Eduardo (28'), and Scott Sutter (57') manhandled Atvidabergs FF 3-0. Stats here.


At Alkmaar, Netherlands:

Homestanding AZ Alkmaar racked up a series-opening 3-2 win over Turkish club Kayserispor. Stats here.


At Basel, Switzerland:

Mladen Petric and Rodrigues Dos Santos Cristiano each scored twice, helping homestanding FC Basel hand Macedonian side FK Rabotnicki Kometal a 6-2 fistbeating. Stats here.


At Braga, Portugal:

Home standing Sporting Clube de Braga defeated Italian side Chievo Verona 2-0. Stats here.


At Derry (Londonderry), Northern Ireland:

Paris Saint-Germain FC and homestanding Derry City FC (which plays in the Republic of Ireland's top league, even though the club is based in Northern Ireland) played to a 0-0 draw. Stats here.


At Zagreb, Croatia:

Visiting French club AJ Auxerre, on goals by Ireneusz (43') and Daniel Niculae (72') defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2-1. Stats here.


At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Visiting Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam and PFC Lokomotiv Sofia battled to a 2-2 draw. Stats here.


At Geneva, Switzerland:

German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen and Swiss club FC Sion ended their first match the way they started, deadlocked at 0-0. Stats here.


At Nijmegen, Netherlands:

In front of a crowd of 300, in what was designated their home game because of the political situation in their home country, Maccabi Haifa of Israel took on Bulgarian side PFC Litex Lovech in a match that ended in a 1-1 deadlock. Stats here.


At Liege, Belgium:

Gustavo Lopez scored the only goal of the match, in the 38th minute, lifting visiting Spanish club Celta Vigo to a 1-0 win over Royal Standard de Liege. Stats here.


At Krakow, Poland:

Thanks to the only score of the match, Thanasis Pritas' goal in the 7th minute, visiting Greek side Iraklis downed Wisla Krakow 1-0. Stats here.


At Frankfurt, Germany:

Michael Thurk's natural hat trick helped Eintracht Frankfurt to a 4-0 beatdown of visiting Danish side Brondby IF. Stats here.


At Livorno, Italy:

AS Livorno Calcio, thanks to goals by Tomas Danilevicius (42') and Christiano Lucarelli (49'), defeated FC Superfund of Pasching, Austria 2-0 Stats here.


At Patras Greece:

FC Metaluhr Zapoizhzhya from Ukraine and Athens-based Panathinaikos battled to an opening match 1-1 draw. Stats here.


At Ruzomberok, Slovakia:

Bosko Balaban's goal in the 39th minute was the only tally as visting Belgian Club Brugge blanked MFK Ruzomberok 1-0 Stats here.


At Istanbul, Turkey:

Homestanding Fenerbahce, thanks to two goals, one, an own goal scored by Ralf Pedersen, a defensemen for visiting Danish side Randers FC (25') and one they scored themselves, Mateja Kezmam (54') defeated Randers FC 2-1. Stats here.


At Athens:

Current UEFA Cupholder FC Sevilla, grabbed a 2-1 road win over Atromitos FC. Details here.


At Lisbon, Portugal:

Visiting Dutch side SC Heerenveen, thanks to two goals from Afonso Alves (58' and 66'), popped Vitoria Setubal 3-0. Stats here.

MLS Action, Wednesday, September 13

Well, now, folks, here is a rundown of the action that took place Wednesday in Major League Soccer:

At Foxboro, Massachusetts:

Clint Dempsey's goal in the 56th minute lifted the New England Revolution to a 1-1 draw with visiting DC United. Details here.


At Frisco, Texas:

Juan Pablo Garcia scored the only goal of the match in the 13th minute, lifting Chivas USA to a critical 1-0 road victory over FC Dallas, denying the home club's opportunity to clinch a playoff berth. Details here.


At Denver:

Chicago defenseman Jim Curtin scored the only goal of the match in the 3rd. Unfortunately for Jim and the visiting Chicago Fire, it wound up in his own team's net. The homestanding Colorado Rapids, in an important game, won 1-0. Stats here.

Matchday 1 In UEFA Champions League Group Play, Continued

Here now is a rundown of Wednesday's action in the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League:



GROUP E:

At Kiev, Ukraine:

Visiting FC Steaua Bucharest dominted their match with Dynamo Kiev, winning 4-1. Details here.

At Lyon, France:

In a repeat of last year's performance, Olympique Lyonnais defeated visiting Real Madrid 2-0. Details here.



GROUP F:

At Manchester, England:

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's goal in the 47th minute lifted Manchester United to a thrilling 3-2 victory over visiting Celtic FC. Details here.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

SL Benfica and homestanding FC Copenhagen (making their first match in group play) battled to a 0-0 draw. Details here.



GROUP G:

At Porto, Portugal:

Visiting PFC CSKA Moscow and FC Porto played to a scoreless draw. Details of the 0-0 draw can be found here.

At Hamburg, Germany:

Arsenal began group stage play with a 2-1 win on the road over Hamburger SV. Details here.



GROUP H:

At Brussels, Belgium:

A game-tying goal in the 80th minute by Nicolas Fauvergue enabled LOSC Lille Metropole to gain a 1-1 draw against homestanding Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht. Details here.

At Milan, Italy:

Homestanding AC Milan launched their group stage campaign with an easy 3-0 triumph over AEK Athens FC. Details here.