Valencia – Levante 1 (Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, January 19, 2012) Levante’s backline was breached midway through the first half as Jonas squeezed a shot home from a tight angle, and Valencia went 2-up on the half hour as serial goalscorer Roberto Soldado crashed in a second from close range. Levante snatched a foothold in the tie when Aruna Kone scored with a snap-shot in the 37th, but Los Che restored their 2-goal cushion on the stroke of halftime through Pablo Daniel’s one-on-one finish from nine yards out. A late goal from Tino Costa in the 90th minute completed the Valencia rout.

Inter Milan 2 – Genoa 1 (Coppa Italia, Janaury 19, 2012) (Longer highlights.) Inter wasted little time taking the lead as Maicon let rip with an outside-of-the-boot howitzer that arrowed into the far top corner of the net. The Nerazzurri doubled their advantage five minutes after the restart as budding midfielder Andrea Poli cashed in on his first goal for the club following a lovely 1-2 that bisected the Genoa defence. Valter Birsa snatched a late consolation for the visitors.

Ajax 2 – AZ Alkmaar 3 (KNVB Beker, January 19, 2012) Ajax struck first through Siem de Jong, but AZ then hit back with two goals in eight minutes as Maarten Martens and Charlison Benschop scored in the 24th and 32nd respectively. The side headed into the break level pegging as Siem de Jong was adjudged to have beaten the offside trap to tuck in a loose free-kick in the 37th. (First half highlights) The cup tie was settled early in the second half courtesy of a confident penalty from Rasmus Elm in the 55th.

Related link: FAIL! Roy Beerens’ comedy miss (AZ Alkmaar) vs Ajax.

Sporting Lisbon 1 – Moreirense 1 (Taca de Liga, January 19, 2012) Poor defending from Moreirense allowed Diego Capel to blast Sporting ahead, but the minnows pulled level in the 34th through a brilliant scissors-kick from Nabil Ghilas.

Panaitolikos 1 – OFI Crete 3 (Greek Cup, January 19, 2012) A clever looping header from Andre Rocha handed Panaitolikos the lead, but Crete were level in the 42nd minute as Mirnes Sisic showed nifty feet on the edge of the box before rifling a beauty in the top corner. Crete won the won in the second half courtesy of strikes from Christos Bourbos and Evangelos Mantzios.

Shakhtar Donetsk 1 – Uzbekistan 1 (Pens. 5-6) (Friendly, January 19, 2012) Aside from the result, the match was made memorable by a terrible on-the-goalline miss from Shakhtar’s Alex Teixeira.

Wolves 0 – Birmingham 1 (FA Cup 3rd round replay, January 18, 2012) Wade Elliot snatched the headlines in the 74th minute as Wolves failed to deal with a cross from the right and the midfielder managed to poke the ball home having hit the post at the first attempt.

Wrexham 1 – Brighton 1 (Pens. 4-5) (FA Cup 3rd round replay, January 18, 2012) 37-year-old Wrexham manager Andy Morrell gave the home side a first-half lead with a stunning curler into the top corner, but Brighton picked up a leveller in the 77th through an Ashley Barnes header. Albion keeper Peter Brezovan proved the hero in the shootout saving Dean Keates’s penalty before Craig Mackail-Smith’s decisive kick progressed Brighton to the next round.

Chesterfield 2 – Oldham 1 (Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Final first leg, January 18, 2012) Scott Boden opened the scoring for the home side when he converted a James Hurst cross before Robbie Simpson’s spectacular equaliser for Oldham. Danny Whitaker then scored from 12 yards before Oldham striker Shefki Kuqi saw his spot-kick hit the crossbar.

Manchester United 2 – Derby 1 (FA Youth Cup, January 18, 2012) Kane Richards had put the Rams ahead but a brace from Jack Barmby (son of Nick) secured the 2-1 victory.

Bahrain 0 – Sweden 2 (International Friendly, January 18, 2012) Bahrain had Abdullah Omar sent off in the 58th minute as he gave away a penalty that Tobias Hysen duly converted. Sweden closed out the win in the 81st courtesy of Oscar Hilijemark’s low finish.

Real Madrid 1 – Barcelona 2 (Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, January 18, 2012) (Longer highlights.) Question marks were directed at Barca keeper Pinto after just 11 minute as Benzema freed Cristiano Ronaldo with a fine pass and the Portugeezer drilled a low shot through the Catalan goalie’s legs. Barca almost hit back instantly as Alexis Sanchez hit a sweet shot against Casillas’ post. The Bernabeu was all wolf-whistles after Pepe hit the deck following a coming together with Gerard Pique. (First half highlights) Barcelona were level inside three minutes of the second half as Carles Puyol scored a diving header from a Xavi corner as Pepe fell asleep at the back post. Barca came close to taking the lead when Andres Iniesta hit the bar in the 54th. All eyes where on Pepe just after the hour as the Brazilian committed a dirty dive in an attempt to get Cesc booked. Pepe again courted the ire of onlookers in the 67th when he inexcusably stamped on Lionel Messi’s hand. The Catalans turned the match in the 77th when Messi threaded a pass to Eric Adibal (offside?) on the left hand side and the Frenchman eased his shot past Casillas for 1-2. The bad blood continued all the way through to the final whistle as Fabio Coentrao grabbed Lionel Messi’s head in a tackle and the Argentine acted as if he’d been punched in the face.

Individual highlights: Cristiano Ronaldo & Andres Iniesta.

Post match interviews: Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Cesc Fabregas & Dani Alves.

Related link: Andres Iniesta magic control vs Real Madrid.

El Clasico in Slowmotion.

Sergio Busquets Dummy vs Ozil.

Such A Scumbag! Pepe attracts all the bad press after Real 1 – Barca 2.

Athletic Bilbao 2 – Mallorca 0 (Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, January 18, 2012) (Longer highlights) Fernando Llorente netted his second header in as many games for Bilbao in the 35th to leave Mallorca chasing the cup tie. The Basques doubled theire lead just beofre the hour when Iker Muniain bagged the second header of the match.

AC Milan 2 – Novara 1 (AET) (Coppa Italia, Janaury 18, 2012) (Longer highlights.) A fine strike from Stephan El Shaarawy from the edge of the box fired Milan 1-up in the 24th minute. Just as it looked like Milan would close out a 1-nil win, Ivan Radovanovic blasted Novara level with just two minutes on the clock following a free-kick. Milan retook the lead in the 100th minute of the match courtesy of super goal from Alexandre Pato after Robinho’s neat assist.

Individual highlights: Stephan El Shaarawy.

Dunfermline 1 – Inverness CT 3 (Scottish FA Cup, January 18, 2012) Extra-time goals from Andrew Shinnie and Greg Tansey killed Dunfermline’s Scottish Cup hopes.

FC Porto 1 – Estoril 0 (Taca da Liga, January 18, 2012) Porto took the lead 65 minutes as Silvestra Varela received the ball with his back to goal, but the winger was able to swivel and let fly with a rasping half volley on his left foot.

Benfica 2 – Santa Clara 0 (Taca da Liga, January 18, 2012) Second half goals from Nelson Oliveira and Axel Witsel earned the Eagles the win.

Vitoria Guimaraes 0 – Maritimo 2 (Taca da Liga, January 18, 2012)

Zenit 2 – Bunyodkor 1 (Dubai Cup, January 18, 2012) Goals from Szabolcs Huszti and Danko Lazovic eased Zenit to the win. Danny should have made it 3-0 but he was guilty of a rubbish miss. Bunyodkor pulled one back late on.

Standard Liege 2 – Lierse 4 (Agg. 3-7) (AET) (Beker van Belgie, January 18, 2012) 2-1 down from the first leg, Lierse took the lead in the 67th minute from a long range Milos Maric free-kick, but Standard equalised six minutes from time through William Vainqueur. A minute into injury time Lierse were back in front through a Boban Grncarov header to force the match into extra time. The visitors went 3-1 up in the 100th minute when Soufiane Bidaoui found the net. Milos Maric gave Liege late hope when he headed the ball into his own net in the 119th, but Lierse completed the upset at the death when Jason Adesanya slid home a fourth.

Gent 3 – Lokeren 3* (Agg. 4-4)  (Beker van Belgie, January 18, 2012) Goals from Mijat Maric, Ayanda Patosi and Koen Persoons put Lokeren into the next round on away goals.

PAOK 2 – AEK Athens 0 (Greek Cup, January 18, 2012) Goals in each half from from Lino (penalty) and Athanasiadis KO’ed AEK in the cup.

Levadiakos 1 – Aris 1 (Greek Super League, January 18, 2012) A super solo goal from Giannis Gianniotas handed Aris a first half lead, while Lucas Favalli equalised early in the second half to share the spoils.

Panathinaikos 1 – Dramas 0 (Greek Super League, January 18, 2012) An 88th minute goal from Konstantinos Katsouranis push Pana to within one point of leaders Olympiakos.

Sydney FC 1 – Perth Glory 1 (A-League, January 18, 2012) Mark Bridge opened the scoring in the 45th minute for Sydney with a back post volley, but a late header from Adam Hughes helped Perth Glory extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Melbourne Heart 0 – Central Coast Mariners 1 (A-League, January 18, 2012) A late back post finish from Adam Kwasnik earned the league leaders the three points.

Millwall 5 – Dagenham & Redbridge 0 (FA Cup 3rd round replay, January 17, 2012) Darius Henderson was the star of the show with a hat-trick, swiftly followed by on loan Spurs youngster Harry Kane who notched a hat-trick.

Bolton 2 – Macclesfield 0 (FA Cup 3rd round replay, January 17, 2012) First half goals from Kevin Davies, after just 1 minute and Martin Petrov (on 26) eased the Premier League strugglers to the win.

QPR 1 – MK Dons 0 (FA Cup replay, January 17, 2012) QPR failed to dominate the MK Dons throughout their tie, Danny Gabbidon scoring a rare goal with a header from a corner in the 78th minute to earn Sparky his first win at Loftus Road.

Leicester 4 – Nottingham Forest 0 (FA Cup replay, January 17, 2012) The Foxes took the lead in the 7th minute after George Boateng turned a cross into his own net. Forest should have equalised in the 10th minute but Robbie Findley horrifically missed the target from a yard out. Leicester soon moved 2-up courtesy of a header from Jermaine Beckford on the half hour. It got better for the Foxes and Jermaine Beckford in the 50th as the striker punished a fluffed clearance with the hosts’ third. In the 57th minute Jermaine Beckford completed his hat-trick with a shot on the slide of Lee Camp had saved his initial attempt.

Post-match interviews: Nigel Pearson, Matt Mills and Neil Danns.

Tranmere 0 – Rochdale 0 (League One, January 17, 2012)

Espanyol 3 – Mirandes 2 (Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg, January 17, 2012) (Longer highlights.) Third tier Mirandes took a shock lead at Espanyol in the 27th minute as Alain Arroyo broke through the Catalan defence and drilled home a clinical strike. The giant-killing was set-up 12 minutes from time as Pablo Infante doubled the lead for Mirandes. Espanyol got a toehold in the tie as Vladimir Weiss netted with five minutes to go, and the great escape was completed just two minutes later as Rui Fonte levelled the match. Amazingly Espanyol had enough gusto to then go on to claim the shock win as Joan Verdu completed the comeback with a third in the 89th.

Xanthi 1 – Panserraikos 2 (Greek Cup, January 17, 2012) Marcelinho fired Xanthi ahead midway through the second half, but a second half double from Filipe da Costa turned the tie in Panserraikos’ favour.

Wigan 0 – Manchester City 1 (Premier League, January 16, 2012) (Alternative highlights, extended highlights) Edin Dzeko ended a four month drought in the 22nd minute at the DW as the Bosnian met Silva’s left-wing free-kick and headed it beyond Al Habsi into far corner.

Post match interviews: Roberto Mancini, Joe Hart & Edin Dzeko.

How was Maynor Figueroa not sent off for a crazy handball vs Manchester City?

Grasshopper 1 – Morocco 3 (Friendly, January 16, 2012) Youssef Hadji scored a second-half hat-trick as Morocco came from behind to defeat Grasshopper.

Ivory Coast 1 – Libya 0 (International friendly, January 16, 2012) A fabulous header from Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou on the hour mark lead the Ivorians to victory.

Napoli 1 – Bologna 1 (Serie A, January 16, 2012) Napoli fell behind in the 14th minute as Robert Acquafresca scored from close range after breaching the home offside trap. The hosts pulled level in the 71st courtesy of an Edinson Cavani penalty.

Manisaspor 1 - Fenerbahce 2 (Super Lig, January 16, 2012) Fener took the lead ten minutes after the restart when Caner Erkin played a 1-2 to cut infield from the left before rifling home the opener. The lead was short lived as Josh Simpson controlled a right wing cross to level just after the hour. Despite only three minutes of injury time being called by the officials Fener snatched victory in the 95th minute courtesy of Cristian Baroni’s brilliant last-gasp header from an Emre free-kick.

Gaziantepspor 1 – Kayserispor 1 (Super Lig, January 16, 2012) Gokhan Unal opened for the hosts before the break, while Elyasa Sume equalised for Kaysetispor in the 55th.

Hapoel Haifa 3 – Hapoel Tel Aviv 0 (Ligat Ha’Al, January 16, 2012) Goals from Ran Abukarat, Eran Levi and Stefan Denkovic sealed the win.