Man City make their point at Anfield; Craven Cottage remains a fortress for Fulham against the Baggies

Liverpool 1 - Manchester City 1 (Premier League, February 22, 2009) (MOTD highlights here.) City survived a scare after 22 minutes at Anfield when a loose ball in their box was barely cleared to safety. At the other end Steven Ireland missed a glorious opportunity to give the Citizens the just before the half hour, while Albert Riera had the best chance in the first half for the Reds but the Spaniard dragged his shot wide after good work from Torres. (First half highlights here.) Craig Bellamy scored immediately after the restart, the Welshman collected a pass from Kompany on the edge of the box and his shot deflected off Arbeloa past Riena to threaten Liverpool’s title hopes. City were proving good value for their lead but Liverpool levelled (as they always do), a Benayoun cross was mishit by Torres but Dirk Kuyt was on hand to poke the ball past Given.

Fulham 2 - West Brom 0 (Premier League, February 22, 2009) (MOTD highlights here.) The Cottagers broke the deadlock on the hour mark, Pantsil worked the space down the right, saw his cross flicked on by Johnson and Bobby Zamora connected at the back post to score. The second arrived ten minutes later, Zamora controlled a long ball on his chest, hammered a shot that Carson parried with Andy Johnson on hand to slot into an empty net.

Newcastle 0 - Everton 0 (Premier League, February 22, 2009) Kevin Nolan was sent off for a dreadful 43rd minute challenge on Victor Anichebe but the Toon held on to earn a point.

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Southampton 3 - Preston 1 (Championship, February 21, 2009) Andrew Surman opened the scoring for Saints on 19 minutes before Marek Saganowski dipped a spectacular volley over the Preston goalkeeper from 25 yards to double Southampton’s lead. The Polish international striker took his tally to six goals in seven games with a fine individual goal just before halftime. Wallace pulled a goal back for Preston late on.

Leeds 2 - Cheltenham 0 (League One, February 21, 2009) Jonny Howson broke the deadlock after 54 minutes when he headed in Robinson’s right-wing cross before doubling Leeds’ advantage 11 minutes later after receiving a well-executed pass from Fabian Delph.

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Motherwell 1 - Celtic 1 (SPL, February 22, 2009) Celtic took the lead in the 59th minute when Scott McDonald bagged his 13th goal of the season. But nine minutes from time Paul Quinn levelled to ensure the Rangers stay ahead on Celtic at the top of the table.

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All the goals from this weekend’s action in Spain can be seen here.

Deportivo La Coruna 1 - Valencia 1 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) David Villa gave his side the lead after 24 minutes, but was dismissed for a second bookable offence late on. And Depor quickly took advantage of their extra man as Piscu equalised three minutes later to leave Valencia outside the Champions League places for the first time this season.

Osasuna 2 - Numancia 0 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) Jaroslav Plasil gave Osasuna a second minute lead against Numancia after being played through the visitors’ defence and slotting the ball into the bottom corner. Masoud scored a second in the 35th minute.

Valladolid 1 - Malaga 3 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) Malaga took a two goal lead into the break after Albert Luque and Apono struck in the first half. Goitom’s 82nd minute goal proved a mere consolation, Perez added a third at the death.

Recreativo Huelva 1 - Almeria 1 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) After Crusat was sent off in the first half, Almeria fell behind to a header from Camunas just before the hour mark. Negredo’s 75th minute penalty drew the visitors level.

Mallorca 1 - Racing Santander 0 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) Marin scored a rebound after his own penalty was saved to win the match in the dying minutes.

Getafe 1 - Athletic Bilbao 1 (La Liga, February 22, 2009) Soldado’s opener for Getafe was cancelled out by Llorente before the break.

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The goals from this Sunday’s action in Serie A can be seen here.

AC Milan 1 - Cagliari 0 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) After 66 goalless minutes, the Rossoneri moved ahead of Cagliari when Clarence Seedorf slotted the ball into an open net although Pipo Inzaghi clearly pushed a defender out the way in the build up to the goal.

Fiorentina 2 - Chievo 1 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Santiago Morero came up from the back and managed to get on the end of a corner as the visitors took a 12th minute lead at Fiorentina. Alberto Gilardino brought the Viola level 20 minutes from time with a well-placed header into the corner. The end of the match was frantic, Chievo had Italiano sent off before Adrian Mutu (who else!) popped up to claim a 93th minute winner.

Napoli 0 - Genoa 1 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Bosko Jankovic netted the winner 20 minutes from time.

Lecce 0 - Lazio 2 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Pasquale Foggia struck in the 10th minute before Aleksandar Kolarov extended his team’s lead shortly after the restart to hand Lazio their first win in Serie A in seven attempts.

Torino 1 - Udinese 0 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Hernan Paolo Dellafiore was the star of the show for Torino scoring ten minutes from time.

Catania 2 - Reggina 0 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Ciro Capuano and Alessandro Potenza scored in each half to leave the visitors three points adrift at the foot of the table.

Sampdoria 1 - Atalanta 0 (Serie A, February 22, 2009) Giampaolo Pazzini’s goal after 61 minutes settled the result in Samp’s favour to earn their first victory in four league attempts.

Parma 1 - Brescia 0 (Serie B, February 22, 2009)

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Bayer Leverkusen 1 - Hamburg 2 (Bundesliga, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) Marcell Jansen latched onto Demel’s long ball to fire Hamburg into the lead. Patrick Helmes pulled Bayer level with a stunning sweeping strike off a cross the rocketed into the near post. Jansen won the match for Martin Jol’s side with a well-hit volley at the back post after 66 minutes.

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St. Etienne 1 - Bordeaux 1 (Ligue 1, February 22, 2009) Matuidi’s brilliant curler in the top corner was cancelled out by Cavenaghi’s last-gasp header.

Marseille 0 - Le Mans 0 (Ligue 1, February 22, 2009) Both sides hit the woodwork with Marseille’s Boudewijn Zenden twice denied, but neither side could find a way through.

Lille 2 - Monaco 1 (Ligue 1, February 22, 2009) Ludovic Obraniak opened the scoring for Lille on 12 minutes before Alejandro Alonso was sent off for Monaco after 67 minutes minutes. Stephane Dumont added a second for Lille in the final minute, but there was still time left for Monaco to grab a late consolation through Adriano’s quality free-kick five minutes into injury time.

Nantes 1 - Caen 1 (Ligue 1, February 21, 2009) Caen, without a win in their last 10 outings, got off to a flying start with an early goal from Anthony Deroin, only for Christian Bekamenga to square matters just before halftime.

Lorient 1 - Sochaux 2 (Ligue 1, February 21, 2009) Lorient went ahead after Vahirua released Kevin Gameiro in the box and the striker beat three defenders before shotting through the legs of Teddy Richerts. But second half goals from Vaclav Sverkos and Mevlut Erding’s last minute winner gave Sochaux their first away win of the season.

Toulouse 0 - Valenciennes 0 (Ligue 1, February 21, 2009) Toulouse missed the chance to go second and keep pace with leaders Lyon as they were held to a goalless draw by lowly Valenciennes.

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Ajax 2 - Volendam 1 (Eredivisie, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) Ajax fell behind at home to Volendam when van Basten’s defence was once again torn open and Gerson Sheotahul arrived on the scene to stroke home the opener. Luis Suarez equalised for Ajax with a header following a set-play. Thomas Vermaelen won the game for Ajax 15 minutes from time.

Sparta 1 - Twente 2 (Eredivisie, February 22, 2009) Sander van Gessel turned home a Eljero Elia left wing cross into his own net to give Twente the lead at Sparta.

De Graafschap 0 - Feyenoord 2 (Eredivisie, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) Feyenoord took a 54th minute lead when Karim El Ahmadi carried the ball upfield unopposed and scored from the edge of the box. Forgotten man Jon Dahl Tomasson wrapped up the win with a second in injury time after De Graafschap gave away the ball in midfield.

Utrecht 0 - NEC 2 (Eredivisie, February 22, 2009) (Longer highlights here.) Utrecht’s goalie Michel Vorm was completely at fault for NEC’s 77th minute opener, the keeper failing to stop a simple shot from Youssef El-Akchaoui before Joel Tshibamba added a second minutes later.

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Academica 3 - Maritimo 1 (Superliga, February 22, 2009)

Amadora 1 - Nacional 0 (Superliga, February 22, 2009) Jardel bagged the only goal of the game.

Naval 1 - Braga 2 (Superliga, February 22, 2009) Renteria pounced on a Joao Pereira long ball and headed it past Peiser to give Braga the lead. Naval levelled in the 83rd minute when Marinho smashed a Dudu cross to the back of the Braga net. But just when it seemed that Naval would walk away with a point, Joao Pereira picked up a loose ball inside the Naval area and tucked it away to snatch victory.

Vitoria Guimaraes 0 - Trofense 1 (Superliga, February 22, 2009) Trofense pulled themselves out of the relegation zone thanks to Charles Chad’s 76th minute winner.

Rio Ave 1 - Vitoria Setubal 0 (Superliga, February 21, 2009)

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Galatasaray 2 - Kocaelispor 5 (Super Lig, February 22, 2009) Gulleri was the hero for Kocaelispor bagging four goals.

Sivasspor 1 - Eskisehirspor 0 (Super Lig, February 22, 2009) Yannick Kamanan scored the only goal after seven minutes.

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Anderlecht 4 - Standard Liege 2 (Jupiler League, February 22, 2009) Standard got off to a good start after Wilfried Dalmat scored inside sixty second but Mbark Boussoufa equalised shortly before the break. Liege restored the lead through Dieumerci Mbokani four minutes after the interval but again Boussoufa equalised, this time on the hour. (Both Mbark Boussoufa goals can be seen here.) Marcin Wasilewski put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot before Tom de Sutter sowed up the big win with the fourth.

Racing Genk 1 - Mouscron 1 (Jupiler League, February 20, 2009) Ouali’s neat opener for the visitors was cancelled out by Nemec’s 28th minute equaliser.

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Ergotelis 1 - Olympiakos 0 (Greek Super League, February 22, 2009) Koutsianikoulis broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute, receiving a cross in the Olympiakos area and dribbling past a defender before unleashing a low drive into the net.

Asteras 0 - AEK Athens 1 (Greek Super League, February 22, 2009) AEK Athens visited Asteras and needed a late goal to earn three points, Daniel Majstorovic scored the winner with just four minutes to go.

Larisa 1 - Aris  1 (Greek Super League, February 22, 2009)

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Hajduk Split 2 - Dinamo Zagreb 0 (1. HNL, February 22, 2009)

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FC Salzburg 2 - Rapid Vienna 1 (T-Mobile Bundesliga, February 22, 2009) All the goals arrived in the first half, Tchoyi and Janko putting the hosts 2-up before Boskovic replied for Rapid.

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Young Boys 4 - FC Aarau 0 (Swiss Super League, February 21, 2009) Marco Schneuwly and Seydou Doumbia both bagged a brace.

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Maccabi Petah Tikva 1 - Hapoel Tel Aviv 1 (Ligat ha’Al, February 21, 2009)

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Suwon Bluewings 1* - LA Galaxy 1 (Pens. 4-2) (Pan-Pacific Championship final, February 22, 2009) Suwon took a 39th minute lead when Sean Franklin headed into his own net. Mike Magee drew the Galaxy level with a 89th minute penalty. The South Korea won the tournament on penalties.

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River Plate 2 - Banfield 0 (Clausura, February 22, 2009) Matias Abelairas gave River the lead with a controversial free-kick that was awarded despite the referee seemingly calling for an indirect free-kick in the first instance. Radamel Falcao Garcia added River’s second in the 83rd minute.

Lanus 1 - Boca Juniors 0 (Clausura, February 22, 2009) Boca Juniors lost for the second week in a row, Eduardo Salvio scoring the only goal after three minutes.

Argentinos Juniors 2 - San Martin 2 (Clausura, February 22, 2009)

Godoy Cruz  1 - Arsenal Sarandi 0 (Clausura, February 21, 2009)