Five-times European champions Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat at Lille after a late goal by forward Eden Hazard while Juventus beat underdogs Fulham 3-1 in Europa League last 16 first leg matches on Thursday.
Portsmouth made light of their financial woes to reach the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Birmingham City on Saturday, Frederic Piquionne scoring twice to give their long-suffering fans something to cheer. In the day's other sixth round tie Fulham, bidding to reach the FA Cup final for the first time since 1975, played out a 0-0 draw with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage.
Manchester City's Premier League challenge continued along its spluttering, unconvincing path when they were held to a goalless draw at Birmingham City on Sunday, their fourth successive league draw.
Holders Manchester City began their assault on the FA Cup with a 4-1 victory over fourth-tier Port Vale but Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers face an unwanted replay after drawing 0-0 at Molineux on Saturday. Goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Sergio Aguero, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Phil Foden made it a routine day for City, although Tom Pope had equalised for a Vale side sitting 74 places lower in the standings.
Two goals for Roman Pavlyuchenko and two own goals helped Tottenham Hotspur advance to an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Fulham after a 4-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers in their fifth-round replay on Wednesday.
Aston Villa skipper Stilian Petrov headed an equaliser three minutes from time to force a 2-2 draw at Championship side Crystal Palace in an outstanding FA Cup fifth round tie Sunday.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said he expects goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to retire at the end of this season.
Reader Abhilash Jaiswal sent us this photograph from New Delhi.
Manchester United and Arsenal closed the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea with classy, one-sided wins over struggling Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth on Wednesday.
Chelsea were heading for defeat against Fulham, but Drogba levelled with a 73rd-minute header before a Chris Smalling own goal gave them the win that re-opened their five-point lead over Manchester United, albeit with an extra game.
Manchester United reached the FA Cup fifth round and avoided any further embarrassment.
Fernando Torres will face his former club Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals after scoring twice to help Liverpool beat Benfica 4-1 at Anfield on Thursday.
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has been banned for two games following his sending-off during the 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool on Saturday.
UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk were knocked out of the Europa League after being held to a 1-1 draw by visitors Fulham in their round of 32 tie Thursday. Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus progressed to the last 16 and Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro scored a hat-trick as his side went through with a 4-1 win over former England manager Steve McLaren's Twente Enschede.
The central defender has been without a club since leaving Championship (second-tier) side Aston Villa following their playoff defeat by Fulham at Wembley Stadium last season.
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was handed a three-match ban for violent conduct by the English Football Association on Thursday.
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he wants to return to England to coach, hinting he could be back with a Premier League club for the start of next season.
Chelsea scrambled a 2-1 home win over west London rivals Fulham on Monday as two goals in two minutes saved them from what was looking like a first home defeat for more than a year. Tottenham Hotspur moved back into the top four with a 2-0 victory over struggling London rivals West Ham United, while in the day's late match Manchester City gave new boss Roberto Mancini a second straight win with a 3-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Chelsea's stuttering form continued on Saturday when the Premier League leaders kicked off a hectic holiday programme with a 0-0 draw at Birmingham City.
Stirling Moss, the British racing driver who ranked as one of the all-time Formula One greats despite never winning the world championship, died on Sunday at the age of 90 after a long illness. News of his passing was mourned across the world of motorsport, with Formula One hailing a 'legend' and 'one of the true greats'.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez's troubles will increase further after he admitted that ace striker Fernando Torres may need an operation.
Liverpool had two players sent off and suffered a sixth loss in seven games with a 3-1 defeat at Fulham on a Saturday of red cards in the Premier League.
Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo scored two goals apiece and defender Luisao was also on target as Benfica thumped Everton 5-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.
Solskjaer took over as caretaker manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December and United have secured 10 wins in 11 games under his charge.
Aguero will not start against Man United: Guardiola.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their perfect start to the season when they came from behind to win 2-1 at West Ham United and stay top of the Premier League on Sunday. Spurs lead the table with nine points from three games, followed by five clubs on six points, including Chelsea who play at Fulham later.
71-year-old Sven-Goran Eriksson won 18 trophies with various clubs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, between 1979 and 2000, and became the first manager to win league-and-cup doubles in three countries.
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks' time.
Councillor Lucy Ivimy, 53, a Conservative Party lawmaker has sparked a racism row in Britain after she accused immigrants, particularly Indians, of showing a total disregard for cleanliness of a public area.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United and Chelsea cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals with comfortable away wins at Fulham and Coventry City respectively on Saturday. Carlos Tevez scored twice and Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-sung also struck as United turned on the style at Craven Cottage, while goals from Didier Drogba and Alex made it six wins out of six since new manager Guus Hiddink arrived at Chelsea.
Holders Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 home win over Stoke City while Aston Villa joined them after coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at Reading with a John Carew hat-trick on Sunday.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson dismissed Chelsea's Premier League title hopes on Wednesday.
Hull City broke their transfer record to sign shaggy-haired central midfielder Jimmy Bullard from Premier League rivals Fulham on Friday.
Newcastle United's euphoria after their win over Middlesbrough on Monday turned to despair on Saturday when a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham left their Premier League status hanging by a thread.
Hull City, who visit Anfield on Saturday, have displayed superb away form in their first season in the top flight, and offer no guarantee of three points to Rafael Benitez's side.
India football captain Baichung Bhutia believes the Englishman is the best coach the team has had for a long time and he should be given a second tenure. Houghton's three-year contract expires in May 2009 but Baichung wants the widely respected former Fulham midfielder to be given another tenure as his continuation will only "help Indian football."
The English Premier League title race was thrown wide open with leaders Manchester United losing a second successive match and Liverpool thumping Aston Villa 5-0 to close the gap at the top to one point. Barcelona maintained their six-point lead in Spain, while a double from Zlatan Ibrahimovic ensured Inter Milan stayed seven points clear in Serie A.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Wayne Rooney scored on his return from injury as champions Manchester United crushed Fulham 3-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to surge five points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
