5. Sergio Pellissier had a field day with Juve's defense earlier today scoring a hat-trick to give Chievo Verona a 3-3 tie against the giants from Turin. The striker will still be disappointed considering his first two strikes gave Verona the lead. Juventus then came back with two unanswered goals to go up 3-2 and Pellissier fired home an injury time equalizer that at least gave the minnows a point. Pellissier now has 9 in Serie A play.

5. We all know this is not typical Will Hesmer but still, it has to make the list. You can say the same about Columbus, it is way too early to even think about counting the Crew out. If I'm not mistaken they barely took any points out of their first couple games last year too.


4. Chelsea are probably over the failure of Claudio Pizarro, but it's a good question to ask regardless - why couldn't Pizarro find the net in England? In 19 starts for Werder Bremen, he as 14 goals so far and 20 in all competitions. The Peruvian fired Bremen past Hannover 96 (without Zizzo and Cherundolo) with two goals in a 4-1 win. Pizarro is probably the only thing keeping Bremen mid-table.

4. It hasn't been a great week for Carlos Bocanegra's Rennes. Earlier in the week, promising young striker Jimmy Briand fell with a ruptured ACL in training for a World Cup qualifier. Yesterday, things got a bit worse as Sochaux, a team fighting for Ligue One survival, beat up on Sochaux 3-0. The loss damages the Breton club's European ambitions while Sochaux has managed to scrape out 3 home wins to move out of the relegation zone.


3. See below for the brief game recap, but there might be no better strike partnership in the world right now than VfL Wolfsburg's Grafite and Edin Dzeko. Grafite, the 30-year old former Le Mans striker, and Edin Dzeko, a 23-year old Bosnian protege, have combined for 35 goals this year in the Bundesliga, 43 in all competitions. Wolfsburg sits in 1st after beating Bayern on Saturday, both Dzeko and Grafite had braces. A sneaking suspicion here but this strike duo is probably the reason why Wolfsburg is currently building upon an 8-game Bundesliga win streak.

3. Many thought Bayern Munich had been finding their form again, but yesterday's match vs. VfL Wolfsburg will test even the most die-hard supporter's loyalty. Wolfsburg put 5 goals past Bayern giving them their worst loss in 7 years. Felix Magath, Wolfsburg's boss, must have enjoyed the hell out of the win considering Bayern fired him several years back and it puts them at the top of the Bundesliga table. Regardless, Klinsmann and Munich sit 3 points off the leader but there should be worry about how the Germany giants are going to recover ahead of mid-weeks UEFA Champions League match vs. Barcelona.


2. Everton swept aside Wigan, 4-0, ultimately destroying any realistic hopes for the Latics to grab a spot in Europe. Other than a loss to Portsmouth, the Toffees haven't lost since the end of January. They're a point behind Aston Villa and still within range of 4th place Arsenal with 7 games remaining. Jo, Manchester City cast-off, has been great since joining and Marouane Fellaini continues to impress. It was their biggest win of the season, but the fixtures are not getting any easier. Next week, they'll take on Villa in a battle for 5th place and the week after, an FA Cup showdown with Manchester United.

2. Major League Soccer officiating was atrocious this weekend. The red cards given to DC United's Jaime Moreno and Los Angeles' Dema Kovalenko stand out as well as a penalty given in the 80th minute which doomed FC Dallas to yet another loss. (You can go either way on the straight John Thorrington red card). I know it's inevitable to have mistakes here and there, but it always seems to happen in bunches. The officiating combined with all the empty seats made it a bit frustrating to be a MLS fan this weekend.

1. How about 17-year old Federico Macheda?! Yea, exactly. Nobody know who he is, but he saved Fergie and United's ass today. United was down 2-1 before Cristiano Ronaldo scored his second of the day to tie things up. Macheda, an Italian forward brought over from the Lazio youth system, made his way on late in the game to provide some extra firepower. Looking pretty decent, it still looked increasingly likely that the game would end in a tie. Fast forward to injury time, Macheda gets the ball at the top of the box, denied by Curtis Davies. It falls out to a United midfielder and is put right back into Macheda. This time, with his back to the defender, he Kruyffs it and falling away from the ball he curls it to the back post and around the outstretched arms of Brad Friedel. 3-2, game over. The youngster then runs off the pitch and into the stands, seemingly to hug a friend/family member who is sobbing with joy over the kid's shining moment. That's good stuff. See below (thank you BuffloSoldier).


1.At what point does Gareth Southgate have to go? Middlesbrough are now 5 points adrift of safety after getting destroyed by Bolton, 4-1. Since beating Liverpool 2-0 at the end of February, it has been Defensive lapses, shoddy finishing, and other than Sanli Tuncay, very little to be excited about. It was a tough going from the get-go having never beaten Bolton at Reebok, but Southgate's charges have dropped decisions to Stoke City as well as a 4-0 loss at the hands of Tottenham. In fact, the win over Liverpool was their only win in the past 18 games. Is it Southgate yet? Or is it still "incompetent management"? Even if Boro survives this season, a mass exodus could be likely with Stewart Downing, Afonso Alves (not surprising), Adam Johnson, and Sanli Tuncay all rumoured to be leaving.