Soccer Table Update as on 12/14

With the UEFA Champions League group stage concluded and on a break until the new year, top contenders in England and Italy were able to refocus on the domestic front. The big match of the weekend saw Liverpool take on Arsenal at Anfield. Meanwhile back in the states with the MLS and USL/NASL still off season, the US focus turned toward the conclusion of the collegiate soccer tournament, the NCAA Men's College Cup.

EPL:
- Past week's results - Saturday morning got started with an exciting 2-2 draw between Stoke City and Wigan, which saw the Stoke goal keeper (Sorenson) block a last minute penalty kick to save the point for the second week in a row. But the true moment of glory in the match was Maynor Figueroa's goal from 60 yards out. Manchester City re-started their draw streak with a 3-3 score fest against Bolton - Everton repeated that score line as the took a point from the current leaders Chelsea - Late Saturday night both Manchester United and Tottenham were upset 1-0 a piece by Aston Villa and Wolverhampton, respectively - On Sunday the big clash saw Arsenal's young guns take out a full strength Liverpool 2-1.
- Current EPL Table - Despite picking up only 1 point, Chelsea extended their lead over 2nd place ManU to 3 points at the top of the table - Arsenal moved into third with 31 points and with a game in hand they could pass ManU for second with a win - The battle for the 4th Champions League spot remains tight between Aston Villa, Tottenham and ManCity - Liverpool's loss finds them tied for 7th with new boys Birmingham - The Wolves' win over Tottenham pulled the team out of the relegation zone, 2 points ahead of West Ham.

Serie A:
- Past week's results - On Saturday Bari hosted third place Juventus and took a surprise 3 points with a 3-1 result - Sunday started off with AC Milan's hot streak ending after a 2-0 loss to Palermo at home - Inter Milan and Atalanta had a draw 1-1 and after the match there was an alleged altercation between Inter boss Jose Mourinho and a journalist - The late match of the weekend had AS Roma and Sampdoria tie 0-0 with both looking to gain on the top contenders.
- Current Serie A Table - With Inter's tie, as well as AC Milan and Juventus losses, all 3 top team failed to make a big move this week, but remained at the top of the table - Parma was the biggest gainer of the week, staying in 4th, but now only 2 points behind Juventus for 3rd - After 4th place the table becomes incredibly congested as 5th through 13th is only a difference of 2 points - Livorno's 1-0 this weekend moved them out of the relegation zone and dropped Catania into a deeper whole, 20th place with only 9 points overall.

Finally, the NCAA Men's College Cup was held this weekend in Cary, NC. In the Semi-final match-ups UVA defeated Wake Forest 1-0 with an overtime goal, and Akron beat UNC on penalty kicks. The Cup Final was Sunday and saw the top two teams in the country go into penalty kicks after a long defense battle in the rain. UVA hit only 3 out of their 5 attempts, but that was enough to top Akron and win their first NCAA title since the mid-90s.