Arsenal traveled north to face a Sunderland club that has seen a resurgence since installing Martin O'Neil as their manager and it took a two late goal by impact substitutes to come away with the three points. Keep reading for all the glorious heart-stopping action.

Arsene Wenger chose to start the same squad that demolished Blackburn last week with the exception of Francis Coquelin as Bacary Sagna was drafted in for his 2nd start since his broken leg.

Olympique Lyonnais vs. SM Caen

Week 23 – Ligue 1

What an AWESOME start to the year! Six wins, one well fought out draw and a marginal 1-0 loss in 8 matches since January. 8 matches in which Lyon has scored 19 goals.

By Chris Wright

In which, during Borussia Monchengladbach's DFB Pokal quarter-final tie with Hertha Berlin on Wednesday night, Monchengladbach striker Igor De Camargo goes down like a big cheating sack of spuds to get Hertha centre-half Roman Hubnik sent off...

Is he alright?

For all the crisis talk, it hasn't been a bad fortnight for Arsenal. At half time against Villa, we were staring down the barrel of a fourth successive defeat, and an early exit from a competition that was beginning to open up thanks to some high profile ties that we had managed to avoid. Since then, we have seen actual mental strength (as opposed to the professed type that leaves us scratching our heads in disbelief) in that comeback win, a match against Bolton which, while frustrating from a result point of view, was a sharp improvement in performance on those that had come before, and a thumping seven goal win over a Blackburn side that inflicted perhaps our most painful defeat of the season back in September (yes, I count that 4-3 loss as worse than the United hammering).

The Newcastle U18 side fought through to the quarter finals of the FA Youth Cup last night, after they beat QPR 2-1 after extra time. Steve Logan in action last night The Newcastle lads gave a fighting display and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was there at St. James' Park to watch his youngsters come from behind to win the game.

By Chris Wright

It's been a heavy old day so far, what with the situation at the top of the England tree and everything, so here's the perfect antidote a truly pathetic own-goal to watch, savour and enjoy.

The guilty party is one Ashraf Soliman of Israeli club Maccabi Umm al-Fahm who, with his side 2-1 up in the 89th minute of an domestic cup tie against Hapoel Afula, panicked under pressure and duly farted a dreadful poke past his own keeper to level the score at two apiece.

Hoyte-y toity The undoubted highlight of Sunderland's extra-time FA Cup victory over local rivals Middlesbrough last night was this bizarre slide tackle on Boro defender Justin Hoyte from a pitch invader. A couple of morons ran onto the pitch. One of them lost his footing behind Hoyte and ended up sliding through the back of [.

Blackpool's reward for a scintillating 3-0 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough is a trip to Everton in the FA Cup fifth round.

The game was effectively won in the opening 15 minutes as Matt Phillips continued his red-hot scoring streak with a precise finish and Lomana LuaLua curled in a superb effort soon after.

Coop Didn't Take Long to Get His FirstThe New York Red Bulls prevailed in the first of their 2012 preseason friendly matches, defeating FC Dallas 2-0, thanks to a first half goal by Kenny Cooper and a late penalty from Corey Hertzog. Despite Dallas striking the woodwork three times, RBNY goalkeepers Ryan Meara and Jeremy Vuolo combined to keep a clean sheet.

Heartbreak for Gabon and Aubamayeng but a bright future awaits... is a post from: Just Football

In my latest column for FourFourTwo I take a look at co-hosts Gabon and their exciting but ultimately heartbreaking Africa Cup of Nations campaign:

After the laughter comes tears.

Co-hosts Gabon looked like it was going to be headed to their best showing in any ACN when Eric Mouloungui shot them into the lead in the 55th minute. But Mali had other ideas as Cheick Diabate equalized in the 84th minute. At the end of extra time, with the two teams deadlocked, the fate of the match was decided on PK shootout.

Football is the world's game, but like any sport, it's appeal is not fully universal. The Internet, meanwhile, has proven that two things are more popular than all else: pornography and cats. And since mixing pornography with football would run against numerous public indecency laws in various parts of the world, that means football executives have no choice but to add cats to the game in order to push it to the next level.

Captain John Mensah puts Ghana ahead through his third international goal. Saber Khelifa equalized after beating Samuel Inkoom to a lofted ball. The match headed to extra time and in the 110th minute, Abedi Pele's son, Andre Ayew scored the winner after Tunisia's goalie, Aymen Mathlouthi coughed up Inkoom's cross right into his path.

When you're playing for Tunisia in extra time of an Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal against Ghana, one thing you definitely don't want to do is make a point to elbow an opponent in the face. As Aymen Abdennour found out after shoving Andre Ayew and then elbowing him away from the ball in the 108th minute on Sunday (skip to the end of the video), this will earn a straight red card.

Saturday 15th October 2011.
Celtic, fresh from a defeat at Tynecastle, are 3-0 down at half time to Kilmarnock.
Winning the title looks a long way off, Neil Lennon's managerial coat seems to hang on an ever shooglier peg.
They came back to draw 3-3, three goals in a 10 minute burst from Anthony Stokes and Charlie Mulgrew salvaging a point.

Steve Zakuani Says His Return Is Unlikely Before 'late May, early June'

While Steve Zakuani didn't exactly put a timeline on this potential return, he made it pretty clear during an interview on Extra Time Radio that he doesn't foresee coming back before May. That almost certainly means he'll open the season the injured list, as that would mean his roster spot would remain open and he'd have to miss at least six games.

Get In Bellers!...Liverpool booked their place in the League Cup final at Wembley on Wednesday night after beating Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate. It was a fantastic tie for the neutral as City took the lead twice at a boisterous Anfield but the home side were the better team over the two legs and Craig Bellamy's 73rd minute goal made sure the Reds would be fighting for some silverware next month.

Eddie Pope was kind enough to contribute mightily to the long-promised Top 5 List of transfers that weren't for Americans, so I'm going to air his full comments on the relevant matter contained within unedited. If you haven't seen it yet, you may wish to read that before the following text.--"At a couple points throughout my career, I had a lot of interest from many European teams.

By Chris Wright

With Palace going into the game with a 1-0 aggregate lead courtesy of centre-back Anthony Gardner, Cardiff levelled the score after just 7 minutes through Palace centre-back Anthony Gardner who somehow got his head down lower than his own feet to power a header past Julian Speroni and in off his own post.

Cardiff City beat Crystal Palace tonight in the Carling Cup semi-final when they won 3-1 on penalties. Wilfried Zaha top young youngster That was after the score was 1-0 to Cardiff after 90 minutes and after extra time, and on display for Palace were at least players Newcastle have been interested in right back Nathaniel Clyne and winger/striker Wilfried [.

We watched Wednesday's Clásico in its entirety with spirited company at WoodworkBK. We had the sense then that Barcelona slowly took control after the early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, and that Pepe was terrible. Watch this extended highlight clip, which should reinforce the conclusions that (a) Barcelona completely dominated after about the 25′ mark, and (b) Pepe was a complete embarrassment and not only for the already-infamous Messi hand stamp:

Real Madrid v Barcelona by vynylr

Acting!

So you're a WNT fan and you love Studio 90 Extra Time.
Well now Extra Time is in podcast form!
You can listen at your computer or if you subscribe via iTunes you can take the Extra Time Podcast with you wherever you go!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ussoccer.com-podcasts/id367881130
The podcasts are interviews with players (just like you hear on Extra Time Pt.

Newcastle United will play at Brighton & Hove Albion in the 4th round of the FA Cup a week on Saturday. Brighton beat Wrexham last night in the 3rd round replay, but the game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and that was the score after extra time, and Brighton eventually won 5-4 on penalties. That's the very closest you can get [.

Divisi Utama (LI)
Persiku v Persip 1-1 (Arip Rokim; Rozikin) 6,971
Thai FA Cup Final
Muang Thong United v Buriram PEA 0-1 (after extra time)

Liverpool step into the last remaining competition on their calendar, welcoming Oldham Athletic to Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup. The League One side got past Southend United in the second round after a draw forced the home replay, which the hosts won 1-0. Liverpool will be looking to get past the third round for just the third time in six seasons after crashing out to Reading and Manchester United in the past two seasons.

It's not everyday that you get to see Lionel Messi crying but Barcelona's official photographer Miguel Ruiz managed to capture this image of the Argentinean maestro during a private moment in the dressing room. This was snapped after Barcelona's defeat to Real Madrid in the 2011 Copa del Ray final, where some ugly scenes took place on the pitch.

Former Liverpool and Everton defender Gary Ablett (46) lost his 16 month battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma yesterday.

Ablett started his career with Liverpool playing over 100 games, winning two League title's 1987-88 and Liverpool's last title success in 1989-90, he also picked up an FA Cup winning medal in 1988-89 beating Everton 3-2 after extra-time.

Crystal Palace are one of two Championship sides that remain in the 2011/12 League Cup. Out of the two Championship sides, Crystal Palace remain to be the team that have performed at a lower level than their Championship counterpart and League Cup semi-final opposition Cardiff City.
In the Championship Cardiff are in 5th position with 38 points, whereas Palace currently reside in 8th position with 33 points.

Arsenal's ambition to improve position in the league was halted again as the Gunners only picked up one point from their home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.

A quick goal by Gervinho didn't resulted in a goal flowing result for the home team as their visitor managed to pick up an equalizer through Steven Fletcher, and hold it until the final whistle.

Bahrain have won the Gold Medal at the 2011 Pan Arab Games football tournament in Qatar.

Bahrain had qualified for the final by virtue of topping their group in the first stage, gaining back-to-back wins over host nation Qatar and Iraq, before eliminating Palestine in the semi-final ahead of yesterday's final match.

AZ keeper Esteban Alvarado was sent off following this incident on Wednesday

AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado has had his red card from Wednesday's Round of 16 KNVB Beker (Dutch Cup) match against Ajax Amsterdam rescinded.

The keeper was attacked by an Ajax fan only for Esteban to retaliate on the attacker by kicking him whilst he was on the ground, a response which was deemed inappropriate by referee Bas Nijhuis who then sent off the keeper much to the astonishment and fury of the AZ players and staff.

Gems of the Lower Leagues: Jacob Butterfield is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's ‘Gems of the Lower Leagues' series continues with a look at Barnsley midfielder Jacob Butterfield. James McMath looks at why talk of a January move to the Premier League will surprise some, but not Barnsley fans.

Too much resting on Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra case for judgment to be rushed

Henry Winter: Reputations are at stake. That's why the Suárez-Evra case has gone into extra time.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2011-12-16 23:00:35 from: The Telegraph

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez given extra time to reply to FA improper conduct charge following gesture at Fulham report

The Uruguayan is under investigation for apparently showing his frustration towards supporters at Craven Cottage, but has allegedly been given unspecified extension to make defence

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-13 08:46:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez given extra time to reply to FA improper conduct charge following gesture at Fulham report

The Uruguayan is under investigation for apparently showing his frustration towards supporters at Craven Cottage, but has allegedly been given unspecified extension to make defence

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-13 08:46:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Liverpool forward Luis Suárez given extra time to reply to conduct charge

Luis Suárez has been granted more time by the Football Association to respond to a charge of improper conduct for alleged obscene gesture.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2011-12-12 23:00:45 from: The Telegraph

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The holiday season is upon us, and while some already know what they're receiving or are giving someone else, there are many who are still drawing a blank.

For many a Manchester United fan, the ideal gift outside of getting to meet their United favorites or having a chance to step out onto the pitch at Old Trafford would be primo match tickets.

Luis Suárez given more time to respond to FA's improper-conduct charge

• Liverpool allowed extra time as player prepares his defence • Dalglish says club will use video footage from Fulham match Luis Suárez has been granted more time to respond to the improper‑conduct charge he received for allegedly making an offensive gesture to Fulham supporters at Craven Cottage last week.

The South Asian Football Championship has been taking place in India since the beginning of December. The biannual event retained its recent trend of seeing the Indian national team win the championship this time defeating Afghanistan in yesterday's final by four goals to nil.

In the early stages of the tournament Afghanistan had the early advantage over India with both teams meeting each other in Group A, along with Sri Lanka and Bhutan, and the Afghans finishing top of the group on goal difference.

"Ugh, my iPhone is stuck on the UNHOLY setting"The dust has settled over Bay Street since Friday's dramatic announcement that Bell and Rogers were buying major shares of Maple Leaf Sports and "Entertainment". A few things became evident by watching the glad-handing press conference: Bell and Rogers may be in bed over this deal - but they do not enjoy each other's company; the deal is 99% about getting corporate boxes at Leafs games; and, TFC are the equivalent of "the player to be named later" in the deal.