Halloween Derbies: 10/31 in Review

Aston Villa 0-0 Birmingham City

Not much to be said about a scoreless draw that had seven total shots on goal. A bit underwhelming for a derby match.

Newcastle United 5-1 Sunderland

Speaking of derbies, Newcastle were emphatic in victory over their local rivals. Kevin Nolan scored twice in the first half, and Shola Amoebi converted a penalty for a 3-0 halftime lead, then Nolan finished off the hat-trick before Darren Bent ruined the Magpies' clean sheet, for what that's worth.

Bolton 0-1 Liverpool

Maxi Rodriguez got the winner for the Reds. It did not look nearly as awesome as this:



The Premier League's Matchday 10 concludes tomorrow with Blackpool hosting West Bromwich Albion. The way those clubs attack, it should be a wide open goal-fest. Which means it'll turn out to be a boring nil-nil slog of a game.

Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly:

Kilmarnock climbed out of last place (and sent St. Mirren to take their place) with a 3-0 win at Hearts.

Spanish Inquisition:

Villareal, down a goal and a man on the road, still managed an equalizer in second half extra time, via a penalty converted by New Jersey Italian Giuseppe Rossi. The point rescued leaves them three points off the pace of Real Madrid. Elsewhere, Racing Santander escaped the bottom three with a 4-1 victory over Osasuna, and Deportivo De La Coruna moved out of last place, but not the bottom three, with a 3-0 win against Espanyol.

Insert Cheap Italian Stereotype Here:

In the lunchtime kickoff, surprise league leaders Lazio got a first half goal and survived 15 minutes with ten men to win 1-0 at Palermo, extending their lead atop the table to four points over Inter Milan.

Das Boot:

Borussia Dortmund defeated Mainz 2-0 to claim first place in the Bundesliga by one point. Of note, Mainz missed a penalty when down 1-0. Later, Hoffenheim beat Hannover 4-0 to take over third place, seven points behind Dortmund.

Midweek Matches:

Europe League, baby! I'm sure those boring Champions League matches will warm everyone up for the real deal European league on Thursday.