Ocean City fans will be pleased to hear that Reading recovered nicely after their FA Cup Quarterfinal loss to Villa on the weekend by thumping Derby County 4-0 on Wednesday. In a strange twist Derby's starting keeper was injured early and his sub making his debut (Deeney) was shown a red card which led to Robbie Savage playing the remainder of the match in goal. The win lifts the Royals 4 points clear of the drop zone. Reading followed up that win in the mid-week with another clean sheet win (2-0) over Bristol City to rise well above the relegation zone. Both Royals goals came from their Icelandic forward Sigurdsson who along with Shane Long has fueled their revival. The young Royals run in the FA Cup boosted their confidence and the return of key players has bolstered that even more.

On Tuesday Arsenal hosted Porto needing to overturn a deficit after losing the first leg 2-1. Having the away goal in their pocket there was hope they could accomplish something they had not done in 32 years: overcome a deficit from the first leg to win a European tie. Would the away goal prove decisive? Then they lost Fabregas. Could they patch up the side and turnover the deficit without Cesc and Gallas? The injury list and their own history made that seem a remote possibility.

Matchday proved otherwise as a hat trick from Bendtner and single goals from Eboue and Nasri buried Porto with a stunning 5-0 victory (6-2 agg) that sends the Gunners on to the final eight of the Champions League.

And in a thriller in Florence that finished 4-4agg Bayern Munich goes to the final 8 on the away goals rule after losing the day 3-2 to Fiorentina. Fiorentina overcame the deficit from the first leg loss in Munich (2-1) and held the ticket for the final 8 twice during the match. A flurry of goals in a 5 minute span changed the outcome. Arjen Robben's stunner punched the ticket for Bayern and silenced the crowd despite losing on the day. The goal came just a minute after Fiorentina had scored the goal that seemed certain to take them to the next round for the second time in the match.

On Wednesday Beckham returned to Old Trafford for the 2nd leg of the United – AC Milan contest. With United's injury list expected to influence the outcome of this tie Milan could provide a shock in this one. Would Rooney be fit for the opening kick?

Rooney fit? He'd keep his scoring rampage going with a brace, one in either half, the opener coming on a terrific header off a Neville cross (13) the second only a minute after the break off an inch perfect pass from Nani sent him in alone (46). Ji Sung Park and Fletcher filled in the scoresheet completing the thrashing of Milan 4-0 (7-2 agg). Beckham came on as a second half sub to a rousing cheer and his strong volley was one of the few dangerous moments Milan would generate on the night. Milan simply had no answer for the rampant Rooney and the great service he's been getting from the likes of Valencia, Neville and now Nani. No striker in world football has rewarded the quality service from his mates with the precise finishing we've seen from Rooney this season. In this World Cup year England fans can only hope that Fabio Capello is paying attention.

Speaking of David Beckham, he suffered a torn achilles late in AC Milan's Sunday match with Chievo. Beckham is likely to miss out on England's trip to the World Cup as a result of the injury as rehab time could extend well beyond the point where it would be possible to be fit in time. Since moving to the Galaxy of MLS Beckham has also been on loan to Milan in hopes of keeping his level of play and fitness up to standard so he could have a decent chance of being part of the 4th World Cup team for England. The injury appears to have put that goal out of reach. Oh, a late goal by Beckham's sub Clarence Seedorf earned the victory for Milan to stay within a point of Serie A leaders Inter.

The big spenders at Real Madrid could do no better than a 1-1 draw with Lyon and were sent out of the competition failing to reach the quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive season despite their record spending spree in recent years. Real started brightly and Ronaldo scored early (6) but that is as far as it would go as they produced a disjointed effort. Too many stars and not enough 'team' in their game to prevail. Pjanic's 75th minute strike would level for Lyon and send them to the quarterfinals.

In Europe's second tier competition Liverpool produced another poor effort after their woeful match at Wigan falling 1-0 at Lille. An 84th minute Eden Hazard free kick from distance was allowed to fall in the six yard box and charomed past Reina when Carragher's attempt to head it clear made no contact on the ball.

Fulham's trip to Turin to face Juventus saw them fall 3-1 but at least they managed to get an away goal. While the task ahead of them in the second leg is large that away goal gives them a glimmer of hope. There was some good news too as Clint Dempsey came on as a second half sub making his first appearance for the side in almost two months.

Back in the league all the recent postponements have resulted in several teams having multiple games in hand that is certain to impact the standing in the table. Of them all, Villa, now mired in 7th have three games to make up and may need to take all 9 of those points to stay in the hunt for the final Champions League finishing place. Man City also looks forward to taking maximum points from their two games in hand to gain an advantage in that contest too. Liverpool's loss at Wigan on Monday may have sealed their fate and made it not only possible, but likely, that they would lose their chance at the final Champions League finishing place. The Reds have also played more games (29) than their competitors and still find themselves in 6th. Their current form suggests they could slide into the clutches of not only Villa, but Birmingham and perhaps even their neighbors across Stanley Park (Everton).

On Tuesday Sunderland faced Bolton at home with the Black Cats on a run of 14 league games without a victory and Bolton on a good run with back-to-back wins. Frazier Campbell got the ball rolling with his first for the club in the opening minute and a Darren Bent hat-trick sealed the 4-0 victory.

Portsmouth got a chance to do it again to Birmingham having just defeated them in the FA Cup over the weekend. This one would be a different story and a brace from Cameron Jerome won the day for Birmingham. Kanu notched a consolation for Pompey (90) and the final scoreline 1-2.

And, on Wednesday Burnley entertained Stoke at Turf Moor in dire need of the points but could only manage a 1-1 draw that keeps them in the zone.

In a match of monumental importance in the relegation fight between two clubs separated only by goal difference Burnley welcomed Wolves to Turf Moor and a cruel deflection resulted in the match winner for Wolves. In the 26th minute an attempt to head the ball back to the keeper fell in no man's land and Matt Jarvis pounced resulting in the opener for Wolves. An OG made it two in the 47th before Thompson pulled one back for the Clarets (73) but the damage was done.

The other club locked on 24 points, Hull City, entertained the charging Gunners and they produced one of those games where you walk away saying the fair result would have been a draw. Hull fought back to level with a Bullard penalty (28) after Arshavin had poked in the opener (14). Then Boateng was shown two yellows in the last five minutes of the half putting Hull down to ten men just ahead of the whistle. The ten man Tigers battled and kept the Gunners in check until Bendtner's stoppage time winner earned all three points for Arsenal. Denilson's strong drive was parried away by Myhill with a double fisted punch but the rebound went right to Bendtner who showed his agility as he leaped to get on top of the bounce to volley it past the keeper from in close to win the day for the Gunners. On Monday Hull City announced the sacking of manager Phil Brown.

Another under fire manager Gianfranco Zola says he needs 10 more points for West Ham to feel safe. The problem he faces is two games on the road against Chelsea followed by Arsenal where any points earned would be considered unlikely for his side at this stage. Chelsea, in a bit of a slump of their own and looking forward to getting healthy at the Hammers expense did just that with a 4-1 victory. It was no walk in the park however as the Hammers made it a stern test for at least the opening half. Alex headed home the opener (15) and Scott Parker's stunning volley leveled (30) for West Ham and the half ended knotted at 1. Then it was Drogba's turn to shine and he did that putting the Blues back on top (56) with a powerful header. Malouda added his own (77) deciding the match and Drogba added his second of the day (90) to close the book. The win keeps the Blues in lock step with Arsenal separated by goal difference.

Two other clubs involved in the struggle to survive Bolton & Wigan faced one another at the Reebok and the Wanderers won in emphatic fashion 4-0 on goals from Elmander (10), Davies (48, pen), Muamba (53) and Taylor (69). It was Bolton's 3rd win in the last 4 and a disappointing outing for the Latics who defeated Liverpool on Monday with a good performance.

United hosted Fulham looking to regain the top spot after wins by both Chelsea and Arsenal had made them joint top by a single point. Fulham proved a worthy opponent in the opening half even though United (primarily Berbatov) spurned a handful of chances. After the break that would change immediately. Rooney took a Nani cross directing it past Schwarzer for the opener in the first minute of the second period. Fulham seemed to lose their way from that point on and rarely advanced into the final third and instead relied on hopeful long balls as United dominated proceedings. That finally led to yet another from Rooney in the 84th from a clever pass from Berbatov who himself was rewarded just five minutes later when he headed in the cross from Park (89). The 3-0 victory puts United back on top 2 points above Chelsea and Arsenal.

In that battle for 4th Spurs faced off against Blackburn at the Lane and won the day on a brace from Pavlyuchenko after Defoe had opened the scoring in first half stoppage time. Roman's first put Spurs in control but Chris Samba put Rovers on the board in the 80th. Pavlyuchenko then added his second five minutes later to seal the win as Spurs hold 4th with the 3-1 victory.

Villa traveled to the difficult confines at Stoke and found it tough going as most visitors have this season. Villa loses ground with a scoreless deadlock that keeps them 7th and now six points behind fourth placed Spurs. Just two weeks ago only 1 point separated the four clubs in the fight for the final Champions League qualifying place.

Man City, looking to regain their stride and keep pace with Spurs visited Sunderland and never seemed to get started in the opening half as they fell behind to a Kenwynne Jones header. In the second half they started with more energy and guile but were undone by a lack of discipline in the back line and failure to attack with menace and zeal. Credit to the Black Cats energy and approach that kept City off their game. Until stoppage time that is when an Adam Johnson free kick sailed high into the far corner to earn a point on the day that City really didn't deserve.

Everton visited a hopeful Birmingham, a team still looking up and working to claim a spot in Europe for next season. Their success has their manager, Alex McLeish, being added to the short list of those under scrutiny for Rafa's job. After falling behind 0-2 on goals from Anichebe (19) and Yakubu (22) a determined Birmingham fought back for a 2-2 draw on goals of their own from Jerome (26) and Craig Gardner (51), his first for Birmingham. The fightback keeps Birmingham in 8th ahead of the Toffees by two points to keep their surprising season on track.

Under fire Rafa Benitez and his slumping Liverpool side hosted Portsmouth for what may be the last time expecting and needing to take the full points from the bottom club to remain in the fight for 4th. A win here for the Reds would put them just 1 point adrift of Spurs. With Portsmouth's run of 59 years since their last win at Anfield victory for the Reds seemed more than likely. That said, with this version of the Reds little is certain.

Liverpool started with serious intent to score early and often and it seemed that was sure to happen. It wasn't until the 26th minute however after near total domination that Torres did break the ice with his first. He would add another late on (77) around goals from Babel (28) and Aguilani (32) as Liverpool produced what has become a rarity for them, a comprehensive win. Belhadj pulled one back for Pompey (88) before it was over, but the result was never in doubt.

What may be in doubt however is the near term future of Gerrard who lashed out foolishly but was not shown a card for his clear foul. The FA will review and may extend some sort of discipline and that would be a good thing.