Reading traveled to Scunthorpe on Tuesday and built themselves a 2-0 lead. Scunthorpe rallied in the final ten minutes for two of their own and a 2-2 draw. The tying goal came very late on a cruel deflection that wrong-footed Federici. One of the rare times in their recent run that the Royals have dropped points from a leading position. The draw assures Scunthorpe will avoid relegation.

On the weekend Reading traveled to Watford who sit only two points above the zone with two games remaining. Watford ensured their survival with a thorough 3-0 win over the Royals.

Champions League semifinals also got underway on Tuesday with Inter at home to Barcelona. Inter rallied with 3 unanswered goals after watching Barca open via Pedro to bushwhack the world's best team and cup holders 3-1 at the San Siro. Yes, it was a big surprise to me as a fan of the game that was looking forward to seeing Inter get run off their own pitch. As satisfying as that would have been it wasn't on the cards. Credit to Inter for taming the beast. It was an impressive performance and a job well done as they twice exposed Dani Alves and took advantage of his penchant for spending most of his time in the offensive end. Barca had over 70% possession of the ball yet seemed to have lost their creativity on the train as they fell into a plodding, slow approach that was more like an Inter Serie A match than you would ever expect to see from Barca. Inter successfully used the very same approach to dump Chelsea out of the competition. Expect a very different tone to the second leg. Oh, Barca have twice recovered from a 3-1 loss in the first leg to win a CL tie.

To keep the surprise theme going Bayern Munich entertained Lyon on Wednesday and watched Ribery earn a straight red that will have him sitting for the 2nd leg. Lyon also were reduced to ten men ahead of the match winner from Arjen Robben for the 1-0 victory. That marked the 3rd CL match in a row where Robben has scored the pivotal goal.

In the league on Wednesday Hull entertained Aston Villa with the Tigers desperate to win the full points which would pull them into a tie on points with West Ham (31). A Hull victory would not only drag the Hammers into the struggle it would also lead to Wolves, Wigan and Bolton all being in much more jeopardy. For Villa a win would slip them past Liverpool and back to 6th in the table.

Agbonlahor took advantage of slack marking to take his time and then hammer home his shot for the lead (13) after the ball bounced and deflected around the area and fell conveniently for him. In itself, it was an example of the misfortune that has characterized Hull's fall. Then, as if to emphasize why they will be relegated Venegoor is put in alone, the sprawling Friedel blocks his shot which falls to Kilbane; Friedel saves again but the rebound falls conveniently back to Kilbane who steps left and fires another shot that is deflected up and over by Collins off his arm and there is no penalty awarded. First the lack of quality to finish the golden opportunity, then the obvious handball violation goes without note. Hull City is on their way back to the Championship and the win puts Villa back in 6th ahead of Liverpool.

Liverpool and Fulham both had to endure extended overland travel alternatives because of the Icelandic volcano just to get within shouting distance for their Europe League matches: the Reds in Spain to face Atletico and Fulham in Germany against Hamburg. Only Fulham would come back with a positive result.

Diego Forlan bungled in his badly missed header (9) for the only goal of the game in Madrid for the 1st leg 1-0 win over the Reds. A bad offside call denied Benayoun the leveler and the all important away goal 8 minutes after the opener. From that point on Liverpool produced little in the way of offensive pressure and the one real chance was wasted by Gerrard when he didn't get his shot on frame.

Fulham's Mark Schwarzer was credited with 10 saves in their 0-0 draw at Hamburg as the Cottagers look to make their first ever European final with a victory at home next week.

Looking ahead to the weekend the focus will be on Old Trafford as Spurs visit with their two stunning wins over Arsenal and Chelsea last week bolstering their hopes. Could they add United to that list and defeat all three of the top clubs in sequence? Sure seems unlikely but Spurs are on top of their game. A United win would put them back on top ahead of Chelsea's Sunday match with Stoke at the Bridge.

With the significance of the games at this point of the season fans around the world can only hope the results are determined by open play and not the men in black. That said, don't be a bit surprised if we see at least one of them decided by a match official's intervention. I hope that doesn't happen, I really do, but with several of the referees that seem to have the desire to insert themselves into the spotlight
don't be surprised if that happens in at least one of these games.

Worst case would be awarding a penalty for a clear dive, and just as bad, not showing a card when an obvious attempt at deceiving the official's occurs. Have you noticed how few cards are shown when this happens? Time and time again a guy dives trying to “simulate” a foul and is told to get up with no card issued. Penalties are awarded far more often than the simulation is punished which is why it keeps happening. As long as the deceit is rewarded far more often than it is punished there is little downside so players are essentially encouraged to do it. In a recent match in Serie A that I actually did watch all three goals were scored as a direct result of 'simulation' with penalties or free kicks awarded leading to all the goals. It is one of the reasons I rarely watch Serie A games.

Sure enough the referee's whistle determines the outcome as United defeat Spurs 3-1 on two penalties from Giggs. For the record both penalties is this case were deserved. The first opened the scoring in the 58th after Berbatov had spurned several chances up to that point in a closely contested match. Ledley King then leveled for Spurs with a strong header from a corner ahead of a beautiful goal from Nani (81). Macheda had come on just two minutes before his terrific through ball put Nani in who chipped the ball over Gomes (81). Giggs settled the issue for certain with his second from the spot (86) that keeps the pressure on Chelsea putting United back on top ahead of the Blues match on Sunday.

Chelsea regained top spot with their 7-0 win over Stoke padding their goal difference in the process. A first half brace from Kalou and a penalty conversion from Lampard all but sealed the win in the opening half. The Blues added 4 more in the second half with Kalou completing his hat-trick (68), another from Lampard (81), Sturridge (87) and Malouda (89) closing the book. Chelsea simply overwhelmed the Potters with a terrific display.

Arsenal returns to the friendly confines of the Emirates looking to recover from surrendering three goals in the final ten minutes at Wigan while Man City were stunned by the stoppage time winner they conceded to United. Goes without saying that both teams were on the wrong side of those dramatic losses and need to get back on track in a hurry. With nothing less than victory acceptable for both sides that should make this a thrill a minute kind of match and likely to be more watchable, especially for neutrals, than the match in Manchester. As we see so very often these matches that are expected to produce a thrilling display on the pitch often fail to measure up and this one was in that category. A bore of a scoreless draw if you can imagine that from these two. Ahead of the match few would have seen this one coming. What will be remembered is the chorus of whistles and boos that greeted Adebayor on his return to the Emirates wearing an opponensts shirt. That should let you know just how pedestrian the play was on the pitch.

Bolton took a 2-0 lead to the dressing room on goals from Klasnic (26) and Davies (28) only to watch two from Dindane in the second half earn a 2-2 draw for Portsmouth.

Hull's stay in the EPL is essentially over as they lose at home 1-0 to Sunderland on a 7th minute strike from Darren Bent. Bullard missed a penalty when he hit it poorly and it rattled off the post (41) in another example of why this team is headed down. And they lost more than EPL status too as an ugly fracas erupted just as the half was winding down when Hutton challenged Altidore along the byline. Hutton threw the ball at Jozy's head who then responded with a head butt drawing a red card. Hutton too was shown a red for the altercation.

West Ham hosting Wigan became the match of the round as the Hammers foughtback twice for the 3-2 victory. The match winner came from a sterling and rare strike from Scott Parker (77) to settle the issue in a thriller. A Jonathan Spector OG (4) handed Wigan the lead and Ilan tapped in to level in the 31st. Late in first half stoppage time a curling Noble free kick was saved by Kirkland but the rebound was nodded in by Kovac to put the Hammers back in the lead. Wigan leveled via Rodellega (52) on a controversial goal that the Hammers insisted he had directed in with his hand after it had been flicked on by Moses off a Watson corner. West Ham seemed to be faltering at that point until Parker hit his winner to save the day, and more than likely the season. The win nearly ensures their survival making it all but impossible for Hull to overtake them.

Wolves finally scored a goal via an Ebanks-Blake header (81) to earn a 1-1 draw with Blackburn. It was Wolves first goal in 5 games (469 minutes) and it could be the point that keeps them up. Rovers had taken the lead as Ryan Nelsen deflected a corner in with his knee (28).

The Midlands Derby between Aston Villa & Birmingham produced the energetic contest you'd expect with flowing attacks and the constant threat from City with the front-running Cameron Jerome to keep Villa's back line honest. Both keepers were called to action too and the opening half ended in a scoreless deadlock. For this one to be decided by the men in black, as it was in the way it was, seems unjust. Agbonlahor's speed forced a challenge from Carr who got a touch on the ball but a controversial penalty was awarded which Milner converted for the 1-0 win. Villa rises to a tie on points with Spurs in the battle for 4th.

For Burnley their season came down to this match with Liverpool: lose and they are relegated. For Liverpool and Rafa's promise of a 4th place finish seemed a forlorn prediction before the weekend. Even their big striker, Torres said that he is concerned about his longevity in the game if he remains in the EPL. Apparently he's too frail and this season since he's appeared in only 22 games it would appear he's got that just about right. That said, there was little to chose between the two in the opening half but the better chances fell to Burnley. Until a Gerrard drive that was headed wide was deflected off Cort and found the net (53) there was nothing between them at all. In the 59th Gerrard hit a brilliant strike from 25 yards to make it 2 for the Reds and Burnley's chances were all but gone. Maxi Rodriguez got his first for the Reds (74) and Babel added another in stoppage time for the 4-0 victory that sends Burnley back to the Championship. With the win and both Spurs and Man City dropping points Liverpool (62 points) moves to just two points behind 4th placed Spurs (with Villa also on 64 in 5th on GD) and City's 63 in 6th. Both Liverpool and Villa have played one game more than Spurs and City at this stage.

Everton and Fulham played a chess match going into 2nd half stoppage time knotted at 1. Then a Baird attempt to clear ended up with his foot in Cahill's belly and Arteta cashed in the penalty for the 2-1 win.
For Everton and Liverpool the fight could end up for 7th since EUFA's ruling regarding Portsmouth's appearance in next year's Europa League, the award that goes with their spot in the FA Cup Final, means the 7th placed team in the EPL would take Pompey's place.

Philadelphia Union lost another match where they surely played well enough to earn a point on a 67th minute penalty conversion by Juan Pablo Angel for the 2-1 final. The opening half ended in a scoreless deadlock. An Ibrahim Salou header (50) put the Red Bull on top but the Union's Sebastian Le Toux had the match on level terms just 9 minutes later when he deftly deflected a Moreno cross into the corner (his fourth of the season). A long ball searching for Angel was handled in the box by Orozco setting up the successful penalty and the Red Bull victory. Philadelphia is playing far better than an expansion side is expected and these games will go their way in the future.

And the Wizards managed to stop the Galaxy and Edson Buddle's scoring spree in a scoreless draw. It had to end sooner or later right?

As we enter the countdown to the opening game of the PDL campaign (May 15) the final two weekends of the EPL play out with much to be decided. With Hull all but on their way out the push for the final Champions League place is far from over and only one point separates Chelsea and Man United at the summit. And guess who has the opportunity, even if they can't win anything themselves, to determine who wins the title? Yep, Liverpool.

Next weekends match with Chelsea at Anfield will very likely decide the title winner one way or the other.