Big news over the weekend is Clint Dempsey's second hat trick in as many games. His hat trick is the first for an American in the league. Dempsey now has 9 goals in the league, tied for 7th best for all players and tied for fist among midfielders (with Frank Lampard). Manchester City beat Spurs by a score of 3-2 to keep their place at the top of the table. Manchester United defeated Arsenal 2-1 to keep pace with their neighbors. In the States, the ManU-Arsenal game was aired on Fox before the NFC Championship game.
Sunderland won 2-0 over Swansea City to continue their good run of form under new manager Martin O'Neill. Under the new manager, the Black Cats have taken 16 of 24 points, compared to 11 from 42 under Steve Bruce. Everton couldn't hold a one goal lead and drew with Blackburn Rovers 1-1. Chelsea failed to score in their 0-0 draw with Norwich City. Wolves fell to Aston Villa 3-2 to drop into the relegation zone.
Relevant Table
| Position | Team | Games Played | Points | Goal Differential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 3 |
Spurs | 22 | 46 | 17 |
| 4 |
Chelsea | 22 | 41 | 15 |
 10 |
Sunderland | 22 | 27 | 5 |
| 11 |
Aston Villa | 22 | 27 | -3 |
| 12 |
Fulham | 22 | 26 | -3 |
 14 |
Everton | 22 | 26 | -4 |
| 19 |
Wolves | 22 | 18 | -15 |
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homer Dome | 16 |
| 2 | Buffalo | 16 |
| 3 | Freealonzo | 16 |
| 4 | Daneeka's Ghost | 15 |
| 5 | Spookymilk | 15 |
| 6 | DK | 13 |
| 7 | MagUidhir | 12 |
| 8 | The Dread Pirate | 8 |
| 9 | AMR | 8 |
| 10 | davidwatts | 4 |
US Soccer News
The Birds of War defeated Venezuela 1-0 on a 97th minute goal from Ricardo Clark (Video). It was the US's first win over an opponent from South America in nearly 5 years. The BoW take on Panama in Panama City on Wednesday. The game is at 7:30 PM Central and can be seen on ESPN3.com
The US Women have had a good run lately in the qualifying rounds for the 2012 London Olympics, to understate things slightly. On Friday, they defeated the Dominican Republic by a record 14-0, the followed that up yesterday with a 13-0 defeat of Guatemala. 27-0 combined in their last two game. The USA Ladies take on the Mexican Señoritas tomorrow at 9:30 PM Central. The game will be streamed free on CONCACAF's website (registration required).
Clint Dempsey was named 2011 Male Athlete of the Year, and Abby Wambach won for the Ladies. Brek Shea and Sydney Leroux won Young Male and Young Female of the Year. I'll leave it to the reader to figure out which is which.
Everton-Blackburn Rovers is being replayed on FSN North right now, for those who may be interested.
I know on the face of it, it seems a bit youth league, but they should have a maximum per-game GD that counts towards the GD tie-breaker. Mexico and the US could easily draw their game, at which point the #1 seed (which could be pretty important considering that the winners of the semi-final games are the two qualifiers) is determined by who could score more goals against drastically inferior competition. It'd almost make more sense to just toss a coin, or with all the teams in the same location, bring them out for kicks from the mark. I'm no big fan of the shootout, but it makes more sense than a game of who can drub the DR and Guatemala the worst.