The Fifth Official, Blackburn Beat Arsenal, Landon Donovan, Hamsik Robbed Again, Robbie Roberts is Gay, Ronaldinho is a Cheeky Bastard

Happy Monday, y'all. We'll begin with the Fifth Official. As we all know, his/her favorite pastime is bashing the Gunners and there's plenty of material with which to work. Losing at home to Blackburn in the FA Cup after the League Cup debacle with Bradford isn't sitting pretty with Arsenal fans. Arsenal now join the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham, Norwich, QPR, Aston Villa, Sunderland, and Newcastle. All were knocked out of the FA Cup by teams from lower divisions.

Sticking with the Cup, Man City had little trouble with Leeds, Oldham scored late to draw with Everton, Chelsea ended Brentford's dreams, and Wigan walked all over Huddersfield.

Dominic Fifield was at the Emirates and Martin Keown called the defeat a "smack in the face." Richard Jolly was at the Eithad Stadium and Daniel Taylor was at Boundary Park.

Here are Ten Talking Points. Here's a Team of the Weekend. Here's a Little Wrap.

The draw for the next round means that if Manchester United defeat Reading this afternoon (3pm EST on FSC) then the Reds will face Chelsea in the Quarterfinals. Call us crazy, but we're going to put it all on the line right here and now and say that the Reds will face Chelsea in the Quarterfinals.

There was one match in the Premier League this weekend. Michael Laudrup rested several starters and paid the price handsomely as Liverpool crushed Swansea City 5-0 at Anfield. It's really not a bad piece of business for Swansea, though.  As embarrassing the defeat may have been, they'll be fully rested for the League Cup final against Bradford. You've got to prioritize silverware if you've got the chance to get it. Andy Hunter took in the action in Liverpool.

The Photo

Landon Donovan is in the news! That means we get to use The Photo. Enjoy. Why is he in the news? Because he says he'll return to the Galaxy next month and continue playing soccer. The news is so exciting it prompted a Monday MLS Breakdown. How exciting. Not as exciting as The Photo, though.

Back to Europe. Let's start in Spain where Messi scored again. And again. Is there really any point anymore? It's Groundhog Day all over again. The two this weekend were his 300th and 301st for Barca. Real Madrid overcame a Ramos red in the 18th minute to when and their neighbors Atletico won at Valladolid. Here's your review.

Over in Italia, the Serie A race became more intriguing thanks to one Francisco Totti. The Roman Icon's goal was enough to defeat leaders Juventus. Napoli could only draw but the gap at the top is down to four. Elsewhere, Fiorentina crushed Inter Milan, Mario is suddenly super again for AC Milan, and Siena and Lazio play tonight. Here's your review. Sticking in Italy for a moment, Napoli's Marek Hamsik was robbed at gunpoint after his side's draw in Naples. Sounds like it was pretty scary stuff.

Back in the USA, Robbie Roberts announced he's gay. The former Columbus Crew standout also announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 25. Roberts has struggled with his situation for his entire career. Hopefully he can now find some peace. Grant Wahl reports. And here's a nice piece from http://theshinguardian.com/

Ronaldinho? That cheeky bastard. The geri-curled one grabbed some water from the opposing keeper, received a long throw, and made the assist on a goal. It's all legal. And pretty genius.



We'll return to Arsenal to end our Monday. Arsenal have gone 2,830 days without a trophy. Since then, 25 departing players have won 73 medals! Oh, the humanity! Of course, some of those illustrious trophies include Frank Simek's Football League Trophy with Carlisle United, Stephen O'Donnell's League of Ireland trophy with Shamrock Rovers, and Jose Antonio Reyes' League Cup with Benfica. Here are all the stats.

Right. Off you go.

Onward!!

-SSN