First Star: Frank Simek and Carlisle United lifted the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley, beating Brentford 1-0. The League Trophy is contested between clubs in League One and League Two. Peter Murphy scored the game's only goal in the 12th minute. Simek went the distance in a game where Carlisle dominated the chances.
Second Star: Clint Dempsey and Fulham celebrated the full return of Bobby Zamora at the expense of Blackpool at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Zamora had Fulham up two goals, scoring in the 23rd and 28th minutes. Dickson Etuhu made it 3-0 Fulham in the 72nd.
"Normally you hear Bobby before you seem him so he was a little bit quiet but I thought this was the perfect game for him, to be honest," Fulham manager Mark Hughes said. "I thought that he got over the last hurdle in his head after the injury in terms of starting games and really, in fairness, I couldn't have hoped for a better impact from him. Straight from the off he showed qualities that we have missed and lacked for many games this season. For him to come in - the way he is thinking about his game and coming back from a serious injury - it was a perfect day for him."
Third Star: Both teams got a point in the battle of American goalkeepers in the English Premier League. Tim Howard started for Everton and Brad Friedel started for Aston Villa in the 2-2 draw. Leon Osman opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Darren Bent scored in the 47th and 68th minutes with Leighton Baines equalizing for Everton from the penalty spot in the 83rd.
Everton manager David Moyes complained about a phantom goal he believed his side scored. "Yes it was over the line," Moyes said of the goal. "I thought with the angle the ball had rebounded it had to go over the line. It's not an easy call for the linesman and referee and that's why we're looking for goal line technology. Today it was a double whammy, the referee gets it wrong and they go up the other end and score ten seconds later. For us that was a real blow but it was our defending which cost us a goal."
Jermaine Jones went 89 minutes in Blackburn's 0-0 draw with Arsenal. In the Championship, Brad Guzan was in goal for Hulll City's 1-0 loss to Millwall. Eric Lichaj was in the lineup for Leeds United in a lopsided 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Eddie Johnson went 59 minutes for PNE in a 2-1 over Swansea. Zak Whitbread went the distance for Norwich City, beating Scunthorpe 6-0. Scottish Premier League, and Maurice Edu went the distance for Rangers in a surprise 3-2 loss to Dundee United.
In Germany, Steve Cherundolo went the distance for Hannover 96 in a 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund. The loss to the Bundesliga leaders drops Hannover to 4th a point behind Bayern Munich. Ricardo Clark went the distance for Eintracht Frankfurt, drawing 1-1 with VfL Wolfsburg. A league down, David Yelldell was in goal for MSV Duisburg, losing 2-1 to Fuerth. Edson Buddle went 6 minutes for Ingolstadt, beating Energie Cottbus 2-1.
Ligue 1, and Carlos Bocanegra took his usual place in St Etienne's defense in a 1-1 draw with Valenciennes. Scandanavia, and Michael Parkhurst played the first-half for Nordsjaelland, drawing 0-0 with Horsens. Mix Diskerud went the distance in Stabaek's 2-1 win over Rosenborg. Chris Rolfe subbed on in the 75th minute for Aalborg, losing 1-0 to Odense. Turkey, and Jozy Altidore subbed on in the 86th minute for Bursaspor in a 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce. A league down, Freddy Adu subbed on in the 68th minute for Rizespor in a 3-0 loss to Mersin IY. Rizepor have fallen to 6th, the final playoff slot in the TFF First League. The win moves Mersin IY to 3rd, a point out of the two automatic promotion spots.
Mexican Primera Division and Jose Francisco Torres played 67 minutes for Pachuca in their 3-1 win over Morelia.
Did Not Play: Michael Bradley (Aston Villa 2 - Everton 2), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves 1 - Newcastle 4), Jonathan Spector (West Ham 2 - Manchester United 4), DaMarcus Beasley (Hannover 1 - Dortmund 4), Timothy Chandler (Nurnberg 0 - Cologne 1), Oguchi Onyewu (Twente 2 - PSV Eindhoven 0), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht 1 - Standard Liege 3), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus 3 - Kolding 0), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca 3 - Morelia 1), Jonathan Bornstein (Tigres 2 - Atlante 0)
Injured: Robbie Findley (Forest 0 - Leeds 4), Stuart Holden (Bolton 1 - Birmingham City 2), Clarence Goodson (Brindby 2 - Silkeborg 2), Marcus Tracy (Aalborg 0 - Odense 1)
