Welcome to the Weekend Special. This little weekly feature will have some of the writers from Soccercentral Philippines suggest some games for you to watch this weekend, whether live on your television or your live stream.
Cover Photo c/o Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Here are the results from last week:
West Ham versus Milwall - The Championship-leading Hammers bolstered their bid for their return to the Premiership with a 2-1 win against their bitter rivals. Sam Allardyce's boys played virtually the entire match with a man disadvantage as Kevin Nolan was sent off with a straight red card in the 9'. The game-winner came from Winston Reid in 69'.
Ivory Coast versus Equatorial Guinea - The ride ends for the co-hosts, as a brace from Didier Drogba and a goal from Yaya Toure proved to be too much as the Elephants romp into the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations.
Chelsea versus Manchester United - The Blues go up 3-0, then the Red Devils pull out another comeback special, snatching a point with a 3-3 draw. You may choose to question Howard Webb's call in that led to the second penalty, but the game-tying goal of Chicharito was sweet.
Loyola Meralco Sparks FC versus Kaya FC - A sterling display by the Loyola midfield and defense stifled the Kaya attack while the Younghusbands each scored a goal for the final score. This, coupled with Pasargad ekeing out a draw with Stallion Gilligan's FC ensures the UFL Cup runners-up have a temporary hold on the league leadership.
Olympique Lyonnais versus Olympiques de Marseille - With freezing conditions throughout the French countryside, a 2-2 draw keeps them in stead at 4th and 5th, one point apart. Lyon, though, is level with the reigning French champions Lille, just trailing in goal difference.
Here are this weekend's games that you might just want to check out:
Pachanga FC versus Cebu Queen City United FC - This is the first UFL Division 2 match that AkTV will televise. They already faced off in the group stage of the UFL Cup, but this is a different atmosphere. Led by a Philippine football legend in Freddy Gonzalez, the current pacesetters of Division 2 want to keep things that way against a team that finally secured their first win last week.
Liverpool versus Manchester United - I believe Soccer Central Philippines has some articles specifically dedicated for this particular fixture. Check them out for interesting thoughts and pieces. Luis Suarez may have returned midweek against Spurs, but this really is the true return of the Uruguayan forward.
Philippines Senior National Football team versus Uzbekistan Olympic Team - This is the first match in the Middle East Camp / Tour that they are going to have this week. Let's see what our team has to muster against a team trying to get ready to secure a spot in the London Olympics.
Borussia M'Gladbach versus Schalke - This will be a huge stretch for Schalke, with the Europa League matches and Bundesliga duels with Munich and Wolfsburg after this, we'll see how good this team can be in their quest to win their first league title since 1958. 'Gladbach is pretty much happy to be here given their dalliance with relegation last season, but they will want to keep this Cinderella ride going. This is also the Bundesliga match of the week, so you will get to see this on AkTV this Monday.
Ivory Coast versus Zambia - The African Cup of Nations Final has a special significance for Zambia. SI's Grant Wahl tweeted an old 1993 SI article that would be a good frame before watching this match.