Porto versus Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. The game ended 1-1 with both goals of great note.
Porto opened the scoring when Raul Meireles hit one of those volleys he had no business even trying into the far corner. But Chelsea struck back thanks to a great finish from Andriy Shevchenko, who has dazzled Chelsea fans with his non-stop string of goal-scoring and all-around dominating play ever since he joined the London side in a high profile move that every Premiership fan agrees is the best acquisition by any team in years.
Next up on the TiVo was Barcelona-Liverpool over on Setanta Sports, which not only gave us a shocking comeback, but a fantastic cap to one of the great footy stories of the year.
In case you missed it, Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy allegedly whacked teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club recently after an argument about karaoke. No, seriously.
Fast forward to Wednesday night in Spain, and after Barca went up 1-0, Liverpool equalized through a Bellamy header that Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes decided to catch on the wrong side of the goal line.
So when Bellamy took a giant swing with an imaginary golf club after the goal, now you know why.
But the cherry on top came when Liverpool actually won the game when Bellamy settled a ball in the box and selflessly laid a perfect square ball across to ... Riise, who hammered it into the top of the net for the decisive tally. You couldn't have scripted it better ... well, unless Bellamy had run to the goal and headed Riise's shot away before it went in. But even Craig Bellamy's not that nuts. At least, I think he isn't.
Took a little break from the footy to take in "American Idol" and luckily the girls are a lot better than the boys, who had thrown up all over themselves Tuesday night.
But a little inside dirt here for you: the guys who run "Idol" are going to produce the Emmy Awards this fall. And those same guys are affiliated with 19 Entertainment, which manages a certain footballer who is joining the Galaxy this summer (and might have played himself back into Eng-er-land's plans).
Translation: don't be shocked to see Becks and Posh somehow a part of the Grammys this year.
Anyway, after "Idol" was an episode of "Lost," the show that has fallen out of favor faster than Sheva did with Chelsea supporters.
Not going to bother getting into it, because judging by its ratings, no one cares anymore, anyway.
The night was capped off by the TiVo serving up the perfect going away present for this magical Wednesday: D.C. United absolutely playing Honduran side CD Olimpia off its own field.
From the start United showed why if MLS had to send one team into a big match in a foreign venue, you'd have picked United almost every year MLS has been around. They play like they have been there before.
With no nerves on display, United went ahead through a moment of sheer magic from Christian Gomez, who unfurled a swerving bit of class from long range about a half hour in.
The Hondurans then struck back just five minutes later when D.C.'s backline wrote the book on ball watching and at that point the MLS side was in for a fight.
But this is where D.C. really impressed, as rather than getting rattled they actually took the lead just before the interval when Luciano Emilio reacquainted himself with his former team by flicking a back-heel home.
With that goal in their back pocket, United cruised to the 4-1 win that all but booked their place in the next round.
And with that, I finally turned off my television. I could've sworn I heard it say "finally!"
I'm sure the rest of the week will be back to my regular mix of having the Queen beat me down chore by chore and watching the plastic surgeons cruise by me in their fancy cars, but even something as unspeakable as rain on Planet LA can't take a wonderful Wednesday away from me.
During the season, The Clean Sheet runs each week on MLSnet. Views and opinions expressed in this column views and opinions are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com. Send any questions and comments to tcsresponses@yahoo.com
