If you thought that Napoli’s injury time brace, which handed the club a 2-2 draw at home to AC Milan, was its comeback of the week, think again. The underperforming Naples outfit has suddenly brought an end to an indifferent spell by stunning Serie A contenders Juventus 3-2 this evening, and that too away from home.

The Bianconeri had led through a goal in either half through Frenchman David Trezeguet and promising young winger Sebastian Giovinco. However, Slovakia’s talismanic forward Marek Hamsik changed the game in the 59th minute when he struck to make it 2-1. Former Boca Juniors midfielder Jesus Alberto Datolo then scored the equalizer barely six minutes later to silence the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. With Juve’s defense in complete disarray, Hamsik went on to capitalize once more to give the visitors a shock lead eight minutes from time.

The Turin giants threw numbers forward to tie the score up again, but in the frustrating final moments of the game, they lost their dynamic Brazilian forward Amauri through a red card. As a result, Paolo Cannavaro and Napoli will continue their impressive revival while Fabio Cannavaro and The Old Lady will await the result of Inter’s visit to Livorno tomorrow to closely monitor the progress of Jose Mourinho’s league leaders.

Mourinho, meanwhile, will not be too worried about the domestic competition after emphatically destroying the Nerazzuri’s rival, Palermo, 5-3 in the midweek. The Special One would much rather focus on the forthcoming UEFA Champions League visit to Dynamo Kyiv to ensure that his side moves up from the bottom of its group.

Rafa Benitez’s future at Liverpool has become even more cloudy following Fulham’s determined 3-1 win at Craven Cottage. Liverpool picked up two red cards along the way as Erik Nevland’s clever goal proved to be enough for Fulham to grab all three points.

Bobby Zamora got things going for the home side in the first half, but his strike was quickly cancelled out by a stunning Fernando Torres goal. Torres, though, was taken off in the second half, much to his chagrin. It was all Fulham from there as Liverpool struggled to mount any serious attacks on Mark Schwarzer’s goal.

After Dirk Kuyt slid to keep a ball in play in the second half, Paul Konchesky gladly capitalized on the opportunity and crossed in, only for the ball to find itself at the heels of Erik Nevland, who cleverly backheeled past Pepe Reina to make it 2-0.

Within the span of three minutes of each other, both Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher received red cards, leaving Rafa’s side with nine men on the pitch. Degen went in late, hard, and from the side of Clint Dempsey, while Jamie Carragher mimicked his own last man challenge on Michael Owen from last week, earning himself a much deserved red.

Clint Dempsey rounded off the scoring for Fulham just three minutes from time, and when the fourth official announced four minutes of added time it was clear that Rafa Benitez  just wanted to get out of there.

Liverpool’s loss comes just when many pundits predicted a revival at the club, and Rafa Benitez has a lot to figure out if he wants to keep his job.

All four of the Carling Cup quarterfinal fixtures feature all-Premiership ties, with the pick of the bunch being Manchester City taking on Arsenal at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Just across town defending Carling Cup champions Manchester United take on a difficult Tottenham Hotspurs side. Last year’s Carling Cup final saw United take on Spurs, where Sir Alex Ferguson’s side won on penalties.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea side get another chance to teach Blackburn a lesson in football after beating them 5-0 in the Premiership just weeks ago, but Sam Allardyce and his boys will have an eye on the prize this late in the competition. The two sides will square off at Ewood Park, adding an extra bit of motivation for the home Rovers.

Premier League bottom dwellers Portsmouth are delighted to find themselves in the tournament’s quarterfinals, and they face a tricky home tie against a surging Aston Villa team. Pompey will be looking towards this tournament to raise their spirits, while Villa will be looking to supplement their good league form.

The draw in full:

Blackburn Rovers v Chelsea

Manchester City v Arsenal

Manchester United v Tottenham

Portsmouth v Aston Villa

Cristiano Ronaldo has given United fans more to be frustrated about after the World Player of the Year stated his desire to see Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney line up for Real Madrid. Ronaldo joined Los Blancos from United over the summer in a world record breaking £80 million, and the former Red Devils believes that Rooney would flourish in Spain.

“Wayne would be a sensation out here. I think we could do with Rooney to help us out,” said Ronaldo to The Sun.

“He would be brilliant if he came. This is the ideal place for the world’s best players and there’s little doubt he is one of them.

“Wayne has all the skill and determination you need to make a fine career here.

“He has shown just how good he is over the last few years in England.

“And there’s no doubt he would be the same sort of player in Spain. It would be lovely to see him here one day at Real Madrid.

“I realise it would take a lot for him to move from England.

“He loves the country, he loves Manchester and he is a Liverpool boy. And United is a good club for him. But you never know what could happen in the future.”

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has confirmed that David Bentley will get a starting role against North London rivals Arsenal this morning. Bentley is a former Arsenal player, and he bagged a sensational goal against his former team last season.

Redknapp said: “He showed on Tuesday night he has got so much ability and it’s such a waste if he doesn’t put that into his performances.

“He was outstanding on Tuesday. We need David Bentley playing well because when he’s playing well he’s a real asset to the club.

“Now we need a run of performances like that from him. He will play tomorrow, he’ll go back there and play.

“He’s looking forward to going back to Arsenal again where he started out so it’s a big game for him. He scored a great goal last year and I’m sure he’d like to score another good goal tomorrow.”

He added: “He looks in the right frame of mind and he looks very sharp.”

Tottenham tackle Arsenal at the Emirates today at 12:45pm GMT, 8:45am EST. Fans in the United States can watch the game live on ESPN2.

Perhaps the biggest debate of the 2009-2010 Premier League season has been stoppage time. Premiership fans witnessed Michael Owen propel Manchester United to a derby day victory over cross-town rivals City in stoppage time, and last weekend we saw Stoke battle on through five minutes of stoppage time to hold on to a slender 1-0 lead over hosts Tottenham.

Now, Stoke boss Tony Pulis has pulled out some Rafa Benitez-esque facts to prove that the Potters have been on the wrong end of time keeping decisions all season long.

“I took off Rory (Delap) at the beginning of the second half, so we didn’t have any long throws after that. But there was still more than five minutes’ added time for us to get through to win the match.”

He added: “I don’t think we are accepted yet as a Premier League side, but we are getting more respect than we did last season. But accepted? Not yet.

“There’s more to us than the label we have as a long-throw team and nothing else.

“We still don’t get the rub of the green from referees, these stats prove it. This survey proves what I always suspected.

“We now know that when we are winning, when the board goes up at the end of the 90 minutes, our opponents will get more time to save themselves than anyone else.

“Forget Rory, we still always end up facing five minutes or more, the stats don’t lie.

“We are punished more than any other club in the top flight. We do not get as much time when we are losing, and if we are winning we get punished again because more time is added on.

“I have been looking at the statistics, we get slaughtered both ways. Winning or losing we get more and less time added on.”

The debate roars on.

Rio Ferdinand’s agent Pini Zahavi has revealed to Soccernet that his client is not struggling for form but instead struggling for health. The English international has been suffering from a calf injury that has yet to heal 100%, and Rio’s club and international form has gone with it.

“All the speculation about Rio’s ability is totally incorrect. Rio will be back to his best when he has finally cleared up a succession of injuries.

“He has had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season. He has had about four injuries, and because of his desire to do well for Manchester United he will turn out even if he is not 100%, and for him that has been a big mistake, because it has affected his form.

“But don’t worry, Rio is the same player, with the same abilities, and he will show it the minute he is back fully fit again.

“At the moment he has a calf injury and that is the reason he will be missing from the Manchester Untied team, not because he has been dropped. Both Rio and [Nemanja] Vidic have injuries and it is a difficult time for United.”

Newspapers around England have recently been linking the United defender with a move to Tottenham, where he would link up with former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp, who gave Rio’s career a start at Upton Park. Agent Zahavi, meanwhile, refutes these claims.

Zahavi told Soccernet: “I don’t know anything about any move to Spurs in the summer, I have never heard of it.”

Rio Ferdinand’s agent Pini Zahavi has revealed to Soccernet that his client is not struggling for form but instead struggling for health. The English international has been suffering from a calf injury that has yet to heal 100%, and Rio’s club and international form has gone with it.

“All the speculation about Rio’s ability is totally incorrect. Rio will be back to his best when he has finally cleared up a succession of injuries.

“He has had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season. He has had about four injuries, and because of his desire to do well for Manchester United he will turn out even if he is not 100%, and for him that has been a big mistake, because it has affected his form.

“But don’t worry, Rio is the same player, with the same abilities, and he will show it the minute he is back fully fit again.

“At the moment he has a calf injury and that is the reason he will be missing from the Manchester Untied team, not because he has been dropped. Both Rio and [Nemanja] Vidic have injuries and it is a difficult time for United.”

Newspapers around England have recently been linking the United defender with a move to Tottenham, where he would link up with former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp, who gave Rio’s career a start at Upton Park. Agent Zahavi, meanwhile, refutes these claims.

Zahavi told Soccernet: “I don’t know anything about any move to Spurs in the summer, I have never heard of it.”

Sam Allardyce has responded to reported comments from Wigan boss Roberto Martinez made earlier this week. The Spanish manager made claims that there is a “Sir Alex Ferguson fan club” amongst Premiership manager ranks, and he went on to say that Sam Allardyce is a key member of the fan club as he seeks to replace the Scot at Old Trafford.

After discussing the validity of the comments with Martinez himself, Big Sam has revealed that he has accepted Martinez’s apology. Allardyce himself had words of wisdom for the Premier League new boy, as well.

“I accept what he said when he rang me,” Allardyce said. “When I saw the papers I thought, ‘Is it true or isn’t it? But I have to take his word for it, which I do.

“Welcome to the Premier League, Roberto. Keep your mouth shut in the future or make sure you remember what is going to be done in the Premier League.

“If they have distorted his words, then that is something of a regular occurrence at this level.

“It’s not a real problem for me, I just think Roberto has learnt a harsh lesson about what happens in the Premier League if you start diverting away from you and your club business.

“You can say you can be misinterpreted, you can say you can be read wrong, but it’s a lesson that when you comment in this league on anything it can be blown out of all proportion.

“He’s apologised to me and I accept that apology.”