Another weekend of world soccer action is in the books. There were some thrilling matchups across the globe, but we’ll start in the good ole U.S. of A., where the first round of Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs got under way.

In a year where the MLS saw a record growth in attendance, along with the signings of some major international stars, the notoriety of the league, as well as the quality of play, has increased drastically. This improvement makes it no surprise that this weekend featured four exciting playoff matches.

The New York Red Bulls were in San Jose to take on the Earthquakes. New York won 1-0, but it could have easily been much worse than that for San Jose. The Red Bulls dominated for long stretches of the match, even without Thierry Henry, who missed the match due to injury. Their domination was fruitless, however, until Joel Lindpere calmly slotted one past keeper Jon Busch in the 55th minute. New York will now take its 1-0 lead back home for the second leg, where all it will need is a draw to win on aggregate and move on to the conference finals.

The other matchup in the Eastern Conference semifinals featured the Columbus Crew traveling to Colorado to face off against the Rapids. Colorado won the match 1-0, though the Crew remain confident as they head home for the second leg. They looked excellent in the second half and are expected to win in Columbus, where they have dominated opponents all year.

In the West, the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Seattle Sounders 1-0 on a stunning goal from Edson Buddle. Buddle struck the ball on the half volley from way outside the box. Keeper Kasey Keller could do nothing but watch the ball float over his head into the back of the net. Heading home with the lead, the Galaxy will expect to advance to the next round pretty easily.

If they do advance to the conference finals, the Galaxy will take on the winner of the matchup between FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. In a game where each side had a player sent off, Dallas was able to beat the defending champions 2-1. They will now head back to Salt Lake where Real has not lost in 32 consecutive matches.

As the MLS playoffs were going on here in America, the Barclay’s English Premier League reached the quarter-way mark of its season.

League leader Chelsea maintained its five-point cushion on top of the standings with a 2-1 victory over the Blackburn Rovers. Chelsea was not its usual dominant self, as Blackburn outplayed them for much of the match. Blackburn went up 1-0 early, but a Nicolas Anelka goal just before halftime and a late Branislav Ivanovic header were enough to get Chelsea the three points it desired.

After Chelsea’s win, Manchester United knew it would need a win to keep pace as they hosted Tottenham Hotspur. Man U got the win by a score of 2-0, thanks in part to some officiating confusion. After what appeared to be a handball, Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes put the ball down for what he thought was a free kick. After realizing that no whistle had been blown, Nani poked the ball into the back of the net, sealing the win for United.

Elsewhere, Arsenal continued its chase for the title with a 1-0 victory over West Ham United. Arsenal controlled the game but couldn’t find the back of the net until the 88th minute, when Alex Song scored on a wonderful diving header, giving his side the victory.

Finally, American Clint Dempsey had a terrific day as his two goals led Fulham to a 2-0 win against Wigan Athletic. Dempsey has been in great form and the goals were his fourth and fifth of the season. It is always encouraging for the United States’ national team when Americans are playing this well abroad.

In Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid continued to dominate. Barcelona beat Sevilla FC 5-0 thanks to two more goals from Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo also scored twice as Madrid beat Hercules 3-1. Messi and Ronaldo have been brilliant to watch this year. It will surely be a great show when they face each other at the end of the month.

MAN OF THE WEEK: Newcastle United’s Kevin Nolan scored a hat trick in the team’s 5-1 victory against Sunderland. Nolan was excellent all day for Newcastle, which finds itself in seventh place in its first season back in the Premier League.

GOAL OF THE WEEK: German Bastian Schweinsteiger scored on an absolute rocket for Bayern Munich this week in its match against Werder Bremen. Schweinsteiger lined one up from range and drilled the ball into the top corner of the net.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR NEXT WEEK: The MLS playoffs continue with the Red Bulls scheduled to take on San Jose at 8 p.m. on Thursday on ESPN2. In Europe, Champions League action is back underway. There are some great matches lined up, including Real Madrid vs. AC Milan set for 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday. The match can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel.