Compression

Last gasp wins at the very top and bottom of the table meant once again that nobody can predict results from one week to the next. Wigan’s winner was absolutely imperative for their survival chances, and compresses the league once again, leaving the entire bottom half separated by just six points. The bottom club’s tally of 30 points at this stage also seems to be a high for a 38 game season.

Manchester United breathed a collective sigh of relief after finishing off plucky Bolton only with an 88^th minute winner, after Jussi Jaaskelainen had attempted to gather a Nani shot into his body; allowing it to bounce out to the lurking Berbatov, who scooped it into the net via Jaaskelainen’s desperate hand. United were chronically undermanned in defence once again, this time picking the always shaky Johnny Evans at centre-back with Chris Smalling. The Red Devils started with the flourishing Rooney-Hernandez tandem up front, and Hernandez was furiously protesting for a penalty early on, when his swivel and shot bounced up and away off the hand off Gary Cahill. A superb swivelling volley from Rooney was well dealt with by Jaaskelainen, while a Kevin Davies effort was brilliantly blocked by the lunging Carrick; launching a counter culminating in Rooney almost finding his strike partner but for the intervention of David Wheater. Dimitar Berbatov came on for Hernandez, and was thwarted from a one-on-one by a magnificent last-ditch sliding tackle from Gary Cahill. Wayne Rooney cut inside two challenges and stung Jasskelainen’s hands, while Bolton missed their best chance of the game when a lovely cross found Matt Taylor on his own in the middle of the box. He could only direct his free header tamely at Van der Sar, and the rest, as they say, is history. Johnny Evans later compounded Fergie’s defensive woes by getting himself sent off after opening a gash in Stuart Holden’s knee. To be fair, it was a 50-50 ball, but Evans’ studs faced Holden and went through the ball to catch him badly, so there were few complaints from United.

Arsenal lost ground in the title race but also breathed a collective sigh of relief that Manuel Almunia once again did his Manuel from Fawlty Towers impression and they got away with a point from a game they were two down in. The game started brilliantly for the home side, as Stephen Reid headed in a corner practically unchallenged on three minutes. The Gunners fired a broadside when Robin Van Persie rattled the Baggies’ crossbar, but Aaron Ramsay was smothered out on the rebound. A lovely West Brom move saw Marek Cech send in a low cross that was agonisingly stabbed wide on the stretch by Chris Brunt, but the home fans were in raptures just before the hour mark, when a hopeful punt bounced just beyond the retreating Squillaci, with Odemwingie on his shoulder. There appeared to be little danger, until from out of nowhere Almunia raced into the picture; careering out of his box only to find his path to the ball understandably blocked by his own defender. He made a token shove to get Squillaci out of the way, only to find Odemwingie was the one he should have been shoving. The Nigerian gleefully cashed in on the farce to leave the Arsenal teams collectively cupping their heads in their hands, while Almunia had no place to hide. Fortunately for the gaffe-prone Spaniard, his team got him partially out of jail Twelve minutes later, Andrei Arshavin exchanged passes in a tight area with Chamakh and thrashed his return ball into the net. Eight minutes after this, the Russian again was heavily involved; brilliantly outwitting two men on the touchline before whipping in a cross which Nicklas Bendtner flicked back at the back post. Abdoulaye Meite got his feet in a tangle and Robin Van Persie tackled through him to score the equaliser. Sebastien Squillaci later affected a great block on Marc-Antoine Fortune, while Carson saved well from Clichy. Meite partially made amends for his mistake at the death by blocking a Chamakh swivel to preserve their well-earned draw.

Chelsea got a measure of revenge over Mancitti with a comfortable victory at Stamford Bridge, while Edin Dzeko is no nearer proving he is worth anything like £30 million. Someone who has proven to be worth that fee; Carlos Tevez, was missing, and, as usual, City suffered in front of goal. Someone else with a hefty fee also suffered in front of goal, and we all know who that is. Nigel De Jong affected a superb crunching tackle on Torres as he shaped to shoot, and Vincent Kompany was once again imperious. Chelsea curiously started with both Anelka and Drogba on the bench, and Salomon Kalou proved he is as profligate as they come; spurning chance after chance. Branislav Ivanovic thought he had opened the scoring with a thumping close-range header, only for that man Kompany to prove he is positionally flawless, being in the right place to stop a certain goal. Finally, Ancelotti tired of Kalou and Torres and released his beast. Drogba soon created the opener with a whipped free-kick headed in by David Luiz: half the price of Torres and currently proving twice as effective; as classy in defence as he is potent in attack. The second goal was bizarre, with the City backline parting like the Red Sea as the wiry Ramires wandered through to shoot past Joe Hart. Chelski still seem too far adrift, but this certainly rules out a City team who have spent the Earth but yield a sparse goals harvest.

Maynor Figueroa was the unlikely hero at the DW Stadium, as Wigan Athletic salvaged a crucial win to keep themselves in touch at the bottom, while dragging League Cup winners Birmingham deeper into trouble. Birmingham, who have been nothing short of dire since that cup win, had the linesman to thank for their opener, as a series of poor clearances and lucky ricochets put an offside Liam Ridgewell in to score. Wigan are known for some delicious interplay with no end product, but their equaliser was a lesson in measured football. Ben Watson played a sumptuous reverse pass between three defenders and left Emerson Boyce to canter to the byline and just keep the ball in; crossing low for Ben Foster to palm straight out to the feet of Tom Cleverley, who scored. Birmingham responded with a Seb Larsson free-kick striking the crossbar, before Charles N’Zogbia had the crowd on its feet; his dazzling footwork in the box beating two men, before cutting back for Cleverley, who horribly miscued but in the process set up for the onrushing Figueroa to drill against Foster’s legs. Liam Ridgewell was the Brum hero as he blocked efforts from Sammon and McCarthy in the same scramble, while Hugo Rodallega had a goal disallowed for a blatant push. There then followed an even more blatant foul by Antonin Alcaraz which ninety-nine times out of one hundred would have been viewed as a cast-iron penalty. The ball was looping just beyond Curtis Davies, who lunged at the ball. Alcaraz couldn’t have been more obvious in taking his eyes from the ball to the player; declining to jump but rather sticking his shoulder into Davies and sending him flying. Lee Probert must have been blind, but Wigan took full advantage of his ridiculous decision to win at the death, when Maynor Figueroa advanced and cut onto his ‘weaker’ right foot, before unleashing the fury. The ball seemed to take a nick as Foster dived all wrong as it crashed past him for a last-minute winner.

Liverpool eased silently up to the cusp of fifth place with a surprisingly comfortable away win at Sunderland. No beach balls saved Steve Bruce’s men, as an awful penalty decision made by a linesman who was seventy yards further away than the referee condemned them to a goal’s deficit. John Mensah’s last-ditch lunge brought down Jay Spearing a yard outside the box, but he crashed down inside and the referee somehow allowed his decision to be overruled by a linesman also unsighted by Titus Bramble. The new Liverpool front two were proving a thorn in the Mackems’ sides; with Luis Suarez drilling in a cross shot which was well saved, and Andy Carroll finding Lee Cattermole guarding his post diligently. Mignolet produced another fine save from a long-range Spearing drive, but it was lights-out at the Stadium of Light when Suarez produced another mesmeric moment, slipping past Lee Cattermole and smashing in from an acute angle as Bramble closed in. Mignolet clearly was not expecting the shot and was beaten at his near post diving the wrong wa, and Sunderland’s day of misery was complete when John Mensah received what looked like a harsh straight red card, though he would have been booked anyway, after hauling down Suarez.

Newcastle were humiliated at the Britannia, as Stoke celebrated their biggest ever Premier League win. Strangely, Newcastle always seem to be a shambles when Sol Campbell forms part of their defence, and he was up to his new tricks here. Ryan Shawcross took down an awkward ball and fed Jermaine Pennant on the wing, who dinked a perfect cross for Jonathan Walters to easily beat Campbell in the air and score the opener. The second goal was farcical, with Steve Harper signalling to clear the ball as his bootlaces were untied yet still receiving the ball from the dozy Williamson. The goalkeeper then stupidly responded to being closed down by poking the ball a couple of yards, leaving the ball to eventually find Matthew Etherington, whose low cross was headed by Campbell straight to the lurking Jermaine Pennant, who stabbed in form close-range. Stoke’s dubious tactics of yanking players away from the defensive wall didn’t even have to be deployed, as Newcastle left a yawning gap through which FA Cup hero Danny Higginbotham drilled a shot that found the net. The only bright spot of the afternoon for Toon fans came from young prospect Shane Ferguson, who looked incisive and brave. One mazy dribble opened up a chance, but his finish was far too weak. Asmir Begovic pulled off a fantastic save from a Joey Barton free-kick before Stoke added the finishing touch with a route one hoof being half-volleyed in by substitute Ricardo Fuller.

Tottenham fans may be beginning to chew their fingernails at the prospect of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. With Mancitti and Chelski ahead of them in the table and Liverpool making a stealth move from oblivion, Spurs really needed a victory over West Ham but were left frustrated. Jermain Defoe particularly will feel he should have made the difference, particularly when Aaron Lennon got onto his right foot and slammed a shot against the foot of the post, only for the rebound to hit Defoe on the heel and spin wide from a few yards. Michael Dawson rattled the crossbar from 30 yards early on, while Luka Modric fired fractionally wide. West Ham saw Demba Ba thwarted by a cracking Gomes save, while Carlton Cole shot feebly at the goalkeeper when put through one-on-one by Ba. Roman Pavlyuchenkko came on late and tested Green to the full with a snapshot down low, but the Hammers goalkeeper saved the best save for last, as he launched himself up to the ‘postage stamp’ region to somehow tip Bale’s magnificent free-kick onto the crossbar and away. A brilliant result for the happier Hammers, but ‘Arry may be feeling glum when Spurs finally fall in the Champions League.

The battle of the Blacks saw ‘Pool pegged back by a stirring ‘Burn comeback. The first half was pretty much the Charlie Adam show, as the midfield schemer’s free-kick set up Sheffield Wednesday reject Luke Varney to score, but it was disallowed by a linesman’s flag so late the crowd had gone home. If this was a dubious decision, the Blackpool opener was farcical. Gary Taylor-Fletcher was put in for a shot and fired over the bar. As he followed through, Ryan Nelsen slid in. The ball had already cleared the crossbar by the time Nelsen made minimal contact with the Blackpool player, and bizarrely the penalty was awarded and converted impeccably by Adam. Adam was at it again five minutes later and produced a ‘postage stamp’ free-kick to make it 2-0 at the break. Blackpool were once again denied a Varney strike for  offside before the half ended, and it looked like there was only one winner. The second half saw ‘Burn take over the initiative, and Christopeher Samba rammed the ball home from a scramble to halve the deficit. Stephen N’Zonzi struck the outside of the post, before a Christopher Samba header was cleared off the line, and his second effort hit Jason Roberts in the back of the head and went wide. Blackburn continued to press, and a deep cross hit Hoilett’s heel as he fell over and hit the post. Blackpool defended resolutely right up until the last minute, when they were left devastated. Blackburn resorted to the old ‘up and under’, as a Robinson hoof saw Richard Kingson come for it and fail. Ian Evatt was there to nod the first effort off the line, but Junior Hoilett was on the spot to nod back into the net for a precious equaliser that leaves both teams tied on 33 points.

David Moyes began his Everton career against Fulham nine years ago, and, just as then, he came away with a victory. Carlos Salcido worked overtime for Fulham in brilliantly clearing first Saha then Jagielka efforts off the line, but it was to no avail, as a dinked cross from Leon Osman was nodded home by Seamus Coleman, and then a free-kick laid off was drilled through the wall and in by Luis Saha. Fulham clawed their way back into the game with a clinical Dempsey finish, but the Toffees held on for a win that takes them to the magical forty point total, though most would not have doubted Everton’s survival under their marvel of a manager.

Gerard Houllier’s detractors were in fine voice as Villa slipped to a crushing defeat at home to fellow relegation candidates Wolves. This was despite Wolves having two goals disallowed. The goal came when a deep Wolves cross was only half-cleared for new England boy Matt Jarvis to crack a crisp volley low in off the post. Jean Makoun then made a fool of himself by somehow heading a perfect cross wide unmarked from eight yards. Villa were aggrieved when Darren Bent was clearly fouled a yard inside the box with no penalty forthcoming, but they were their own worst enemies with some particularly profligate finishing. Ashley Young whipped an effort off the underside of the bar and away, while Carlos Cuellar missed a sitter at the death, to leave the Claret fans urging Randy Lerner to ditch the failing Frenchman.

A Tale of Two Cities

Manchester United have fallen apart as cynics suggested they would in their two toughest remaining games, but it remains to be seen whether Arsenal can ever make up the gap with their habit of blowing it just when they have a hand on a trophy.

The biggest game of the weekend was undoubtedly the resumption of hostilities between Kenny Dalglish and Alex Ferguson. After Chelsea’s ruse to have their Stamford Bridge clash rearranged to a time they may have been in better form worked to a tee with a little help from the a lenient Martin Atkinson; the man who won them the same match through a joke free-kick award last season; United were under real pressure for the first time. They lined up for the game at Anfield without Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, and, strangely, Darren Fletcher. Liverpool had Luis Suarez starting and record signing Andy Carroll finally available from the bench. The game’s first highlight came from Old Trafford hat-trick hero Dimitar Berbatov, who swerved a return nod from Wayne Rooney onto the outside of the post with the outside of his boot. This was as good as it got for United in the first half, as Luis Suarez cut the United defence to ribbons; skipping past the weak challenges of Rafael and Carrick, before nutmegging the inept lunge of Wes Brown and nutmegging Van Der Sar to set up Dirk Kuyt for a finish from less than a yard. From this, Liverpool took charge, and Van Der Sar was forced to rush out and block from a crafty Maxi Rodriguez run. Just six minutes after the first goal it was 2-0, after Suarez again worked a good opening and dinked in a cross which went too far. To the disbelief of most inside the stadium, Nani, under no pressure, ran the wrong way at the ball before nodding it perfectly over Carrick for Kuyt to nod in from five yards. Nani’s day was complete when Jamie Carragher made a knee-high studs-first challenge on his standing leg, though escaped with just a caution. Carragher might have failed to break the Portuguese winger’s leg but clearly convinced Dowd Nani deserved it; a point not completely disproven when Nani bizarrely limped over to the referee to gesticulate at his agony, before collapsing and being stretchered off. As if this appalling challenge wasn’t enough, a few minutes later Maxi Rodriguez and Rafael got in on the act. Rodriguez again made a play for a red card by challenging with Rafael studs-first at knee-height. Fortunately for both players, Rafael shrugged it off, but miscontrolled and launched into a wild last-ditch attempt to redeem himself; upending Dirk Kuyt, who had taken evasive action. The Evil Egg Martin Skrtel then decided to get involved, resulting in a bit of a ruckus. Phil Dowd stood off with his arms folded like the Godfather, before deciding Maxi deserved no punishment, while giving Rafael a yellow that may have been a red if Carragher’s challenge wasn’t dealt with so leniently.

Ryan Giggs was making his 607^th club appearance, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s record, and the classy veteran guided a difficult Rooney ball narrowly over in the second half, before Berbatov dive-headed the ball onto Raul Meireles; stationed on the post and saving the day for Liverpool. The game was finished when Edwin Van Der Sar uncharacteristically palmed a Luis Suarez free-kick straight in front of himself for Dirk Kuyt to bag from two yards; making his accumulative hat-trick distance some seven yards. Filippo Inzaghi would have been proud. The roof lifted when Carroll finally made his bow, and his first touch was a header on target; a sign of things to come the Kop hopes. United redeemed a fraction of pride when Ryan Giggs cut back onto his right foot and dinked in a floating cross which Javier Hernandez brilliantly guided into the corner of the net with his head, seconds before the final whistle. A fully-deserved Liverpool victory which hands title initiative to Arsenal once more.

After a fitting pre-match tribute to tragic ex-defender Dean Richards by both clubs, the two sides conjured up a match worthy of the player’s memory, despite the quagmire of a pitch at Molineux. Wolves took the lead after an initial corner had been stupidly headed away by George Elokobi. Fortunately for the brawny full-back, it went out to Nenad Milijas, who delivered a cracking cross that Doyle got to ahead of Heurelho Gomes to score. Jermain Defoe ended his long goal drought after taking the ball off Pavlyuchenko and belting it into the corner of Hennessey’s net for the equaliser. A penetrative run from Defoe then set up his second. After laying it across to Modric on the edge of the box, the Croatian then flicked against a Wolves defender, only for the ball to fall perfectly for Defoe to whip it into the net to give Spurs the lead. Mark Halsey then became the centre of attention, after his penalty decision for Wolves. Kevin Doyle’s shot from the edge of the box was deflected and bounced into the centre of the area between Gomes and defence. Nenad Milijas ran at it to poke in, but was yanked to the ground by a cynical Alan Hutton. Bizarrely, Halsey explained he felt it wasn’t a clear goalscoring chance so only gave a yellow card to Hutton. That said, Halsey earned a lot of respect for at least explaining himself. Kevin Doyle slotted home the penalty for his brace, and the break came with the score tied at 2-2. Spurs retook the lead in the second period, after Assou-Ekotto dinked a lovely ball through to an untended Jenas, who slid the ball to Pavlyuchenko, moving in the opposite direction as he worked it on to his left foot to wallop into the roof of the net. Wolves came so close to equalising again when Gomes was at his best to tip a Milijas daisy-cutter onto the outside of the post. Milijas was again involved when he was free in the centre of the box to meet a cross, but sliced it horribly high, wide and not so handsome. Gareth Bale charged at the Wolves backline, and was actually given the ball back by Karl Henry, only to see Hennessey bail his team-mate out with a vital save. Wolves were seething late on, when Richard Stearman launched his head at the ball and scored, with Gomes far too weak in half-heartedly attempting to catch the ball, though Mark Halsey took the easy road of disallowing for a perceived foul on the Brazilian. Tottenham could have rubbed salt into their wounds, but Defoe’s effort from a Sandro layback cracked the post, and Mick McCarthy was pumping his fists minutes later, when a beautifully stood-up Jarvis cross was missed by Michael Dawson and nodded expertly into the far corner by Stephen Fletcher to finish the game 3-3.

A barnstorming game at the Cottage saw Fulham drop Mark Hughes’ old club Blackburn right into the relegation mix. Rovers nearly took an early lead from Danny Murphy giving a free-kick straight to them. The counter-attack lay waste to Fulham’s backline, but eventually Schwarzer stood up to be counted, denying Mame Biryam Diouf. A spin and shot at the other end from Dickson Etuhu nearly wrong-footed Paul Robinson, but minutes later the same player set up Damien Duff, who worked onto his left foot before drilling through Robinson, for yet another goal against one of his old clubs. Blackburn suffered from a paucity of creation, until they equalised through a real mess. On the stroke of half-time, a goalmouth scramble saw Fulham fail to clear adequately, culminating in youngster Grant Hanley blasting in a wild effort which cannoned in off the body of Brede Hangeland. Chris Baird made a vital headed interception to prevent a second Rovers goal after the break, setting the foundations for Fulham to take the lead, with another low drive from Damien Duff, through Samba’s legs this time. Chris Baird came to the rescue once more with a goal-line clearance after a scrambled free-kick saw Schwarzer stranded, but Rovers did grab a second scruffy equaliser, when the ball was again forced back in, with Roberts muscling to the touchline and flicking back for Junior Hoilet to chest down and half-volley into the net from close-range. Paul Robinson was then forced to turn aside a deflected free-kick from the returning Zamora, while Fulham felt aggrieved not to earn a penalty in the last minute, after Andy Johnson was felled by a poor challenge from Hanley. In the same passage of play, Damien Duff produced a lovely backheel to set up Johnson, who had got to his feet to thump in a shot that was well parried away by Robinson. Fulham remonstrated with the ref, but this died down immediately, as they profited from the resultant corner. Mark Clattenburg, perhaps mindful of being wrong before, spotted one of two infringements at the corner; with Jason Roberts blocking and Grant Hanley all over Aaron Hughes. Bobby Zamora stroked the penalty down the middle to earn Fulham a brilliant win, which substitute Gael Givet reacted to at the final whistle by racing onto the field to postulate aggressively at Clattenburg, earning him an embarrassing red card.

It was after the Lord Mayor’s show in Birmingham, with Brum turning in one of the most lethargic and spiritless displays from a home side in the whole season. Since Scott Dann was ruled out for the season, Birmingham have been throwing everything at the problem, and this time it was Curtis Davies’ turn to partner Roger Johnson. To call his performance gutless would be an understatement; shameful would be more like it. To make errors is one thing, but Davies seemed to go into challenges half-heartedly, as if unsure of his role. After a tedious first period, Ben Foster proved he has taken David James’ mantle of being the worst goalkeeper with the ball at his feet, when he once again scuffed an awful clearance which surrendered possession, and led to Peter Odemwingie, strangely a substitute; running at the Birmingham backline. After a couple of inept stabs at the ball, Curtis Davies et al watched in horror as Odemwingie managed to poke the ball through for the midfield runner Youssuf Mulumbu, who finished bravely as his standing leg was scythed away by a desperate Johnson lunge. This last-ditch lunge actually proved integral to getting Birmingham back in the game. Although it could not prevent the goal, Mulumbu was receiving treatment as the game kicked off again, and in the disruption of being a man short, West Brom allowed an unchecked run from Lee Bowyer to be found, and his cross was guided in by Jean Beausejour for a quickfire equaliser. But West Brom hit back, and when Reid fed James Morrison on the edge of the box, he sidestepped the most feeble of challenges from Curtis Davies, before crashing into the net with his left peg. There was a modicum of response from the home side when David Bentley stung Scott Carson’s hands, but a ferocious 20-yard drive from Chris Brunt thumped the post, and Peter Odemwingie missed a sitter of a rebound, though he had been flagged offside. On 72 minutes the game was sewn up, as West Bromwich Albion took a leisurely short corner, before dinking a cross in, which Liam Ridgewell made a half-hearted attempt to head before allowing it to drop over his head to Paul Scharner, who headed back from an acute angle and saw it helped into the net by Ben Foster’s butter-fingers. The final few minutes defied belief, as the away side kept possession with scarcely a challenge.

Aston Villa remain entrenched in the more dangerous half of the table, after losing to Bolton, despite going a goal up through a player who loves to score against the Trotters: Darren Bent. He had already missed a howling sitter before he nudged in a low cross from Kyle Walker, after the young defender had squeezed between Paul Robinson and Stuart Holden on the right flank. He almost was on the right end of a huge slice of luck minutes later, when a peach of an Albrighton cross took a double ricochet off his head and David Wheater, before crashing against the angle of post and bar. Johan Elmander nearly profited from a knock-down but was smothered out at the last, and a Martin Petrov corner was attacked and scored by former Villa defender Gary Cahill before the half was out. In the second half Albrighton sent in another deadly cross which Downing screwed narrowly wide back where it came from, while another delivery reached the back post and was nodded back to Darren Bent six yards out, who had time to control but somehow hit David Wheater on the goal-line, before the ball reached Baker, who found Ashley Young forcing Jaaskelainen into an excellent save. Albrighton and Downing seemed to switch sides as Villa found a second, with Downing crossing from the right for Albrighton to scuff his volley into the ground, up and in for 2-1 Villa. The Villans were so close to sealing the game, after David Wheater slipped as he was challenging in the box to wipe out Ashley Young. Bolton were incensed because, as replays proved, the ball had actually gone out of play in the build-up but was not spotted. Juss Jaaskelainen earned his corn by psyching out Ashley Young, ushering him to his right and then saving to that side. The Trotters took advantage of this reprieve when Cahill met another corner which was parried out by Friedel straight back to him, and he returned it into the net. Villa seemed to be feeling sorry for themselves after this, because only Bolton really went for the win, and it duly came with five minutes to go, when David Wheater nodded a cross back for Ivan Klasnic to backtrack after, spin and fire into the corner. A crucial victory which takes Bolton to the magical 40-point mark, while Gerard Houllier may now be ruing his myriad changes for their FA Cup defeat.

West Ham United look a different animal all of a sudden, with a combination of new blood and injured players returning. They comfortably saw off Stoke at the Boleyn, beating them almost at their own game. First a goal that Stoke thrive on: an opposition error. A Mark Noble flick was left by the backtracking Wilson for Asmir Begovic, who flew out and missed the ball. Demba Ba raced after it, positioned his body in front of Wilson and poked it over the line. Second goal Stoke normally thrive on: Manuel Da Costa headed in a free-kick practically unmarked. No Hammers game would be complete without the obligatory Frederic Piquionne howler, and he duly missed a sitter. Carlton Cole then displayed all the assets of a great target man; holding the ball up for Thomas Hitzlsperger to rifle in a rocket which was well saved. Rory Delap had a 25-yard effort saved, before Carlton Cole showed some deft footwork before cutting onto his left foot and curling a lovely effort which was tipped wide by Begovic. Ryan Shawcross boobed when he headed on for Cole to fire in another effort, producing another fantastic save. The final goal was far more about good football than beating Stoke at their own game. Scott Parker danced into the box; getting to the byline before laying back to Piquionne, whose shot was blocked by numerous bodies, before falling to that famed left foot of Hitzlsperger, leaving him to nearly tear the net out of the ground for 3-0.

Chelsea followed their slightly fortunate victory over Manchester United with a relatively comfortable one over Blackpool at

Bloomfield Road

. Still no goal for the fifty-million-pound man, but it mattered not as John Terry headed in a 20^th minute corner; added to by a Frank Lampard penalty and a lovely Lampard finish after being put through by Kalou. Blackpool retrieved a goal at the end which continued their homes scoring record. Jason Puncheon, who had earlier had an effort tipped onto the post by Cech, this time drilled wide of the goalkeeper’s grasp. ‘Ollie was far from happy at the penalty award, but he will be more concerned about the Tangerines being just two points clear of relegation, with Birmingham having two games in hand.

Newcastle’s curse of the Saturday 3pm kick-off home game returned to haunt them once more, as Everton rode off with all three points. Mikel Arteta is looking back to somewhere near his imperious best, as he scored the equaliser and generally dictated the Toffees’ attacks. Newcastle actually took the lead, after Tim Howard could only parry Nolan’s cross out to the lurking Leon Best. After Arteta’s equaliser, Leighton Baines swung in a delightful free-kick which was guided in via the underside of the crossbar by the unlikely figure of Phil Jagielka. Jermaine Beckford was well saved by Harper, and some great work by Arteta saw Saha a fraction away from applying the finishing touch. Newcastle felt hard done by when Leon Best had a second goal disallowed, though he had clearly pushed his man.

Mancitti gained a fortuitous win over plucky Wigan, whose Premier League time looks increasingly to be up. Selling their best players season in, season out seems to have finally done for them, as has failing to find a clinical striker to finish off their sterling approach play. Charles N’Zogbia was bizarrely on the bench, but replacement Victor Moses could not make the difference. City were fortunate on many cases. Micah Richards could well have been red-carded for an appalling challenge on Tom Cleverley, before Wigan shot angry glances at James McCarthy for blazing a great chance over after great work from Moses. City’s goal was a calamity for Ali Al-Habsi, who fumbled Silva’s weak effort through his hands. Wigan huffed and puffed, but Connor Salmon fired a glorious chance to equalise at the death a fraction wide. They have given us entertainment aplenty in their time, but it looks as if Wigan Athletic will once more be a Championship club next season.

Arsenal missed the chance to really put the heat on United with a drab home draw to Sunderland. Quite how Titus Bramble got away with his myriad lapses in concentration is a conundrum many Arsenal fans were testing themselves with after this match. Nicklas Bendtner knows why he came off the pitch having not scored: a fabulous display of goalkeeping from Simon Mignolet. Marouane Chamakh battered a header against the crossbar, while Sunderland’s best chance was a superb takedown and spin by Danny Welbeck, who forced a great save from Szczesny. A missed opportunity which doesn’t bode well for the Nou Camp.

Dead men rising

In a weekend which saw Laurent Koscielny make a real dummy out of himself by dummying a last minute clearance to hand Birmingham their first trophy since the same trophy in 1963, Manchester United increased their lead at the top of the Premier League, while it was all change at the bottom between the four ‘W’s.

Wigan tend to lose heavily home or away against Manchester United because they play predominantly ‘laissez-faire’ football. As at Swansea, Roberto Martinez likes to play attractive football along the ground even in tight areas. The problem is he lacks defenders with nous, or strikers with a clinical edge. The main talk unfortunately after the game was an incident where James McCarthy stepped into Wayne Rooney’s path to deliberately block him off, which Wayne Rooney responded to with a well-placed elbow to McCarthy’s temple; a pretty serious assault which clearly should have led to a red card. It didn’t, and United responded by taking the Latics apart. Victor Moses was presented with a glorious chance by Paul Scholes of all people, but was foiled by the timeless class of Edwin Van Der Sar. Javier Hernandez was then smothered out by a combination of Caldwell and Figueroa before a lovely move saw Rooney combining with Nani to send the Portuguese winger wide, with his low cross flying through the lunging Caldwell’s legs and being tucked in at the near post by the predatory Hernandez. Wigan almost equalised through a chance set up by a cute backheel from N’Zogbia, but McCarthy was foiled by Van Der Sar. Nani then crashed the inside of the post with a magnificent effort, while Al-Habsi saved from Nani, then Nani and Fletcher. Hernandez brilliantly controlled a Wayne Rooney return pass and ran clear to finish expertly for 2-0, while Dimitar Berbatov ran onto a long ball past a ridiculous attempt by Wigan to play offside in United’s half, and eventually squared to bad boy Rooney, who tapped in. The game was made complete by substitute Fabio, who received a long cross and coolly converted.

After the tragic news of Dean Richards’ death, one of his former sides; Wolves, brought Blackpool crashing back to earth after their midweek win over Spurs. The Tangerines were as bad as they have been all season in the absence of talisman Charlie Adam, while Wolves were finally as clinical as their approach play deserved. A very nice move led to Adam Hammill taking three players out of play on the edge of the box with a deft pass to Ryan Jarvis, who finished with aplomb. A deadly David Vaughan cross narrowly avoided going in for Blackpool, and was missed by an eyelash at the back post by oncoming attackers. Richard Kingson brilliantly turned aside a neat Edwards half-volley, but the game was essentially finished as a contest when DJ Campbell responded to being pushed with both hands thrice by Richard Stearman by pushing him back. The fact that his hands were six inches higher made all the difference, and Campbell was red-carded. Kingson made another cracking stop before Wolves finally increased their lead. Blackpool tried to be too clever on the edge of their own area and gave the ball away to Jamie O’Hara, who advanced before finding the corner of the net expertly. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake gratefully gobbled up a lovely cross from Kevin Doyle, and later grabbed a brace from the bench, after controlling a Ward long pass superbly and guiding a cute shot into the net.

Gerard Houllier appears to finally by gaining the trust of his long-suffering fans, after guiding his Villa side to a resounding win over Blackburn. Robert Pires was finally given a start, and put in a great show as he tested Paul Robinson twice early on, on one occasion bringing out the best in the erstwhile England goalkeeper as he recovered in a flash to tip the loose ball away from a lurking Darren Bent. Keith Andrews made an absolute prat of himself when he dithered on the ball and gave away a penalty to Ashley Young, who converted with relish, and Rovers youngster Grant Hanley had been horribly unlucky to see a low Albrighton cross miss three players in front of him and cannon into the net off his shins. When Stewart Downing raced away on a counter-attack to curl his shot into the net, the game was well and truly over for hapless Rovers. Nikola Kalinic scored a heavily deflected consolation with ten minutes to play, but within two minutes the deficit was three once again, as some lovely approach play from Ashley Young saw him feed Stewart Downing, before racing unchallenged into the box to rattle the return ball into the net. Villa finally looked potent in attack once more, while Ryan Nelsen had his traumatic week made slightly worse by earning a second yellow card late on.

Jermaine Beckford started to demonstrate his potential worth to the Toffees by scoring a brace as they comfortably saw off Sunderland, who have now lost four consecutive games. The opening goal came after just eight minutes, as Leon Osman produced a deft short ball through to Beckford, who stepped off a typically sleeping Titus Bramble, rounded Mignolet and scored. New Mackems’ signing Stefan Sessegnon almost got his Sunderland career off to the ideal start, but his rocket was tipped onto the underside of the crossbar and away by Tim Howard. Sunderland offered little in resistance before Mikel Arteta won a long ball in the air, and beat John Mensah with some trickery; sending in a low cross which Beckford backtracked to guide into the corner of the net for 2-0. Beckford fired a half-volley chance over for his hat-trick, while Simon Mignolet made an excellent double save from Luis Saha and then Seamus Coleman. A Coleman cross-shot was then parried away at the near post, and Everton thought they had made it three when the industrious Osman rounded Mignolet, but his powerful shot was somehow headed off the line by Ahmed Elmohamedy.

West Ham confounded the experts by pulling off a remarkable win over a resurgent Liverpool, thus lifting themselves briefly out of the relegation zone. The Hammers, who had produced one of the Premier League’s most abysmal displays of all time in this away fixture, opened the scoring on 21 minutes, when talisman Scott Parker played a one-two with the now-fit Thomas Hitzlsperger, before poking into the net from the edge of the box superbly with the outside of his boot. Hitzlsperger had reminded everyone present of his specialities early on, when he sent a 40-yard volley into Reina’s arms. Dirk Kuyt hit the side netting when he should have done better, while Demba Ba was so close to converting a Piquionne low ball across the box. Luis Suarez was struggling to make an impact against James Tomkins of all people. When Demba Ba powered home an unmarked header from a Gary O’Neil cross on the stroke of half-time, West Ham were in dreamland. Although Liverpool were better in the second half, Demba Ba drilled fractions wide and Piquionne failed to get a corner on target. Robert Green was forced to tip a dipping Gerrard volley over, while Scott Parker blocked a goalbound Gerrard effort. Jose Reina almost ended up with egg on his face, but he recovered just in time after almost spilling a Piquionne effort into the net. Liverpool cut the deficit late on when Glen Johnson steamed forward to tap in a Suarez cross, but West Ham finished the game after Carlton Cole came on, fending off Skrtel before rattling inside Reina’s near post. Kenny was more dour than ever, while Avram almost smiled.

Daniel Sturridge proved his worth once more by netting his fourth goal in as many games, whilst Newcastle accrued another point which leaves them looking almost safe from the spectre of relegation. Jussi Jaaskelainen made a cracking near post save from Leon Best, but Chekh Tiote celebrated his lengthy new contract by teeing up Kevin Nolan to head in against his old club. Clumsy thug Paul Robinson was then grateful for a late offside call, as the last man brought Leon Best crashing down in the box. A magnificent Jose Enrique cross was then missed at the near post by Lovenkrands, but bundled out to Leon Best, whose follow-up cannoned back of David Wheater’s backside…or was it his face? Newcastle surrendered their lead when they failed to clear adequately, and Johan Elmander fed Daniel Sturridge, who got the ball out of his feet rapidly and poked a perfect left-foot shot wide of Harper’s grasp. Ryan Taylor marked his comeback to regular action by impersonating Joey Barton; launching at familiar Newcastle scapegoat Johan Elmander with both feet and earning himself an early bath. Both teams made late jousts for a victory, with Petrov’s effort cleared off the line by Nolan, and Nile Ranger’s late effort being ruled out for infringement of the offside laws.

Mancitti finally seem to have relinquished their fragile chance of a dream title by once again failing to hold onto a lead; or perhaps just for not being ambitious enough. He who dares wins, and Mancini dares not. Fulham set the tone, with a Danny Murphy long-ranger whistling over, and some easy-on-the-eye approach play culminating in a Dembele effort into Hart’s body. The opener against the run of play came from the unorthodox genius of Mario Balotelli, who sidestepped Danny Murphy and unleashed a cruise missile into the bottom corner from 20 yards. Fulham’s equaliser was just as glorious, with Brede Hangeland languidly spraying the ball out to the scampering Andy Johnson, who turned on the afterburners and smashed in a low cross which was crashed into the net on the run by the arriving Damien Duff at the back post. Mario Balotelli was the main City threat in the second half, first miskicking a fantastic opportunity following a rare Hangeland howler, then being smothered out of a one-on-one chance by Aaron Hughes. City piles on late pressure when Tevez forced the best out of Schwarzer, and Kolarov threatened the crossbar, but it was to end all square.

The usual blend of well-paid pub league football was witnessed at the Britannia; near-millionaires playing the good old up-and-under let-em-ave-it tin-hat second-ball percentage play tedium. In between West Brom having to defend like Trojans at every set-piece, and John Carew ‘accidentally’ clocking Paul Scharner on the side of the head in two separate incidents, Jermaine Pennant clipped the crossbar with a free-kick, and West Brom finally relented in their dogged resistance; allowing Rory Delap to nip in at the front post form a corner to nod in unchallenged. Tony Pulis was suitably smug, but his hubris was to prove short-lived, as substitute Carlos Vela once again grabbed a crucial equaliser at the death, though he was standing a yard offside when he first received the ball; a point Pulis was very keen to labour post-match, conveniently forgetting Stoke grabbed a hugely lucky win over Sunderland a few weeks back at this stadium through two goals that were offside and laden with other offences. Vela then had two more gilt-edged opportunities in injury time, but the game ended all square, with Roy Hodgson humble and Pulis humbled.