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.