By James Pearson Last updated: 2nd December 2007
Alex McLeish made a winning start to life as Birmingham boss as the Blues dramatically secured a 3-2 victory over ten-man Tottenham at White Hart Lane. In a topsy-turvy encounter Birmingham took the lead through a Gary McSheffrey penalty, but a brace from Spurs skipper Robbie Keane then turned things around. That, though, was to be only the start of the drama as Cameron Jerome levelled things for Birmingham just minutes before Keane was harshly sent for an early bath after lunging at Fabrice Muamba. Both sides then seemed destined for a share of the points, but Sebastian Larsson had other ideas as he unleashed a 30-yard injury time winner. Arsenal's sublime 2-1 comeback against Aston Villa on Saturday also deserves honourable mention. Villa boss Martin O'Neill will also feel aggrieved as his side played their part in an entertaining contest and they were unfortunate not to earn a share of the spoils.
The Blackburn winger was instrumental in Rover's win over Newcastle. Despite the Magpies taking the lead at Ewood Park, Bentley inspired Rovers' comeback. Firstly, he curled home a delightful free-kick past Shay Given before smashing a long-range shot in off the far post as Blackburn ran out 3-1 winners, heaping more misery on under-fire Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce in the process.
The Birmingham midfielder's strike against Tottenham ticks every box in contention for wonder goal status. Not only did Larsson's spectacular effort hand McLeish a win in his first game in charge, but the Swede's drive also has the luxury of being a last minute 30-yard, pearl. With Spurs down to ten-men, and seemingly set for a draw, Dimitar Berbatov dallied in possession on 92 minutes and Larsson - a former Arsenal player to rub salt in White Hart Lane wounds - promptly unleashed a swerving long-range effort to leave Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson completely helpless as the ball arrowed into the top corner.
Bolton suffered a demoralising 4-0 away drubbing at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday, but it could have been a different story had the Trotters' star striker rolled in the simplest of chances. With the score still only 1-0 to Liverpool, Reds defender Jamie Carragher collided with his own goalkeeper Jose Reina to allow the ball to drop to Anelka. However with Reina floored, Carragher looking decidedly punch-drunk, and the goal gapping, the Frenchman some how managed to scuff the ball into the side netting from 12 yards for not only the miss of the weekend, but surely, the season.
The Wigan defender is often noted for his mistakes at the back and Saturday was no exception. He gifted Manchester City their opening goal on just 30 seconds after completely missing a left-footed clearance - allowing Geovanni to nip in, round Chris Kirkland and roll home into the empty net. Thankfully for Bramble, Paul Scharner levelled matters as Steve Bruce began his second time in charge of the club with a 1-1 draw.
Sunderland claim this award after bouncing back from last weekend's humiliating 7-1 thrashing by Everton with success over fellow relegation rivals Derby. The proverbial six-pointer had looked like finishing goalless until Anthony Stokes snatched a last-gasp winner at The Stadium of Light. The win maintains Sunderland's hopes of staying up, while also starting off Paul Jewell's reign in charge of The Rams on a losing note.
Middlesbrough were heading for yet another defeat at Reading when Tuncay Sanli picked the perfect time to open his Boro account. Dave Kitson's effort had The Royals ahead and that goal looked like being the winner for much of the second half. However, Tuncay headed home Luke Young's cross in the 83rd minute to secure a deserved share of the spoils.

Latest Sky Sports News Report
Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd - Ferguson
Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd - Ancelotti
West Ham 1-2 Everton - Zola
West Ham 1-2 Everton - Moyes
Wigan 1-1 Fulham - Martinez
Wigan 1-1 Fulham - Hodgson
Hull 2-1 Stoke - Horton
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Hull vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Everton |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Fulham |
| 16:00 | Chelsea vs Man Utd |
| Monday 9th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Liverpool vs Birmingham |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Liverpool vs Man City |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Burnley vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Wolverhampton |
| 15:00 | Hull vs West Ham |
| 15:00 | Sunderland vs Arsenal |
| 17:30 | Man Utd vs Everton |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Bolton vs Blackburn |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Wigan |
| 16:00 | Stoke vs Portsmouth |
| Wednesday 25th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Hull vs Everton |
| 20:00 | Fulham vs Blackburn |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Bolton |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Hull |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wolverhampton 1 - 4 Arsenal | |
| Man City 3 - 3 Burnley | |
| Tottenham 2 - 0 Sunderland | |
| Blackburn 3 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Aston Villa 5 - 1 Bolton | |
| Wednesday 4th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| West Ham 2 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Sunday 1st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 0 - 0 Man City | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 2 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Sunderland 2 - 2 West Ham | |
| Portsmouth 4 - 0 Wigan | |
| Bolton 0 - 4 Chelsea | |
| Stoke 2 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Fulham 3 - 1 Liverpool | |
| Burnley 2 - 0 Hull | |
| Everton 1 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham | |
| Sunday 25th October | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| West Ham 2 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Man City 2 - 2 Fulham | |
| Liverpool 2 - 0 Man Utd | |
| Bolton 3 - 2 Everton | |
Skysports.com looks at the best and worst moments from the latest round of top-flight fixtures.
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Pictures from Sunday's Premier League action where Hull snatch victory and Chelsea beat Man United.
Skysports.com looks at the best and worst moments from the latest round of top-flight fixtures.
Have a read through the skysports.com debate on Chelsea's 1-0 win over Man Utd at Stamford Bridge.
Pictures from Sunday's Premier League action where Hull snatch victory and Chelsea beat Man United.
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Follow the rumour mill with all the latest gossip and speculation from the newspapers.
Comments (6)
Andy Deans (Liverpool fan) says...
Typical.. yet another overwhelming performance by Liverpool and no Gerrard this week, despite being involved in all 4 goals and Drogba ahead of Torres? Laughable. Perhaps you lot should watch complete games instead of highlights packages.
Posted 19:04 3rd December 2007
David Grimshaw (Blackburn Rovers fan) says...
Completely agree with Bentley being player of the weekend, thing is he does it every week for rovers. Bend it like Beckham? Don't we mean BEND IT LIKE BENTLEY. Should be in any England starting eleven.
Posted 15:31 3rd December 2007
Delia Miller (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...
Robbie Keane should have been in your team of the weekend if he had not been so wrongly sent off !! What is the matter with all the Refs lately do they realize a game is won or lost on their flippant decisions.Also I wonder how impartial they are sometimes!!
Posted 13:17 3rd December 2007
Chris Douglas (Liverpool fan) says...
Im surprised that so many Arsenal players are included in this, I thought Villa looked the better team in the second half of their game, Arsenal were just hanging on if Villa had a decent striker instead of Carew they would have scored a second
Posted 13:05 3rd December 2007
Dwaine Crawford (Manchester United fan) says...
Sorry but all Drogba did was head the ball for Joe cole to score when marginally offside. Cameron Jerome scored and had a good game. Seb Larsson wonder goal should be in team of week.maybe torres or carew....or is the team of week picked by a biased Chelski FAN perhaps?????
Posted 12:56 3rd December 2007
Rory Hall (Milton Keynes Dons fan) says...
As much as I agree with your Best of the Weekend section, your Team of the Weekend is in need of an update considering Gerrards performance yesterday and Torres was immense...again. (I'm pretty sure Drogba did pretty much nothing against West Ham).
Posted 10:42 3rd December 2007