Best of the weekend

Last updated: 16th March 2008  

Team of the weekend

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Best of the weekend

Sears: West Ham hero

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Player of the week

David James

Superb performance from the Portsmouth goalkeeper to follow on from his heroics against Manchester United in the FA Cup last weekend. James came back to haunt his old club Aston Villa with a string of fine saves to help Portsmouth to a vital 2-0 win over Villa.

Goal of the week

Marek Matejovsky

Marek Matejovsky will remember his first goal for Reading with the midfielder netting a stunning effort against Liverpool. The goal was straight from the training ground as John Oster worked a well-worked free-kick to Matejovsky on the edge of the box and the Czech Republic ace smashed an unstoppable shot in off the underside of the crossbar past a startled Jose Reina. Special mention must also go to Liverpool's Javier Mascherano who scored his first goal for the club with a fierce shot from the edge of the box.

Performance of the week

Wigan

Wigan claim this week's prize after they battled with 10 men to claim a priceless success over fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers. Jason Koumas was somewhat harshly dismissed in just the fifth minute when he went in with his studs showing on Gary Cahill. But Steve Bruce's men fought admirably, and after Emile Heskey struck on 34 minutes The Latics held on to rise to 12th in the table. Derby's dogged display against leaders Manchester United also deserves a mention, despite Paul Jewell's side suffering yet another defeat. The Rams came close to pulling off one of the shocks of the season, frustrating United for 76 minutes before Cristiano Ronaldo broke their hearts with the winner.

Miss of the week

Kenwyne Jones

The Sunderland striker is enduring a real drought in front of goal and he missed a great chance to earn his side a point against Chelsea. With time running out, Dwight Yorke picked out Jones inside the box only for the former Southampton striker to wastefully head the ball straight at Carlo Cudicini from six yards.

Controversy of the week

Offside decisions

Tottenham Hotspur were victims of some iffy offside decisions as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Eastlands. With Juande Ramos' men leading through a Robbie Keane goal, Manchester City levelled on 59 minutes courtesy of Stephen Ireland's close-range strike. On closer inspection, though, the Irishman's finish should probably not have stood as he was standing just offside when Elano headed towards goal. To rub further salt in Spurs' wounds, they appeared to be denied a perfectly legitimate goal when Darren Bent's effort was chalked off after Dimitar Berbatov was apparently in an offside position.

Moment of the week

Freddie Sears

Young striker Freddie Sears completed a memorable week for himself with the winner in the 2-1 victory over Blackburn. Sears, who signed a new deal at Upton Park earlier this week, marked his debut for the club in perfect fashion as he found the net five minutes after being introduced for his Hammers bow. The substitution was a masterstroke by Hammers boss Alan Curbishley as the win eased growing pressure on the manager.

Save of the week

Ben Foster

Foster showed no sign of rustiness as he made his debut for United after recovering from a serious knee injury. The England international was thrown into the starting XI because of the unavailability of Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak, but he showed his undoubted potential to keep a clean sheet for United. Foster produced a fine save to deny Kenny Miller when the Scottish striker was clean through on goal and the keeper earned the praise of his manager Sir Alex Ferguson after the match.