Weekend debate

Join the Sky Sports debate on the latest round of Premier League action

Last updated: 30th November 2008  

Weekend debate

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It has been another eventful weekend of Premier League action, as Manchester United took the local derby honours and Arsenal stunned Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

In Sunday's first game, Wayne Rooney's 100th career goal settled the 150th Manchester derby, while Cristiano Ronaldo was also sent off for the champions.

How important a win was it for United? And what about Ronaldo's red card? Was there any defence for the Portuguese winger?

As for City, what does the game say about their prospects of eventually being a match for their local rivals?

Arsenal are back in the title race for another week after Robin van Persie's double secured a 2-1 win over Chelsea. Can the Gunners still mount a challenge for the Premier League crown?

And is Chelsea's home form starting to cost them? They have now picked up just one point from three home games against the other members of the big four.

Tony Adams secured his first home win as Portsmouth boss. Is European football on the agenda again at Fratton Park? And what about Paul Ince's chances of lifting Blackburn out of the relegation zone?

David Moyes marked his 300th game as Everton manager with victory at Tottenham, but how big a loss will Yakubu prove to be? And how will Spurs respond to a first home defeat under Harry Redknapp?

On Saturday, Bolton Wanderers causing further unrest at Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion's misery continuing and Joe Kinnear claiming a decent point in the Tees-Tyne derby.

The Black Cats slid into the relegation places on goal difference - leapfrogged by rivals Newcastle United - as they fell to a heavy 4-1 home loss versus Bolton. Will Roy Keane turn things around in the North East after managing just two wins in 10 league games?

And what of Bolton? The Trotters are up to seventh under Gary Megson as they made it four triumphs in their previous five outings. How far can the club go this season? How impressed have you been with summer signing Johan Elmander?

West Brom are now four points from safety after Wigan Athletic came from a goal down to snatch a late victory. It is seven losses in eight for the Baggies. Can Tony Mowbray haul his men off the foot of the table? And what does the result demonstrate in terms of Wigan's never-say-die attitude?

Kinnear, rewarded with a new six-month contract on Friday, led his side to a second impressive away draw in a week as they left Middlesbrough with a 0-0 stalemate. What can Kinnear realistically achieve on Tyneside? And what of Boro? Does Gareth Southgate need to bolster his frontline?

Aston Villa failed to break down Fulham on their home turf. Will this result impede their ambitions to secure a top-four finish this term? Where should Martin O'Neill look to strengthen in January? And how impressed have you been with the Cottagers' defence?

Elsewhere, Stoke City grabbed a point against fellow promoted side Hull City. Have you seen enough from both teams to suggest they will remain in England's top flight come the end of the campaign?

Have your say using the form below and we will publish a selection of the best comments.

Comments (56)

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John Mcgann (Liverpool fan) says...

Regarding scolari, maybe this comment should sort it out. Big Phil Scolari is NOT the special one, i am a liverpool fan, but what mourinho did for that club was amazing, teams going to the bridge were beaten while still on the bus travelling down the kings road, scolari just aint got the same aura about him, scolari now lost twice at the bridge, that never happened to Jose in over four years....

Posted 16:38 1st December 2008

Chris Fryatt (Sunderland fan) says...

After Sunderland's disgrace at the hands of Bolton (with no disrespect meant against the Trotters), if Roy Keane no longer thinks he is the man for the job then he should go. What does he want? Sympathy? Yes he brought us up and kept us there but this season I have rarely seen the famous 'Keane Spirit' transferred onto the pitch. He doesn't seem to have a clue when it comes to tactics at all and insists on playing Whitehead in midfield when Diouf is on the bench. Collins in defence with Ferdinand sitting next to Dioufy. And Nyron Nosworthy is a clown. One minute he complains when the fans get on his back and then says that we should do when the team are playing bad. I also think the fact he has not signed a new contract is causing unrest and uncertainty - look how Everton were affected before Moyes signed his. Come on Roy - lay your cards on the table. Stay and stick it through, sign your contract and show some commitment, or admit that you have a feeling Sir Alex will retire in the summer and you have your eye on the Man Utd job

Posted 16:27 1st December 2008

John Clarke says...

As a Chelsea fan I have to say we lost lets get over it. 100% away record but Bolton up next. I said don't write Arsenal off and I was right! The others in the top 4 still have difficult games so all is not lost. Great PL season to enjoy!!!!

Posted 15:21 1st December 2008

Paul Harris says...

Reading these comments make me laugh, Yes OK Van Persie was offside, and Chelsea had one onside ruled offside earlier! But do you really think refs decide who they want to win? If so would he not of sent Terry off?? We got lucky, just as Chelsea did a few seasons ago against us when the reverse happened! And we got against Liverpool 3 times last season? We all get decisions for and against us, it's part of football, next game we could be on the receiving end. As for Ronaldo, he was unlucky with his yellow card, but applauding the ref?? Surely he will remember that and next time Ronaldo steps out of line he will red card him, what a perfect opportunity! Alex says he was protecting his face?? From a corner 15 yards away!! Unreal. Football is a joke at the moment, you don't get this moaning in Rugby, accept decisions, ref's will make mistakes, they are human! Have you ever made a mistake? Have you ever refereed a game??

Posted 15:17 1st December 2008

Kenny Kenny (Arsenal fan) says...

The first time Arsene has made a good decision in his team line up this season was to play Djourou alongside Gallas instead of the hopeless silvestre. Djourou's performance was faultless apart from the own goal which can happen to even the greatest defender in the world.I hope Arsene gives djourou more playing time i've always said the guy is good. he needs confidence you saw how he reacted to the own goal after that he was our best defender. believe it or not the team is still a bit divided. i studied their body language after chelsea were leading and noticed that one or two players didn't look their happy self. i don't know if the Gallas issue has tanished their mind or if it's sentiments. all i wantis peace in the team.for all i know Fabregas is has got the luck whether the gangs in the team like it or not the boy is a winner.

Posted 14:43 1st December 2008

John Brandon says...

About time Arsenal got some luck. They got a goal that should not have counted - that is obvious. Thats the luck of the game - some go your way some go against you. It is of far greater concern that the ref did not apply the rules to what he did see - Terry's dangerous two footed lunge. This was reckless and should be reviewed and acted upon. rugby unions system of citing should be examined to see if it could be used to good effect in football - dangerous play, cheating (feigning injury, diving etc) should be punished harshly. Managers and players would be quick to change their tune if this was the case. FIFA have made a big case for RESPECT and rightly so, however the whole issue of HONESTY is far more central to sportsmanship and encompasses respect, integrity, fair play etc. The time to really clean up sport is hear and now. IMPLEMENT A CITING POLICY FOR ALL GAMES AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

Posted 14:39 1st December 2008

Neil Somoose says...

Why would Ronaldo, one of the best headers of a ball in the league, deliberately hand-ball it when he was free 8 yards out to almost certainly put United 2-0 and the game beyond City, unless he heard a whistle? It makes no sense. As for the first yellow, i'm sure that if the majority of other forward players had made that tackle it would have been called a 'forward's challenge' and they probably wouldn't have been booked. With regards to Chelsea, I think Scolari should probably think before he speaks. Yet again John Terry was wrongly kept on the pitch when he should have been sent off, and Ivanovic could easily have gone at least once. Yes van Persie was a mile offside but i've lost count of the number of times that key decisions have gone Chelsea's way in recent years, its about time things evened up!

Posted 14:11 1st December 2008

Rob Mudriczki (Manchester City fan) says...

The soothsaying fans who view Manchester Citys future success in black and white should seriously think about what they are debating. For a number of years now we have been wonderfully managed off the field and our sudden aquisition of money does not alter this. With such a strong youth system in place, first class facilities, and a successful manager (success due to the fantastic job he did with both Wales and Blackburn), we are primed for steady improvement over the next few years. We are not going to compete as soon as Chelsea did, as they already had a much stronger competitive squad in place with cup successes behind them, but it will come. With the players we've bought, are approach to games has changed and in this footballing side, Ireland has especially flourished. He has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier this season so far, and if you pick out individuals in the squad, you will see that we have some class acts (including young Danny Sturridge). Consistency will come in time. The ambition of the club is to become the best which is right the attitude to have. Are we there, no not yet, but success runs in cycles and we will have our time!!!

Posted 13:12 1st December 2008

Mark Landymore says...

Oh what a shame poor old Chelsea had a decision go against them. Makes a change they normally get all the decisions. Oh and isnt it a straight red card if you jump in to a tackle two footed? Mr Terry. Come on you Irons

Posted 12:49 1st December 2008

Sunil Monteiro (Manchester United fan) says...

Get rid of keane? are you all joking. Look at where you were compared with where he has taken you. Maybe he is in a bad run at the moment and sunderland will probably lose next weekend but he is still a class motivator, who will finish what he started. Also, with reference to arsenal. i believe that this weekend has shown that their problems are psychological, if they can beat utd and chelsea at the bridge they should beable to beat hull and stoke.

Posted 12:12 1st December 2008

Mo Umney says...

Get over it Scolari - are you saying Chelsea never get decisions go in their favour! Both Terry and Ivanovic should have been carded and sent off.

Posted 12:10 1st December 2008

Mark Tierney (Arsenal fan) says...

Well done the Gunners!!!! I don't know chelsea fans are moaning so much, they should of been down to 9 men. Chelsea had one shot on target in 90 minutes, enough said! This week was full of terrible decisions by refs but we all know we have probably the worst refs in Europe. We have the best league so why don't the Premier league get the best refs across Europe. Maybe that will solve the shocking decisions we are getting currently.

Posted 11:57 1st December 2008

Abid Ejaz (Arsenal fan) says...

I don't know why people and especially Chelsea fans are whinging about the offside decision. Last season in the same fixture chelsea scored their goals when drogba was clearly offside on both occasions. And also in the champions league Liverpool were favoured in the both legs by controversial decisions against arsenal. So i think its absolutely rubbish to suggest that arsenal are getting some kind of special treatment from the refrees.

Posted 11:33 1st December 2008

Phillip Harvey says...

Will the linesman get a drubbing over his failure to give Van Persie off-side. Referees tend to get games taken away if they make big mistakes. Does the same happen with their assistants? Too many poor decisions lately that are not even close are either given are ignored. We are supposed to have the best referees in Europe, not looking at the C/League games in the week where the referees were outstanding.

Posted 11:30 1st December 2008

Jimmy Mac says...

Please can all the people saying how many decisions Arsenal get in their favour have a reality check. I quote JUST one example of blatant refereeing mistakes that have cost Arsenal hugely recently. Last minute penalty for Liverpool at the Kop end in Champs League quarter final. Where were all the comments then? I accept that yesterday's decision was critical and probably turned the tide of the match, but it happens to all teams. John Terry should have been sent off early in the game and Ivanovic late on and these decisions were also critical. A few years ago Van Persie scored a perfectly good goal in the corresponding fixture and it was ruled out and Chelsea won the game. Sometimes you get the rub of the green and sometimes you don't. When Chelsea were dominating the game in the first half they should have made it pay.

Posted 11:17 1st December 2008

Dan Brereton says...

I think Ronaldo was both lucky and unlucky yesterday. Ok so first yellow card wasnt a yellow, but the clapping was so that evens itself out as he could of easily been sent off. As for the handball, i cant understand why he would handball it in that situation even if he did "hear a whistle" (To which i cant believe he cant distinguish between the refs whistle and the crowd). In my opinion he is running the risk just by making Webb have to make the decision. Any other player they MAY have got away with it, but Webb probably had the clapping incident in his mind. As for this "money does not buy success", City have not had chance to really splash the cash and where were Chelsea before Abramovic? 4th place at best and since they have reached a champions league final and won back to back league titles which only Man United have been able to do since the premiership started.

Posted 11:14 1st December 2008

Eibaad Butt (Arsenal fan) says...

Chelsea didn't seem to have an issue when at the same venue a couple of seasons back, a valid Van Persie goal was called offside. Arsenal lost that match only because they couldn't believe what had just happened. So are we level now?

Posted 10:32 1st December 2008

Stuart Crumpen says...

it's about time arsenal got a bit of luck yesterday...ok van persie was offside for 1st goal but how many times have arsenal had a goal disalowed and for the opposition to score a goal from an offside position or by fouling an arsenal player. The referee helped out chelsea. Terry could have easily been sent off for a two footed tackle!!! Ivanovic could have at least got 3 yellow cards for 3 blatant blocks!!!! I thought chelsea should be looking at their own performances. Deco was poor, boswinga was poor, anelka didnt get into the game. They were given the goal by almunia. Once arsenal scored the equaliser chelsea went into hiding!!!!!

Posted 09:27 1st December 2008

Paul Breslin (Liverpool fan) says...

I agree with Peter, the league has become a shame, and all because of the officals and their dodgy decisions, another example was Liverpool v Stoke, when Gerrard scored a perfect goal in the 3rd minute but it wasn't given because Kuyt was supposed to be "offside", replays showed he was nowhere near offside. The game then could easily have been a rout but ended 0-0, thanks officals! Another wrong decision again at the bridge in relation to Arsenals first goal...

Posted 09:25 1st December 2008

Lee Hughes says...

For too many games I have watched Paul Ince display no ideas or passion for the survival of Blackburn Rovers. I think as a player he was, without doubt exceptional, as a manager in the future more than likely great, however Blackburn Rovers were an established Premiership club before he came and I have no idea why we took him on. He is in no way yet a Premiership Manager and we shouldn't be allowing him to be 'learning on the job' just because of his playing pedigree. Paul Ince should do the right thing and admit he is not yet ready for a side like Blackburn, who should be knocking on the door of the ueafa cup. He should, with no disrespect to other teams, be setting his sights on championship football clubs, which is what we will end up as if we keep him much longer. If you can guide a top ten side into the bottom two and still say there's no preasure then I don't think your really right for that club. Ring Big Sam now before it's far too late!!!

Posted 09:05 1st December 2008
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