Ratings review

Fabregas: Top rating

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The battle of Stamford Bridge stole all the headlines at the weekend after Chelsea came away with all three points against Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson was once again blaming referees for his side's failure to pick up all three points but this time he appeared to have a case after seeing his side slip five points behind Carlo Ancelotti's men in the title race.

Arsenal continued to prove their own title credentials after another substantial win this time defeating Wolves at Molineux 4-1 to move into second.

Liverpool slipped up again as Birmingham claimed a 2-2 draw but things could have been much worse for Rafa Benitez had the referee not awarded a generous penalty when Lee Carsley slid in on David Ngog with 20 minutes remaining.

Hull City earned manager Phil Brown a reprieve after coming from behind to beat Stoke at the KC Stadium while Blackburn fought back at home to bottom of the table Portsmouth winning 3-1.

Sunderland were unlucky to lose 2-0 at Tottenham with Darren Bent missing a penalty on his return to his former hunting ground as Manchester City continued to stumble after drawing for the fifth consecutive game this time with Burnley after a 3-3 thriller.

Fulham continued to pick up valuable points following their 1-1 draw at Wigan while Everton were slightly fortuitous to come away with all three points at Upton Park against West Ham.

Aston Villa enjoyed a profitable weekend in front of goal after inflicting more misery on Bolton after their 5-1 success at home with James Milner is particularly sparkling form.

Before going on to name this week's star players spare a thought for the likes of Hull's Jimmy Bullard, Burnley's Graham Alexander and Fulham's Clint Dempsey who all missed out on the top three but still put in inspired displays for their respective clubs.

Top three

Sharing third spot is Jason Roberts and Scott Parker after both received ratings of 8/10 from our reporters at the games and an 8.6 from the readers. Parker was named Man of the Match for West Ham and was unfortunate to end up on the losing side as the Hammers fell 2-1 to Everton. Meanwhile Roberts completely changed the game when he was introduced at the interval against Portsmouth with Rovers trailing 1-0. However 45 mintues later Sam Allardyce's side had turned the game around winning 3-1 with Roberts grabbing a brace.

Second place goes to Aston Villa frontman John Carew. The Norwegian was a handful all game as Villa tore apart Bolton at Villa Park with the big striker at the heart of all the home side's attacks. Carew managed to get his name on the scoresheet against the Trotters and was handed a 9/10 from us and an 8.8 from you guys.

Stealing it this week though is Arsenal maestro Cesc Fabregas. Like his team the Spaniard is in inspired form at present and capped off another fine display against Wolves with the third goal that killed the game as a contest just before half-time. Fabregas has exhausted all the superlatives since coming to the fore at the Emirates, making his debut in October 2003, but the former Barcelona youngster continues to improve.

It was a miserable weekend for the likes of Bolton and Stoke and their ratings this week highlight that fact.

Stoke suffered at the hands of Hull on Sunday and it seems our readers were not happy with their effort at the KC Stadium with Dave Kitson, Thomas Sorensen, Abdoulaye Faye, Danny Collins, Rory Delap and James Beattie all failing to get above a 4/10 rating.

Miserable

It was a similar story for Bolton with Zat Knight claiming the unenviable worst rating of the week award for a miserable 2.4 from you and a 4/10 from us. However he was not the only one as Gary Cahill, Paul Robinson, Ricardo Gardner, Matthew Taylor and Tamir Cohen all came in with incredibly low scores.

Knight's inadequacy this weekend saved Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor from bottom spot after the striker produced one of his more lacklustre displays to leave City fans seething. Our man at Eastlands thought him deserving of a 4/10 while the readers awarded him a 2.5.

Wayne Bridge was another to receive your wrath after a schoolboy showing against Burnley. The left-back looked all at sea and received a generous 6/10 from us and a 3.1 from you.

As usual there were a number of differences of opinion most notably with Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. The shot-stopper must have thought he was in with a chance of the top three this week after an impressive display against Wigan which our man at the DW Stadium thought warranted a 9/10 however the readers handed the Australian a modest 7.7.

Chris Kirkland can also feel slightly aggrieved after being handed an 8/10 from us but only a 6.4 from you lot, while Liverpool's Lucas Leiva cannot seem to win after receiving a 7/10 from us you still gave him a 5.5. for his performance against Birmingham.