Best of the weekend

Team of the week

Fabregas: Superb sub

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Game of the weekend

It is not often that a goalless draw seals this prize, but such was the entertainment value of this clash that it is more than worthy of the title. Indeed, there were no goalfests on show this weekend with players seemingly a little sluggish after their Christmas turkey. It is not worth us going into too much detail of said clash as two of the major incidents land lengthy descriptions below. Nonetheless, the fixture at St Andrews was an enthralling affair as Birmingham looked to continue their fine form. Birmingham had a seemingly fair goal ruled out for offside, defender Alex hit the woodwork with a piledriver while both keepers produced some stunning saves. All this and also a sending off as Florent Malouda was handed his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card.

Player of the weekend

Birmingham City goalkeeper Joe Hart was set for this accolade until Fabregas entered the field on 57 minutes at Emirates Stadium. Hart was inspired as he made three superb saves to deny Chelsea three points. But Fabregas' 27-minute cameo for Arsenal against Aston Villa was that bit better. The Gunners were struggling to find a breakthrough versus their fourth-placed opposition so Wenger opted to bring on captain Fabregas, who was on the substitutes' bench as a precaution due to a hamstring injury. Fabregas was immediately involved as he popped passes about the place before winning a free-kick in the 65th minute. The Spaniard stepped up and curled in a splendid effort that left Brad Friedel clawing at thin air. Then, with nine minutes remaining, Fabregas wrapped up a priceless win as he rounded off a textbook Arsenal counter-attack. Unfortunately for Arsenal though, when scoring that goal Fabregas aggravated the injury he has recently been nursing.

Goal of the weekend

There were two brilliant free-kick goals on display this weekend: Fabregas' aforementioned effort was a joy to behold while Matthew Taylor hit a peach in Bolton Wanderers' draw with Burnley. But Fabregas wins a second award of the weekend for his part in capping off a wonderful move. Villa's James Milner was guilty of giving away possession in sloppy fashion as he passed straight to the feet of Armand Traore. The French left-back looked up and switched play to Theo Walcott, who found himself in plenty of space, supported by the eager Fabregas. Walcott then rolled a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Fabregas, who rifled home to hand the Gunners some much-needed breathing space.

Pass of the weekend

Scott Parker deserves to be acknowledged after he played a classy reverse ball to Valon Behrami in West Ham's win over Portsmouth, but it is Jones who pips the midfielder. After Sunderland striker Darren Bent had nodded down a deep ball to Jones, off the former sped into space. Jones had possession on the right channel and got his head up in a bid to search out his strike partner. Forward Jones then proceeded to curl in a wonderful cross in-between Everton's defence and goalkeeper. Bent attacked said delivery, which really was delicious, and he nodded in with venom. Lovely stuff from Jones. And of course, as this is typed up, Wayne Rooney shows off his class with a silky pass that allows Dimitar Berbatov to make it 3-1 against Hull City.

Controversy of the weekend

This incident made for hugely intriguing debate. In-form Birmingham City thought they had taken the lead against table-toppers Chelsea when Benitez stabbed home at the far post - but the effort was ruled out for offside. With Didier Drogba lying injured in the box after a free-kick had been delivered, the ball was flicked onto Liam Ridgwell, who was unquestionably in an onside position. The defender got his head up and angled a ball across goal to Benitez, who stabbed into an empty net. Up went the flag, yet replays have clearly indicated Benitez was onside when Ridgwell made the pass. Also, a comment on a massive penalty shout for Hull City when Wes Brown made a challenge on Richard Garcia - nothing doing from referee Alan Whiley though.

Save of the weekend

There were several contenders for this category, so we will run through the almosts before describing the winner. City goalkeeper Shay Given made two outstanding stops against Stoke, the first a brave block from a Tuncay Sanli effort before in the second half using a big hand to deny James Beattie's strike. Portsmouth keeper Asmir Begovic was forced to make a fine reflex save at West Ham when Alessandro Diamanti's strike caught a deflection while Heurelho Gomes and Mark Schwarzer also deserve to be hailed after the former made several super stops against Fulham and the latter pulled off a terrific double save against Tottenham. Now to Hart, who made three wonderful saves in one game. The highlight of the three came when Frank Lampard beat the offside trap and looked to set to put Chelsea in front at St Andrews. Lampard pulled the trigger but Hart was equal to it with an outstanding save that deflected the ball off target.

Miss of the weekend

Chelsea appeared to do their best to land this title after both Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou both missed goalscoring chances that you would expect a Premier League footballer to score. Burnley forward Steven Fletcher was also guilty of majorly fluffing his lines when he was presented with a guilt-edged chance only to shank his effort off target. But Doyle should arguably have done better with his chance for Wolves, for it was only two yards or so out from goal. Liverpool's infamous zonal marking was exploited when Doyle connected with a corner in front of goal. But his header flashed over, much to the distress of Mick McCarthy.

Gaffe of the weekend

This was very nearly massively embarrassing for Samba. Wigan defender Titus Bramble launched a hopeful ball forward and there seemed little danger to the Blackburn goal. But goalkeeper Paul Robinson had started to move to claim the ball, and Samba had not realised. The centre-back then opted to head back to his keeper, who he thought was waiting on his line. However, the header saw the ball edged towards an open net only for Robinson to scramble back and claw off the line impressively.