Weekend review

Zola sweating, while Walt Disney plays a part at Craven Cottage

By Peter Fraser   Last updated: 10th November 2008

Weekend review

Hughes has received a vote of confidence from his chairman...

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Arsenal reminded all concerned that talk is cheap in the football world, while Nicolas Anelka was Chelsea's very own Rain Man and Harry Redknapp continues to work his magic.

Ahead of the latest weekend of action in the Premier League, gossipmongers were targeting Gunners boss Arsene Wenger following 10 days of three games of typically eye-catching style but, crucially, no success.

The Emirates Stadium outfit went into Saturday's lunchtime showdown with arch-rivals Manchester United on the back of a dramatically late domestic derby draw with Tottenham, a defeat to Stoke and a frustrating midweek stalemate with Fenerbahce in the UEFA Champions League.

Wenger, therefore, welcomed United to North London having his aesthetic ethics and, more importantly, position questioned for the first point in his 12-year stay with the three-time Premier League champions.

The doom merchants predicted that the Frenchman and his charges - without a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup - would be dead and buried in this season's title race if they lost to United but, as is often the case with one of the 'Big Four', Arsenal responded in scintillating fashion.

In an engaging, end-to-end, contest - described by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as 'fantasy football' - Arsenal came out 2-1 victors thanks to a well-taken Samir Nasri brace, while the visitors could only respond late on through a superb Rafael da Silva volley.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is now of the age that he could, in theory, apply for an English bus pass, but it is difficult to imagine the Brazilian - who turned 60 on Sunday - cruising past Stamford Bridge on the 211 to Hammersmith, it would go all against a sense of samba flair.

Scolari continues to earn the plaudits for massaging Chelsea's formerly efficient squad into an attacking, attention-grabbing outfit, but the Blues were never truly forced to reach their sparkling best to regain a place at the table's summit with three points at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.

Angry

Chelsea had been overtaken by Liverpool on Saturday, of which more later, but Scolari and co returned to the peak with as comfortable-a-victory as they could have hoped for in the North West, with only torrential conditions proving a stumbling block.

Anelka was again the hero as the Frenchman netted twice to secure the 2-0 success, moving to the top of the scoring charts in the process, as a timid Blackburn - who had seemingly listened to the 'physical' comments of Chelsea assistant Ray Wilkins ahead of kick-off which so angered their boss Paul Ince - offered little resistance.

Former Tottenham manager Juande Ramos will still be finding it difficult to understand how his successor, Redknapp, has transformed an inherited team of no-hopers into an exciting and successful side after the in-form Darren Bent struck twice to cancel out a Robinho goal and secure a 2-1 win at Manchester City.

Ramos' old assistant Gustavo Poyet fired an angry broadside at his ex-players over the weekend, claiming they should be 'embarrassed' by performances earlier in the season. Spurs promptly responded by defeating nine-man Manchester City to secure a third win in four games under Redknapp to move off the bottom of the table.

While Redknapp's luck blossoms, his opposite number Mark Hughes is beginning to sweat as the City chief - who saw Gelson Fernandes and Richard Dunne dismissed, while Tottenham had Benoit Assou-Ekotto sent off in the closing stages - sits agonisingly close to the relegation zone after one win in seven games. To make matters worse, the Welshman has also received the dreaded vote of confidence from chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Liverpool remain hot on the heels of Chelsea following a 3-0 victory over West Brom at Anfield, which sees the Reds only separated from top spot by goal difference.

Robbie Keane was the man of the moment on Merseyside as the Republic of Ireland international scored his first league goals for the Reds since his £20million summer arrival from Tottenham, while Fernando Torres returned from injury off the substitutes' bench and Alvaro Arbeloa wrapped up the victory.

Mickey Mouse

Like Hughes, Bolton chief Gary Megson has been taking a lingering look around his respective manager's office each time he shuts the door over recent weeks in the fear that it could be the last, but the Trotters eased the heat on their leader with a 1-0 victory at Hull courtesy of Matt Taylor's goal and shot-stopping heroics from Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Newcastle's interim boss Joe Kinnear was another tactician to grab his place in the spotlight after blaming 'Mickey Mouse' referee Martin Atkinson for his team's 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

Kinnear might have been better advised to hold defender Claudio Cacapa to account after the bumbling Brazilian headed against colleague Fabricio Coloccini to allow Andy Johnson to open the scoring. Shola Ameobi equalised, but a Danny Murphy penalty earned Fulham the prize.

Three goals in the final six minutes at Upton Park allowed Everton to come back to earn a 3-1 win over West Ham, a result which piles the pressure on home boss Gianfranco Zola.

The former Chelsea star made playing in the Premier League resemble the possibility of Pele running out for the Railway Inn's Sunday XI, but he is finding life a lot tougher as a manager after Joleon Lescott and a brace from Louis Saha cancelled out Jack Collison's opener to stretch West Ham's winless run to six games.

Portsmouth striker Jermain Defoe's injury-time penalty helped Tony Adams to his first victory as a Premier League manager after Nadir Belhadj had struck earlier in the game to equalise Djibril Cisse's fourth-minute opener for Sunderland.

Middlesbrough caused one of the shocks of the weekend by recording a win at Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa as Tuncay Sanli hit a brace, while Steve Sidwell grabbed the home goal.

The contest in the Midlands also made the writing of skysports.com's Gaffe of the Weekend a less than testing task as first Afonso Alves demonstrated the striking instincts that £12million buys these days, while Sidwell had time to produce a howler to let Tuncay in for an 88th-minute winner.

Last but not least, or so the saying goes, Wigan's 0-0 draw with Stoke will not live long in the memory as even Rory Delap's long-throws could not fashion a breakthrough at the JJB Stadium.

Comments (1)

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Dave Cabon (West Ham United fan) says...

Getting a bit worried about Zola! He doesn't seem to have a clue. Suddenly Curbs doesn't seem so bad!!!

Posted 13:35 10th November 2008
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