Weekend review

A fascinating weekend of Premier League football saw Man City learn all about squeaky bum time.

Rare is it that a weekend serves up not a solitary dud but that's precisely the scenario that ensued over two days that housed nine matches and 33 goals. The pressure is now on Blackburn and Manchester United to make it a perfect 10 in Sky Sports' crunch Monday night game from Ewood Park. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany insists nerves are not getting to his team-mates but evidence taken from the Etihad on Saturday points to the contrary. Prior to the visit of Martin O'Neill's resurgent Sunderland the would be champions had clocked up 20 successive home victories. Saturday's game will not be remembered for City's failure to match Liverpool's record of 1971-72 though, but rather as the day their title tilt began to unravel publically. From the moment Sebastian Larsson was given acres of room to guide a daisy-cutter past Joe Hart on the half hour mark there was a sense all was not quite right at fortress Eastlands. Mario Balotelli restored parity from the penalty spot after Edin Dzeko had taken a tumble in the box, but relief at the Italian's leveller proved to be short-lived as Nicklas Bendtner's towering header restored Sunderland's lead before half-time. It was an advantage extended by Larsson's second after the interval as Roberto Mancini looked on ashen faced with the appearance of a man who had the winning lottery ticket in his suit jacket, only for his wife to put it in the washer. His mood barely altered when Balotelli, who earlier in the half had petulantly jostled with Aleksander Kolarov over who would take a free-kick, scored a scorching second with five minutes remaining. Kolarov showed why he rates his left foot so highly in netting a jackhammer of a strike a minute later to level but at the season's close his intervention could well prove to be too little, too late. It was not all doom and gloom for Italian managers though as Roberto Di Matteo claimed not just three points from Chelsea's trip to Aston Villa but also prised a goal from Fernando Torres, his first in the Premier League since September. It proved to be an emotional day for all concerned at Villa Park as Stiliyan Petrov was in attendance to hear heartfelt applause and support upon learning he had acute leukaemia. His team-mates showed plenty of fight to draw level after falling two behind, as second half goals from James Collins and Eric Lichaj had the home support savouring the most unlikely of points with ten minutes left.

Hallelujah!

It would prove to be a false dawn as Branislav Ivanovic's second of the afternoon preceded Torres' coup de grace at the close. Arsenal made the short trip across the capital to Loftus Road in optimum spirits on the back of seven successive victories but were well below their best in falling to defeat at QPR. The Hoops were desperate for a big result to kick-start Mark Hughes' tenure and they achieved just that largely thanks to Adel Taarabt. The Moroccan playmaker has been one of the disappointments of the season after ripping up the Championship last term but the magic was back on Saturday as he gave his side the lead with a cracker. When Theo Walcott's 10th of the season got Arsenal back on terms it was expected Arsene Wenger's side would kick-on and win but credit to the Hoops for digging deep as Samba Diakite rifled in a fine second half winner. Bolton gave their survival hopes a massive shot in the arm at Wolves as they left