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Generosity To The Champions
Marc Wilson's sumptuous volley past David James was the ninth own-goal scored for Manchester United this season. Only Wayne Rooney has been a more regular goalscorer for the champions.
Manchester United
Their four successive home fixtures against Wigan, Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth since the penultimate day of 2009 have been won by a combined score of 17-0.
Neutrals Watching The Merseyside Derby
The Mersey derby rarely provides entertaining football - it rarely provides football full stop - but as a full-blooded throwback it consistently provides compelling viewing.
It has also provided more red cards than any other fixture in the Premier League - the tally now stands at 19. The question was asked on Saturday whether either Liverpool or Everton would have enough players to last a full season if they were residing in London and had to play a derby match every couple of weeks but it's precisely because they only play two league derbies a year that Everton-Liverpool tends to be such a violent fixture.
Card Players
If ever a case study was required to reveal the inadequacies of football's card system then Steven Pienaar's dismissal at Anfield should do the job. What was more ridiculous: The Everton midfielder being just halfway to a sending off after his horrible tackle on Javier Mascherano or the collection of the other half after an innocuous collision with Steven Gerrard?
Referee Martin Atkinson erred with both rulings but the mitigation of officialdom is their scant room for flexibility despite the ever-rising frequency of cards being shown. With such trivial 'offences' as celebrating with the crowd and lifting a shirt now worth 50% of a dismissal, it would surely help the game's whistle blowers and reduce the amount of officialdom-related controversy if there was an increase in the number of cards that could be shown - such as a third yellow card equalling a red rather than just two, or an orange card, a la rugby, for a ten-minute sinbin.
Liverpool
It was, according to Steven Gerrard, "the perfect derby". Though winning with ten men always generates a particular satisfaction, Gerrard's claim of perfection would have been better applied to Liverpool's day in general. With Manchester City beaten, and Villa and Spurs at stalemate, Saturday could not have gone better for Pool. Once again, the usual gang of four are occupying their usual position in the league table.
The corner may or may not have been turned but Liverpool are certainly back on a better track. "It was massive for us. To win in a derby is really important - to win in a derby with 10 players at Anfield is more important," purred Rafa Benitez. Saturday's victory will have generated plenty of renewed self-belief in a Liverpool side that was bereft of confidence six weeks ago, just as Saturday's victory would not have been achieved without the belief generated by their run of six matches unbeaten.
Dirk Kuyt
Four goals in four games for the Dutchman since his move up front.
Brian Laws
"It's been a long time coming," remarked the Burnley manager after victory over West Ham. Indeed it had. For Burnley, it was a first win in 13 matches. For their manager, it was his first in 14.
Hull City
For an explanation of Hull's surprise victory over Manchester City, look no further than Brian Horton's eloquent post-match declaration: "We got at them, didn't we?". Like the words of their assistant manager, Hull's strategy was as rudimentary as it was effective - and the four 'bonus' points they've collected this week against the moneybags of Chelsea and City have propelled them from second-bottom in the table to the respectability of 14th.
Stoke City
Scorers of three goals in four of their five home fixtures this year.
Losers
Manchester City
How different it all might have been for so many people and so many teams if John Terry - at the reputed urging of Wayne Bridge - had joined City in the summer...
With the exception of the injured Joleon Lescott, Roberto Mancini's side were at full-strength at Hull but it is the absence of a commanding centre-half in their squad that continues to derail what should have been a season of substantial progression. Richard Dunne's revitalisation at Villa has only rubbed salt into a wound that every opponent has spotted.
If Mancini deserves a degree of sympathy because he is still having to pay the price of his predecessor's mistake then it shouldn't be overlooked the Italian has already lost two more games than Hughes did this season prior to his axing. The idiotic over-reaction to the wins achieved against Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn in Mancini's opening games is already a distant memory and the lack of fight his side displayed at Hull was damning. "Sometimes you need a bit more than money," was Horton's second pithy reflection on the afternoon.
Afterwards, Mancini seemed more concerned with the abuse endured by Wayne Bridge than the "aggression" he admitted City lacked, but for the second week in a row his comments about the left-back were counter-productive. In complaining about the "disrespect" of the Hull fans, Mancini only made Bridge look weak and will have probably inspired moronic repeats. Sometimes it is better to say nothing and Mancini's revelation last Sunday - presumably made to give the impression of a unified dressing-room - that three of his players wore 'Team Bridge' t-shirts during the game against Pompey only brought the realisation that more than twice as many had not.
Sunderland
Just what has happened to Sunderland's season? At the end of November, Sunderland were just two points adrift of the top four. Since then, they haven't won a single game and can now be found residing just above the relegation zone. A season of consolidation has given way to disillusion and perplexion. Just why has it gone so very wrong?
Everton
Derby defeats have become habitual for Everton - they've won just one of the last eleven - but Saturday's will have stung. To state they ran out of ideas would be undeserved flattery: they don't deserve the implication that they had a single idea let alone more than one.
Despite playing for most of the game with fewer men, Liverpool were comfortable and Pepe Reina a spectator. The introduction of a second striker by David Moyes was belated and pointless without the presence of a winger to serve them.
Tottenham Hotspur
Back-to-back draws for Spurs in two games they should have won: two points gained, four lost.
It is, unfortunately, becoming habitual for Spurs to drop points when they really ought not to. A couple were squandered in careless fashion at Goodison Park while the home encounters with Wolves, Stoke and Hull accounted for the 'loss' of eight points.
They've surrendered fourth place when they should be in a position of security.
Admirers Of Aston Villa
How Arsene Wenger must have regretted his recent assessment of Aston Villa if he managed to sit through the entirety of their draw at Spurs. There was no sign of the "quality" team that Wenger praised two weeks ago, nor their hailed "counter-attacking" threat. All that was apparent was a side clinging on to a clean-sheet whilst struggling to string a couple of passes together and failing to score for a fifth time in six games.
Kevin Davies
Was the Bolton's striker reputation and record his undoing when Mark Clattenburg adjudged him to be guilty of making a foul in the process of scoring a late 'winner' against Fulham? No other player in the Premier League has conceded more fouls this season than Davies - a statistic that has also been true in every one of the last five seasons with the exception of 2007/08 when Aston Villa's John Carew fouled him into second place.
On a slightly incidental note, Davies conceded a league-record tally of 110 fouls last term but received just four cautions, an anomaly that suggests that strikers are deemed to be exempt from the 'persistent fouling' directive. Though the ratio of fouls to cautions has narrowed this season, Davies has still been permitted to make an average of eight for every booking he has received since August.
Owen Coyle
The wisdom of Coyle's apparent calculation that he was more likely to be a Premier League manager for 2010/11 if he dumped Burnley mid-season for Bolton remains in the balance. The January 26 victory over the Clarets is the sole win Coyle has achieved since his transfer across Lancashire and Saturday's results mean Bolton now trail Burnley in the league table by a couple of points.
There will be no sympathy for Coyle if his calculation proves wrong and Bolton exit the league while his former employers stay on. His act of disloyalty was defended by some with the argument that he has a greater affinity for Bolton than Burnley but the fact of the matter is that in his two-year playing career at Bolton he made less than 40 league starts whereas he took charge of over a 100 league games at Turf Moor.
His defenders are on surer ground with the argument that people are entitled to make decisions in order to further their professional career. Absolutely. That is everyone's prerogative. But it should be remembered the next time the League Managers Association deliver another gloriously-moralistic sermon on loyalty following the dismissal of one of their collective that they have remained completely mute on the rights and wrongs of Coyle's switch.
Emile Heskey
His last nine starts have produced one goal and six substitutions.
Michael Owen
Said Sir Alex Ferguson on December 13, a couple of days after Owen had scored a hat-trick in the Champions League at Wolfsburg, with regard to his World Cup hopes:
"Some critics say he won't have played enough games but I think he has. He was brilliant in midweek and he's given himself a chance. He'll play plenty of games."
Number of games started by Owen in the two months since that announcement: Two.
Match Of The Day
MoTD may be an entertainment show rather than a programme devoted to football, but just how difficult would it be for them to scroll each team's line-up for every game across the bottom of the screen?
West Ham
Without an away win since the opening day of the season.
Portsmouth
Goners. It's been fitting that the unofficial confirmation of Pompey's relegation has occurred at the same time as Leeds' collapse in league form since their FA Cup defeat of Manchester United because both clubs are paying the cost of all-but bankrupting themselves in a quest to join the elite.
Those nothing teams got totally owned!
Generosity To The Champions
Marc Wilson's sumptuous volley past David James was the ninth own-goal scored for Manchester United this season. Only Wayne Rooney has been a more regular goalscorer for the champions.
Manchester United
Their four successive home fixtures against Wigan, Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth since the penultimate day of 2009 have been won by a combined score of 17-0.
Neutrals Watching The Merseyside Derby
The Mersey derby rarely provides entertaining football - it rarely provides football full stop - but as a full-blooded throwback it consistently provides compelling viewing.
It has also provided more red cards than any other fixture in the Premier League - the tally now stands at 19. The question was asked on Saturday whether either Liverpool or Everton would have enough players to last a full season if they were residing in London and had to play a derby match every couple of weeks but it's precisely because they only play two league derbies a year that Everton-Liverpool tends to be such a violent fixture.
Card Players
If ever a case study was required to reveal the inadequacies of football's card system then Steven Pienaar's dismissal at Anfield should do the job. What was more ridiculous: The Everton midfielder being just halfway to a sending off after his horrible tackle on Javier Mascherano or the collection of the other half after an innocuous collision with Steven Gerrard?
Referee Martin Atkinson erred with both rulings but the mitigation of officialdom is their scant room for flexibility despite the ever-rising frequency of cards being shown. With such trivial 'offences' as celebrating with the crowd and lifting a shirt now worth 50% of a dismissal, it would surely help the game's whistle blowers and reduce the amount of officialdom-related controversy if there was an increase in the number of cards that could be shown - such as a third yellow card equalling a red rather than just two, or an orange card, a la rugby, for a ten-minute sinbin.
Liverpool
It was, according to Steven Gerrard, "the perfect derby". Though winning with ten men always generates a particular satisfaction, Gerrard's claim of perfection would have been better applied to Liverpool's day in general. With Manchester City beaten, and Villa and Spurs at stalemate, Saturday could not have gone better for Pool. Once again, the usual gang of four are occupying their usual position in the league table.
The corner may or may not have been turned but Liverpool are certainly back on a better track. "It was massive for us. To win in a derby is really important - to win in a derby with 10 players at Anfield is more important," purred Rafa Benitez. Saturday's victory will have generated plenty of renewed self-belief in a Liverpool side that was bereft of confidence six weeks ago, just as Saturday's victory would not have been achieved without the belief generated by their run of six matches unbeaten.
Dirk Kuyt
Four goals in four games for the Dutchman since his move up front.
Brian Laws
"It's been a long time coming," remarked the Burnley manager after victory over West Ham. Indeed it had. For Burnley, it was a first win in 13 matches. For their manager, it was his first in 14.
Hull City
For an explanation of Hull's surprise victory over Manchester City, look no further than Brian Horton's eloquent post-match declaration: "We got at them, didn't we?". Like the words of their assistant manager, Hull's strategy was as rudimentary as it was effective - and the four 'bonus' points they've collected this week against the moneybags of Chelsea and City have propelled them from second-bottom in the table to the respectability of 14th.
Stoke City
Scorers of three goals in four of their five home fixtures this year.
Losers
Manchester City
How different it all might have been for so many people and so many teams if John Terry - at the reputed urging of Wayne Bridge - had joined City in the summer...
With the exception of the injured Joleon Lescott, Roberto Mancini's side were at full-strength at Hull but it is the absence of a commanding centre-half in their squad that continues to derail what should have been a season of substantial progression. Richard Dunne's revitalisation at Villa has only rubbed salt into a wound that every opponent has spotted.
If Mancini deserves a degree of sympathy because he is still having to pay the price of his predecessor's mistake then it shouldn't be overlooked the Italian has already lost two more games than Hughes did this season prior to his axing. The idiotic over-reaction to the wins achieved against Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn in Mancini's opening games is already a distant memory and the lack of fight his side displayed at Hull was damning. "Sometimes you need a bit more than money," was Horton's second pithy reflection on the afternoon.
Afterwards, Mancini seemed more concerned with the abuse endured by Wayne Bridge than the "aggression" he admitted City lacked, but for the second week in a row his comments about the left-back were counter-productive. In complaining about the "disrespect" of the Hull fans, Mancini only made Bridge look weak and will have probably inspired moronic repeats. Sometimes it is better to say nothing and Mancini's revelation last Sunday - presumably made to give the impression of a unified dressing-room - that three of his players wore 'Team Bridge' t-shirts during the game against Pompey only brought the realisation that more than twice as many had not.
Sunderland
Just what has happened to Sunderland's season? At the end of November, Sunderland were just two points adrift of the top four. Since then, they haven't won a single game and can now be found residing just above the relegation zone. A season of consolidation has given way to disillusion and perplexion. Just why has it gone so very wrong?
Everton
Derby defeats have become habitual for Everton - they've won just one of the last eleven - but Saturday's will have stung. To state they ran out of ideas would be undeserved flattery: they don't deserve the implication that they had a single idea let alone more than one.
Despite playing for most of the game with fewer men, Liverpool were comfortable and Pepe Reina a spectator. The introduction of a second striker by David Moyes was belated and pointless without the presence of a winger to serve them.
Tottenham Hotspur
Back-to-back draws for Spurs in two games they should have won: two points gained, four lost.
It is, unfortunately, becoming habitual for Spurs to drop points when they really ought not to. A couple were squandered in careless fashion at Goodison Park while the home encounters with Wolves, Stoke and Hull accounted for the 'loss' of eight points.
They've surrendered fourth place when they should be in a position of security.
Admirers Of Aston Villa
How Arsene Wenger must have regretted his recent assessment of Aston Villa if he managed to sit through the entirety of their draw at Spurs. There was no sign of the "quality" team that Wenger praised two weeks ago, nor their hailed "counter-attacking" threat. All that was apparent was a side clinging on to a clean-sheet whilst struggling to string a couple of passes together and failing to score for a fifth time in six games.
Kevin Davies
Was the Bolton's striker reputation and record his undoing when Mark Clattenburg adjudged him to be guilty of making a foul in the process of scoring a late 'winner' against Fulham? No other player in the Premier League has conceded more fouls this season than Davies - a statistic that has also been true in every one of the last five seasons with the exception of 2007/08 when Aston Villa's John Carew fouled him into second place.
On a slightly incidental note, Davies conceded a league-record tally of 110 fouls last term but received just four cautions, an anomaly that suggests that strikers are deemed to be exempt from the 'persistent fouling' directive. Though the ratio of fouls to cautions has narrowed this season, Davies has still been permitted to make an average of eight for every booking he has received since August.
Owen Coyle
The wisdom of Coyle's apparent calculation that he was more likely to be a Premier League manager for 2010/11 if he dumped Burnley mid-season for Bolton remains in the balance. The January 26 victory over the Clarets is the sole win Coyle has achieved since his transfer across Lancashire and Saturday's results mean Bolton now trail Burnley in the league table by a couple of points.
There will be no sympathy for Coyle if his calculation proves wrong and Bolton exit the league while his former employers stay on. His act of disloyalty was defended by some with the argument that he has a greater affinity for Bolton than Burnley but the fact of the matter is that in his two-year playing career at Bolton he made less than 40 league starts whereas he took charge of over a 100 league games at Turf Moor.
His defenders are on surer ground with the argument that people are entitled to make decisions in order to further their professional career. Absolutely. That is everyone's prerogative. But it should be remembered the next time the League Managers Association deliver another gloriously-moralistic sermon on loyalty following the dismissal of one of their collective that they have remained completely mute on the rights and wrongs of Coyle's switch.
Emile Heskey
His last nine starts have produced one goal and six substitutions.
Michael Owen
Said Sir Alex Ferguson on December 13, a couple of days after Owen had scored a hat-trick in the Champions League at Wolfsburg, with regard to his World Cup hopes:
"Some critics say he won't have played enough games but I think he has. He was brilliant in midweek and he's given himself a chance. He'll play plenty of games."
Number of games started by Owen in the two months since that announcement: Two.
Match Of The Day
MoTD may be an entertainment show rather than a programme devoted to football, but just how difficult would it be for them to scroll each team's line-up for every game across the bottom of the screen?
West Ham
Without an away win since the opening day of the season.
Portsmouth
Goners. It's been fitting that the unofficial confirmation of Pompey's relegation has occurred at the same time as Leeds' collapse in league form since their FA Cup defeat of Manchester United because both clubs are paying the cost of all-but bankrupting themselves in a quest to join the elite.
Those nothing teams got totally owned!
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