The Weekend Round-up

by Danny Wright

Honours were even in the Tyne-Wear derby at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland and Newcastle grinding out a 1-1 draw. The home side had dominated but couldn’t find a way past a resistant Magpies backline, only for Danny Higginbottom to nod Sunderland ahead. James Milner was on hand to rescue a point for the visitor’s though as his cross-shot deceived Craig Gordon and found its way into the bottom corner, a point apiece a fair result in the balance of things. One other incident of note was a horror challenge by Joey Barton (yes, the innocent Joey Barton who never gets in trouble) on Dickson Etuhu, with the FA set to scrutinise the disgusting tackle which involved Barton’s studs finding their way into Etuhu’s groin.

The other derby of the weekend involved bitter rivals Birmingham and Aston Villa, Martin O’Neil’s men coming out on top in a 2-1 win at St Andrews. Liam Ridgewell appeared to be doing his old club a favour when he inadvertently turned a Stillian Petrov cross past his own goalkeeper, only for ice-cool ice man Mikael Forssell to level for the home side. Gabriel Agbonlahor headed a dramatic winner though to break Birmingham hearts, the pacy talisman getting on the end of Ashley Young’s cross.

Manchester United top the Premiership table after they beat Blackburn 2-0 at Old Trafford, Cristiano Ronaldo’s double helping United on their way. Arsenal take on Reading tomorrow yet the chasing pack couldn’t capitalise on winnable fixtures as Chelsea dropped points at home to Everton in a 1-1 draw, meanwhile Portsmouth and Manchester City battled out a 0-0 bore draw.

Liverpool continued their winning form as the beat Fulham 2-0 at Anfield. On the back of an 8-0 drubbing of Besiktas in midweek, the Reds looked hungry for more goals as they peppered the Fulham goal, the saves on Antti Niemi keeping the Cottagers in the tie. Fulham – who have never won at Anfield – held out until the 80th when Fernando Torres hit a well taken individual goal, with Steven Gerrard slotting home a penalty to complete the win.

Sorry Derby take a step closer towards a swift Championship return as they were drubbed 5-0 by West Ham at Pride Park. Lee Bowyer scored his first of two after latching onto Carlton’s Cole knock down as Matthew Etherington scored home a second. Eddie Lewis unluckily forced the ball over his line from Jonathan Spector’s shot to make it 3-0, and Bowyer scored his second with a thumping finish to make it 4-0. Nolberto Solano curled home a delightful free-kick to complete the rout and compound Billy Davies’ misery.

Jaunde Ramos’ reign at Spurs continued with their second win of the week, defeating manageress Wigan 4-0 at White Hart Lane. Jermaine Jenas’ brace inside 26 first half minutes put Tottenham in cruise control at 2-0, with Aaron Lennon putting the game beyond doubt eight minutes later with a fine 25-yard strike. Darren Bent scored his second goal in as many matches to the shock of many to make it four and polish off beleaguered Wigan.

The weekend’s stretch of entertaining games was concluded by a pulsating 0-0 stale mater at the Reebok, where Bolton and Middlesborough drew blanks in a bottom-of-the-table clash. The result leaves Gary Megon without a win as the Trotters manager, as Boro struggle for firepower and languish a lowly 17th in the table.

In other news, the News of the World report Sven Goran Eriksson wants to bring under fire Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson to Eastlands, meanwhile an Italian footballer supporter was shot dead on Sunday following clashes with police ahead of a game between Inter and Lazio.

images - bbc.co.uk/sport