The best weekend ever in the history of the English Premier League? Quite possibly. Goals galore saw the title race and battle to avoid relegation flipped on their respective heads.
Wolves were bottom of the league, Manchester United were top, and were undefeated in the league all season, so of course the cellar dwellers had to cause an upset – fitting in perfectly with the theme of insanity from the weekend gone.
Wolves’ 2-1 win over United lifted them off the bottom of the table, and it proved a crucial win as fellow stragglers Wigan Athletic also came out on top in a seven goal thriller against Blackburn Rovers.
Without a doubt the game of both the round and season came at St. James’ Park where title chasers Arsenal came out of the blocks at blistering speed to go into a 4-0 lead after just 26 minutes against promoted Newcastle United. The Magpies, minus main target man Andy Carroll who this week departed for Liverpool, then staged one of the all time great comebacks to salvage a stunning 4-4 draw. Arsenal have some serious discipline problems which appear to have cost them a chance at the title for another year.
Tottenham Hotspurs kept up their hopes of sneaking into the top four for a second year running, but it took a 92nd minute winner to see off Bolton Wanderers.
Everton ensured that Blackpool’s slide down the ladder continued, with a 5-3 win at Goodison Park. The star of the show was Louis Saha who bagged four goals for the Toffees.
West Bromwich Albion’s free fall continued, and has cost manager Roberto Di Matteo his job following a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. Birthday boy Carlos Tevez scored a hat trick to mark his birthday in fine style.
In one of the most anticipated meetings of the season, 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres endured a horrid 65 minutes before being hauled off on his debut for Chelsea against Liverpool. To make matters worse for the Spaniard he had to then watch Raul Meireles tuck away the only goal of the game three minutes later to hand Liverpool a huge win and severely dent Chelsea’s title hopes.
West Ham United have one foot in the npower Championship for next season after meekly surrendering at home to Birmingham City in a crucial relegation battle. The Hammers started the day knowing that a win could have moved them up to 16th, however they failed to man mark at set pieces for the umpteenth time this season. This allowed Nikola Zigic to head home the only goal of the game and send the Hammers crashing back to last on a weekend where all their main rivals at the bottom of the league won.
Anyone who questions which is the best league in the world, watch the tape of this weekend’s highlights. No contest.
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