Liverpool, Stoke City, Manchester City, and Wigan Athletic all get a mention, as well as the FA’s officials.
Mohamed Diame
With 21 points, Wigan Athletic remain rooted to the bottom of the table, despite a creditable 1-1 draw away to Norwich City. They could have lifted themselves up to 18th had Diame not spurned a golden opportunity late on. He spooned the ball over the bar when meeting a Shaun Maloney cross, an chance which looked harder to shoot over than get on target. He also hit another shot wide in the closing moments, and on such chances, relegation battles are won and lost.
Ricardo Fuller
The Stoke City man’s stamp on Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic was quite simply brainless. Early in the first half, he left his side with 10 men for the rest of the game, and owes his teammates and manager a great apology for letting them down. It was to Stoke’s credit they held on and only conceded the one goal, at a ground where they conceded seven two seasons before. Although the difference probably says a lot more about Chelsea’s fragile confidence right now in comparison to Carlo Ancelotti’s league winners of 2010.
Stefan Savic
The Manchester City defender was seen by fans as a bit of a liability in January in Vincent Kompany’s absence, and his appearance in City’s side and the club recording their first league defeat since January is surely no coincidence. City are immeasurably weaker without Kompany, and missing Joleon Lescott too it was no surprise when the goal they conceded came from a simple cross lofted into the penalty area for an unmarked Luke Moore to head home. It would be unfair to blame City’s defeat entirely on Savic, but Swansea’s win confirms he is their weak link, and still has plenty of adjusting to do the reach the top level of his team mates.
Kenny Dalglish
Managing this Liverpool side is fast becoming Kenny Dalglish’s biggest challenge in management. He has spent millions on players who are not performing to the required standard, and a second successive league loss exposed Dalglish as running out of ideas. Watching Adam and Henderson continuing to be ineffective must be hugely frustrating for the Liverpool legend, and he has to take the blame for their current league position, and failure to take them forward this season, and the 1-0 defeat to Sunderland encapsulated the club’s struggles.
Bob Pollock and Sian Massey
Sadly this is a weekend where referees, but specifically their assistants, are hogging the headlines for the wrong reasons. Bob Pollock’s decision to rule out Clint Hill’s goal for QPR at the Reebok was a clear error, and again showed why goal line technology is urgently needed at the top level, with millions riding on the season’s relegation battle. Sian Massey’s decision to rule out Micah Richards’ equaliser at the Liberty Stadium could have equally expensive repercussions, with Manchester City robbed of a point which they felt they had legitimately earned, and may even cost them the Premier League title. Was Massey right? City fans won’t care, they will be fuming.
image: © joncandy
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