Not the Premier League’s highest scoring week,
But neither side of Manchester is starting to creek,
As Liverpool falter, Arsenal close the gap,
Four off Spurs, who they now can trap,
Fiery encounter on the Tyne,
Where Tioté made an almighty whine,
Sessegnon sent off results in a draw,
Whilst down in West London, it’s goals galore,
Who needs Zamora, when Fulham have the Pog,
As the Wolves defence sleeps like a log,
Whilst just a mile down the Fulham Road,
Villas Boas leaves his humble abode.
Player of the Weekend
In his three appearances for the Cottagers, Pavel Pogrebnyak has been sublime. A goal on debut against Stoke was followed up by a strike in the West London Derby with QPR – meaning Pogrebnyak fast became a fan’s favourite. His hat trick on Sunday will only increase his popularity by the River Thames.
What’s more it was the perfect hat trick. The first, a low diving header was swiftly followed by a sumptuous second, sweeping Andy Johnson’s pull back past Wayne Hennessey. For his third he managed to dig the ball in with his left as chants of “Who needs Zamora, when we’ve got the Pog” rang round Craven Cottage. Pogrebnyak has already managed to net more than Zamora did in his first season at Fulham in just three games. It’ll be interesting to see if the burly Russian can maintain his excellent start.
Goal of the Weekend
Another January signing to have an impact over the weekend was Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson. Like Pogrebnyak, the Icelandic international arrived from the Bundesliga and he produced not one but two fantastic strikes against Wigan on Saturday. His curling free kick to secure the game was edged out by his fantastic first. From 30 yards, Sigurdsson managed to arrow the ball over Ali Al Habsi and into the top right hand corner.
He was only signed on a loan deal from Hoffenheim and judging by his performances, Brendan Rodgers might have to pay a fair amount if he wants to secure his services on a permanent basis.
Miss of the Weekend
Some sitters defy belief and Akos Buzsaky’s miss against Everton falls into that category. As Bobby Zamora laid the ball across to the Hungarian just three yards from the gaping goal, the midfielder must have turned his thoughts to what his celebration was going to be. Buzsaky then conspired to hit the post and QPR went onto draw the game 1-1. Mark Hughes will be hoping his side don’t come to rue this miss when the season comes to a close such are the fine margins separating the bottom five teams currently.
Talking Point of the Weekend
Another year means another sacked manager at Chelsea. André Villas Boas wasn’t even given a year to make his mark at the club but Roman Abramovich obviously felt that the Portuguese had had ample time. Yet if the Russian owner of Chelsea continues to be so flippant with managers, he can forget winning the Champions League, or the Premier League for that matter.
André Villas Boas deserves some sympathy but he must have known what he was letting himself in for when he was appointed in June last year. Not seeing eye-to-eye with the players has ultimately cost him job. Chelsea will now attempt to reclaim fourth spot off Arsenal under Roberto Di Matteo. Whether he’ll have much impact remains to be seen. As for AVB, he’ll certainly have learnt plenty from his managerial reign in West London.
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