Good week, bad week

13 April 2012

Tottenham
Tottenham triumphed over Arsenal in extraordinary style on Saturday. Faced with a two-goal deficit at the Emirates Stadium, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Younes Kaboul all struck in the second half for Spurs as they shot down the Gunners 3-2, their first victory on Arsenal soil in 17 years.

"It was about time we had a win here," said Tottenham's manager Harry Redknapp.
Ambition also emanated from the Spurs boss. "[The title is] wide open for somebody who can put a run together," he said. "Why be fearful and say 'we can't win it'?"

Birmingham
Lee Bowyer's 17th minute finish gave his St Andrews side a precious 1-0 victory over Chelsea. "We dug it out right until the very end. I'm proud of the players," said Birmingham's manager Alex McLeish. The result was bruising for Chelsea but brilliant for Birmingham, who broke free of the relegation zone with the win.

Carlos Tevez
Perhaps taking inspiration from his compatriot Diego Maradona, who was watching from the stands at Craven Cottage, Tevez helped Manchester City triumph 4-1 against Fulham by netting twice. The hard-working is now the league's top scorer with nine.

England's rugby team
The Twickenham crowd saw England succeed for the second time in as many weeks on Saturday, as the hosts deposed Samoa 26-13. Tom Croft and Matt Banahan both scored tries to help England prevail.

"I was biting my fingernails for a bit in second half and I'm glad to get the win," said the watching Lewis Moody. "We have got the result but we were not happy with the performance. We were not as clinical as we wanted to be." Room for improvement, perhaps, but the history books will still stay England triumphed.

Andy Murray
The Scot started his ATP World Final Tour championship in style on Sunday, demolishing the Swede Robin Soderling 6-2 6-4 in just one hour and 20 minutes. "I played very smart tennis," said an exuberant Murray.

BAD WEEK

Fulham
Mark Hughes, whose Fulham side suffered their fourth league defeat of the season on Sunday, felt his team were too flat against Manchester City.

"We didn't make it easy for ourselves," he said. "We allowed them too much time and space. We were too passive." The Cottagers now assume a precarious 17th place in the Premier League, and tough tasks lie ahead – they face trips to Arsenal and Liverpool before Christmas.

London Irish
Despite playing well, London Irish were denied the chance to return to top spot in the Premiership by Wasps who beat them 33-25. Paul Hodgson, Dan Bowden and Paulica Ion all scored for Irish but their tries were in vain.

"We gave away too many penalties," conceded Irish's head coach Toby Booth. "And, for a team who should have been out of sight when in the lead, it's tough to handle."

Scottish football
The Scottish game is in a state of uncertainty after Category One' referees voted to strike after being unhappy with the amount of criticism they've received this season. Fixtures in the country now face possible postponement next weekend.

"Referees are at the end of their tether," revealed former referee Kenny Clark. "And it's not just how it's impacting on them but it's the impact it's all having on their families."

Aston Villa
Gerard Houllier's side were beaten 2-0 by Blackburn at the weekend with Rovers' new proprietors, Venkateswara and Balaji Rao, in attendance at Ewood Park.

Fabio Capello
England's manager has received a fair amount of flak in recent times, but the most stinging words came from a former England striker on Sunday morning.

"Fabio's been here for two and a half years and I'm not sure we've actually gone forward in that time," said Alan Shearer on Five Live's Sportsweek.

"If every England player was fit, I'm not sure that he'd know what system he wanted or what team he wanted to play."

MORE ABOUT

Arsenal

Good week, bad week

Read More