HEROES
Frank Lampard
He might not have had a brilliant 90 minutes but 'Super Frank' held his nerve not once, not twice but three times to score his side's equaliser from the penalty spot against West Ham yesterday afternoon. Referee Mike Dean ordered the kick to be retaken twice after players encroached into the area before Lampard made contact with the ball. Let's just hope Frank can do it when it matters in South Africa next summer...
Fulham
Manchester United may have had a makeshift back four at Craven Cottage on Saturday but that shouldn't distract from what was both a fantastic result and performance from Roy Hodgson's men. Goals from Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff ensured a comfortable 3-0 victory for Fulham, nicely topping off a week which also saw them reach the last 32 of the Europa League.
John Carew
The big Norwegian has had to sit on the bench and watch Emile Heskey do not very much recently but after coming on to replace the injured England striker in Saturday's home clash with Stoke, Carew reminded the Aston Villa faithful just why he's such an important player for them. It was his unstoppable header which gave the Villains a 1-0 win and at the end of the game he gave his shirt, along with a big hug and kiss to a young Villa fan who had almost been hit by the corner flag when he kicked it during his over-the-top goal celebration.
VILLAINS
Javier Mascherano
Liverpool played poorly against Porstmouth on Saturday but their case wasn't helped when influential midfielder Mascherano saw red shortly before half-time. A stupid studs-up lunge on Tal Ben Haim could have seriously injured the Israeli defender but instead the Argentinian hard-man injured his own medial ligaments and will now spend the Christmas period in the treatment room.
The Manchester City board
Yes Mark Hughes has had stupids amount of money to spend in the last couple of transfer windows but success doesn't come overnight. Sparky seemed to be leading City in the right direction despite a few too many draws in recent weeks but the board along with owner Sheik Mansour decided that Italian Roberto Mancini could do a better job and promptly ended Hughes' 18 month stint at the club.
Stuart Attwell
Often responsible for controversial and incorrect decisions, referee Stuart Attwell continued the trend during Sunday's game between Everton and Birmingham. Firstly, he along with one of his assistants ruled out a perfectly good Louis Saha goal for offside and he then failed spot a clear hand-ball by Stephen Carr in the Birmingham area, two decisions which cost Everton what would've been a very valuable three points.
- Joe Strange
Source: DSG
