Twelve of the Premier League’s clubs squared off against each other this Saturday. Thirteen balls reached the back of the net across the six matches – two of which were goal-laden London derbies. So who were today’s big winners and losers?
Results
Arsenal 3 – 0 West Ham
Burnley 1 – 0 Man City
Crystal Palace 3 – 1 QPR
Leicester 0 – 0 Hull
Sunderland 0 – 4 Aston Villa
West Bromwich Albion 1 – 0 Stoke
Shock of the day
George Boyd struck a stunning second-half winner as Burnley enhanced their survival hopes by further ravaging Manchester City’s fading title quest with a 1-0 victory at Turf Moor.
With just two desperate minutes left City even brought on antique midfielder Frank Lampard to give them some late vitality – in place of Yaya Toure.
Chelsea now have the chance to go eight points clear by beating Southampton tomorrow. Is this goose of a Premier League title battle already cooked?
Timely triumph of the day
Villa’s 4-0 tonking of Sunderland was the biggest potential season-changer among today’s results. It not only gives the West Midlands side a bit of a cushion from the relegation zone, but has made sure that cushion is in fact Sunderland.
“It’s a fantastic step towards safety, but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Villa manager Tim Sherwood. “We have managed to drag Sunderland into it now and push them underneath us, but it’s all about next week now, Swansea at home, and getting the points there.”
Gus Poyet, on the other hand, when asked whether Sunderland’s first-half performance was the worst 45 minutes of his reign, responded: “Probably, yes.”
“I’m extremely disappointed. I was not expecting this to happen, but that’s football, I suppose.”
Disaster of the day
As deep as Sunderland’s woes were, spare a thought for QPR. A win at Selhurst Park could have been their springboard to survival. However, it wasn’t looking good after Wilfried Zaha’s goal 21 minutes into the match.
Then two more goals in a couple of minutes sealed QPR’s fate. James McArthur poked in to make it 2-0 from a matter of inches, before Joel Ward curled the team’s third beyond an unsighted Robert Green. Palace had a three-goal lead with half-time still a few minutes away.
Palace got the job done with a 3-1 win that strengthens their mid-table standing and leaves QPR in deep, deep trouble.
Surprise start of the day
QPR manager Chris Ramsey was determined to throw everything at the doomed match, having recalled former England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips for his first Premier League start in more than two years. But to no avail.
Shaun’s dad Ian Wirght’s verdict as QPR’s afternoon unravelled? ”They’ve got to get Bobby Zamora on. They need to get the ball forward quicker.”
Controversial card of the day
Hull’s Tom Huddlestone was sent off at Leicester after body-checking Jamie Vardy, draing second yellow card from ref Jonathan Moss.
The Premier League’s cuddliest manager Steve Bruce had words to say: “I’ve got no problem with Huddlestone’s two yellow cards but is every challenge now a yellow if you mistime it?
“For me it’s a perfectly decent challenge you’d expect a centre-half to make. The reason we enjoy the Premier League is its honesty and integrity and if we’re going to go down the route of every other league – jumping around and whingeing and trying to get people yellow and red cards – for me that’s not right.”
Mysterious disappearance of the day
Sunderland began the second half with 10 men against Aston Villa. Was it a new tactic, or did someone get sent off during half-time? Either way, there was no sign of Sebastian Larsson.
Finally the AWOL Swede reappeared – three and a half minutes after the game resumed. Queue for the bathroom, Seb?
Reffing fail of the day
Referee Chris Foy had to go off injured in the Arsenal versus West Ham game, prompting the cheeky chant: “You’re not fit to referee.”
Quote of the day
Back to Steve Bruce for a frank assessment of the dire goalless draw between his Hull side and Leicester.
“It’s a big game, a huge game for both clubs and you could see the nerves. It’s going to be last on Match of the Day and rightly so.”
Goal of the day
Palace v QPR had gone very quiet, until it suddenly erupted with a late fantasy strike from Matt Phillips. Not that it did much good fro his ailing west London side.
The former Blackpool man was striding through midfield when he looked up and cracked a 40-yard strike over the justifiably flabbergasted Julian Speroni, and in off the underside of the bar.
It was almost worth a sympathy point for QPR.
Most painful goal of the day
Former Manchester United bench-warmer Wilfried Zaha put Palace in front against QPR. But the winger’s moment of victory left Zaha wincing as he clattered into the goal post. The fans didn’t seem too bothered though.
"Glad all over" rings around Selhurst Park – pretty sure Zaha isn't after that nasty collision with the post.
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 14, 2015
Although they were very pleased to see their goalscorer back on the pitch.
Standing ovation for Zaha as he gingerly trundles back on after that nasty-looking collision.
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 14, 2015
Player of the day
In a day of cracking goals and commitment from a whole host of players, the afternoon saw a truly fan-pleasing performance from Villa’s Christian Benteke.
Sharing Villa’s four-goals with team mate Gabriel Agbonlahor, the striker’s return will have been a relief for the team’s fans.
Tim Sherwood was quick to praise his lads up front, optimistic that Villa’s fortunes can only improve from here. ”If you create chances for those two fellas, they will score. The boys are looking forward now to playing at home in front of an expectant crowd.”
Source: SNAPPA
