Weekend heroes and villains
23 Nov 2009 - 11:04:58
In a new weekly feature, football.co.uk takes a look at who's hot and who's not after another action-packed weekend in the Premier League.
HEROES
Jermain Defoe
The Spurs striker hit five goals in his side's 9-1 demolition of Wigan on Sunday afternoon and in the process bagged the second fastest hat-trick in Premier League history.
Returning to the top of the goal-scoring charts with 11 for the season, England front-man Defoe now looks a certainty for a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad next summer.
- Tottenham 9 Wigan 1 Match Report
- Premier League results
Gael Kakuta
The controversial capture from French club Lens is the reason Chelsea are facing the prospect of a long-term transfer embargo, but after his first-team debut at home to Wolves on Saturday afternoon, Blues fans might just let him off.
Carlo Ancelotti claimed on Friday that Kakuta was the best talent he had ever seen and after his 31 minute cameo as a second-half sub, where he showed glimpses of his prodigious ability, few could blame his manager for making such a bold claim.
Jimmy Bullard
Since returning from a near 11 month absence earlier this month, Bullard has been integral to Hull City's mini-revival as they look to claw their way out of a relegation scrap.
With two assists and a goal from his last two games, the former Fulham midfielder was the driving force behind his side's comeback from 2-0 down at home to West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
VILLAINS
Paul Scharner
The Wigan utility man was guilty of a Thierry Henry-like handball against Spurs yesterday as he controlled a cross from Hugo Rodallega with his hand before beating Heurelho Gomes to give his side a lifeline.
Unfortunately for Scharner, his blatant act of cheating was not enough to rescue Wigan as they went on to concede a further six goals in their miserable 9-1 defeat.
Kevin Prince-Boateng
Signed from Spurs in the summer, the Portsmouth midfielder had failed to live up to his billing after being named German young player of the year in 2006.
A series of impressive performances for the south coast club earned him a regular starting position for Paul Hart's side but a poor display in Saturday's defeat to Stoke was compounded as his poor penalty was easily saved, costing struggling Pompey a share of the points.
Jussi Jaaskelainen
Normally the hero for Bolton Wanderers, Jaaskelainen performed an uncharacteristic error to gift Blackburn their second goal in a 2-0 win at the Reebok stadium yesterday afternoon.
A long ball from Rovers was calmly headed back towards his own goal by Trotters defender Sam Ricketts but he was unaware that his keeper had inexplicably come steaming out of his goal to claim the ball. The pair could do nothing but watch helplessly as the ball rolled into the empty net, 2-0 Blackburn, game over.
- Joe Strange
