With Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal all otherwise engaged, attention turned to the fight at the other end of the table this weekend. Going into the games nine were still in with a decent shout of going down, making it the closest relegation battle for years.
Saturday’s five games saw five goals, with no team scoring more than once. Who needs the Big 4, eh?
Perhaps the most important fixture of the weekend took place at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland and Hull, two teams rooted firmly to the foot of the form league, went head-to-head.
Not so long ago plucky Hull were riding the crest of a wave that saw them beat Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and West Brom in succession. Since then they’ve really plucked things up.
Saturday saw another abject performance from a side who are now fourth favourites to go down. Djibril Cisse’s goal at the end of the first-half put paid to their efforts, but with two goals from Kenwyne Jones disallowed, it really could have been much worse.
Further down the Wear, Middlesbrough hosted Fulham in a game unlikely to inspire the casual observer. It did, however, provide the opportunity for Gareth Southgate’s side to record back-to-back wins for the first time in 31 games.
With Sanli Tuncay, Jeremie Aliadiare, Alfonso Alves and Marlon King all starting, on paper Boro were really going for it. Unfortunately for Southgate’s men football is played on grass, and as it transpired they were their usual toothless selves.
An expectedly lively start at the Riverside saw the home side press with little joy before all the trappings of a team shorn of confidence came to the fore. It was Andy Johnson who came closest to opening the scoring in the first-half, as his deflected hot hit the inside of the post.
Boro knew that they needed all three points, and in the second-half their urgency showed as Tuncay and Stewart Downing were denied by smart saves by former Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer.
As the clock wound down they threw men forward, but the only effect of this was to leave them open at the back Both Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora missed good opportunities for the visitors with the score remaining deadlocked at 0-0 at the final whistle.
Saturday also saw Stoke continue their formidable home form with a 1-0 win against Blackburn. Portsmouth likewise took a big step towards safety with a 1-0 home win against Bolton. Finally Aston Villa reminded everyone why they aren’t going to qualify for the Champions League by drawing 1-1 with West Ham in a game they should have won comfortably.
On to Sunday and the UK’s biggest car crash (R.I.P. J.G. Ballard): Newcastle United.
Credit to Alan Shearer for trying something different, as he set out his side in a 3-5-2 formation against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Credit to him also for switching back after Newcastle deservedly fell behind to a Darren Bent strike after 25 minutes.
Things are looking bleaker than usual in the north-east, and if this performance is anything to go by Newcastle will go down. They offered little going forward, with Michael Owen and Andy Carrol initially leading the line, and their defense was customarily shambolic.
It took the introduction of Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka for any semblance of an attacking threat. But anything less than the eventual 1-0 victory for Tottenham would have been hugely undeserved.
Newcastle’s problems seem terminal. They looked awful at times and struggled to string more than three passes together in midfield. Now four points adrift at the bottom of the table, Shearer has a mighty task on his hands to keep them in the Premier League.
The final game of the weekend saw Manchester City take on West Brom at Eastlands.
What can you say about City? Well, you can say that they won’t be winning any trophies anytime soon. At least they provided a bit of excitement as their game gave us as many goals as the weekend’s other six fixtures combined.
The enigma that is Robinho scored his first of the year, as he volleyed home Stephen Ireland’s cross to open the scoring in the 8th minute. Their lead was doubled thanks to Nedum Onuha’s header in the 21st minute.
In typically calamitous fashion they somehow managed to allow West Brom back into the game, as goals either side of half-time from Chris Brunt drew the scores level. It didn’t last for long, though, as Elano was brought down in the box by Jonas Olsson, with the Brazilian dusting himself off to convert the resulting spot-kick.
West Brom threw the proverbial kitchen sink at City but were unable find a leveler. Instead, with the game stretched in the 90th minute, Daniel Sturridge stole in to make the final score 4-2.