It’s very rare that Arsene Wenger loses his temper during his half-time team-talks. However, according to Cesc Fabregas, the Frenchman was seething after the Gunners’ abject first-half performance at Anfield on Sunday. The ‘hairdryer’ treatment obviously worked as Arsenal fought back to win 2-1, which left Rafa Benitez in a state of shock.
When asked about whether his side was still in the title-race, Wenger said: “Mathematically yes, and mentally certainly.”
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s title rivals slipped up; Chelsea could only manage a draw against a depleted Everton side, neutral fans would have enjoyed their 3-3 draw. Manchester United, deservedly, lost at home for their first time this season, the Red Devils lost 1-0 to Aston Villa, thanks to a Gabriel Agbonlahor goal.
With Villa winning, the pressure was on Manchester City and Spurs to maintain their Champions League push. However, neither could pick up three points, relegation candidates Bolton secured a 3-3 draw with City in a cracking game. Spurs lost at home for the third time this season, they went down 1-0 to other relegation candidates, Wolves.
As Wolves and Bolton picked up valuable results, teams at the bottom of the table needed some points to keep them away from the drop zone. Portsmouth secured a last-minute draw with Sunderland to boost their points tally but remained bottom of the table. The big losers of the weekend was West Ham United, they went down to Alex McLeish’s much-improved Birmingham City. Gianfranco Zola’s side needed something to show for their efforts, but an old boy came back to haunt them – Lee Bowyer scored his fifth goal of the season to lift the Blues to eighth in the table.
And finally, Burnley and Fulham shared the points after a 1-1 draw, as did Hull and Blackburn who drew 0-0 after a dire encounter.
Elsewhere in the world of sport, Pakistan’s cricketers are battling New Zealand for the third test in Napier. The series is currently level at 1-1, and with this being final test, expect fireworks on the final day tomorrow.
The prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year took place last night in Sheffield. Ryan Giggs claimed the main award, beating Jenson Button and Jessica Ennis. Elsewhere, Usain Bolt won the Overseas award and Seve Ballesteros won the Lifetime Achievement award.
Ballesteros’s award was one of the emotional moments of the night, the Spaniard has been recovering from a brain tumour and has had four major operations. He received a standing ovation and a moving speech from compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal
Eddie Izzard won a special award after his work for Sports Relief, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days. Tom Daley won the Young Sports Personality of the Year award for the second year-in-a-row.
Major Phil Packer won the Helen Rollason award for his extensive charity work, and Doreen Adcock won the Sports Unsung Hero award.
Finally, Fabio Capello won the Coach of the Year award and England’s men cricket team beat the women to the Team of the Year award.
Have a good week!
