Charles N’Zogbia’s second-half double caps off a marvellous Wigan comeback that condemns West Ham to the Championship and sets up an incredible final day of the season next Sunday, where five teams will fight it out to avoid the dreaded drop.
Chelsea draw at home to Newcastle but still clinch second place thanks to Arsenal’s dreadful 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa -a result which now leaves the door open for Man City to nip in and steal third. Meanwhile the battle for fifth spot takes a twist as Spurs turn Liverpool over in their own backyard. Here’s the notes on yesterday’s tale of the unexpected…
Hammers Drop
At half-time, it was looking good for West Ham; two nil up at Wigan (with Demba Ba scoring twice) and with Birmingham trailing Fulham at home, Avram Grant’s side were in with a shout of beating the drop. Forty-five minutes later, it was all over as a Charles N’Zogbia-inspired Latics won a five goal thriller right at the death. A few minutes later it was all over for Grant, reportedly sacked in the tunnel in light of the club’s poor campaign.
Championship football now beckons but West Ham will want to at least leave with a home victory, and face Sunderland at Upton Park next Sunday in their final Premier League match for at least a season. With the likes of Ba, Scott Parker and Thomas Hitzlsperger all worthy of a place in top-flight football, the Hammers will face a fight to hang on to their leading lights over the summer.
Charles N’Zogbia
It’s five goals in his last five now for the Frenchman as a double ensured Wigan’s survival bid goes right to the wire. N’Zogbia picked up the 3 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points for a 14 point return and has scored 47 FPL points in those last 5 games. With Wigan needing a draw or more at Stoke next weekend -depending on other results- who would bet against him doing the same again?
Big Eck’s Blues
Birmingham only have themselves to blame for their current predicament; just a single point from their last five games sees the Carling Cup winners staring relegation in the face. They travel to Spurs next week, and with Harry Redknapp’s side needing a win to clinch the Europa League spot, the signs don’t look promising; Birmingham have just two wins (and less than a goal per game) on the road all season, and will be hoping Cameron Jerome recovers from a heel injury in time for the big showdown. Good news for McLeish is top scorer Craig Gardner and Liam Ridgewell will both return from suspension.
Brede Hangeland
Two goals and a clean sheet at St Andrews saw the Fulham centre-half score 21 FPL points this weekend and climb to second in the Defender rankings, behind only Leighton Baines. A look at “Value” for Defenders sees Hangeland and Fulham colleague Aaron Hughes at number one and two for the season, with Mark Hughes’ side chalking up 14 clean sheet so far. Hangeland’s 6 goal-haul makes him the Cottagers’ second-top scorer, with Clint Dempsey topping the charts on 12.
Chelsea Line Up Now a Lottery
Florent Malouda out. Didier Drogba out. Carlo Ancelotti kept the 4-3-3 but dropped his two top scorers for Chelsea’s final home game of the season, with Fernando Torres flanked by Nicolas Anelka and Youssi Benayoun. In a flat performance, undoubtedly affected by Man United’s title triumph the previous day, the home side were distinctly average and Newcastle looked a threat time and again on the counter, despite David Luiz dropping out for the more assured Alex at the heart of the Chelsea defence.
With Arsenal’s home loss wrapping up second place for Ancelotti’s side, it’s impossible to guess the starting XI for next Sunday’s trip to Everton and Fantasy investment in Chelsea players right now seems an unwise move.
Carroll’s Comeback Sees Liverpool Draw a Blank
In the week Kenny Dalglish celebrated his three-year contract as permanent manager, Liverpool chose to give their most inept display in months. Coming into the home game with Tottenham on the back of six wins and a draw in eight games, Liverpool were in sublime form but, ironically, the reintroduction of Andy Carroll up front saw them draw a blank.
With Raul Meireles still not recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him off at Fulham, Maxi Rodriguez kept his place on the wing, with Dirk Kuyt dropping back to midfield to accommodate Carroll. The side never captured the form that has seen 13 goals in the previous three games and now need results elsewhere to go their way next week to qualify for Europe, regardless of their own result at Aston Villa.
Rafael Van der Vaart
A thigh injury forced the Dutchman from the proceedings early in the second-half at Anfield and, much to the frustration of his Fantasy Owners, Spurs were then awarded a penalty, subsequently converted by Luka Modric in Van der Vaart‘s absence. Having given his side the lead, Van der Vaart could have been on to a big haul but instead had to settle for 6 pts. With a final day win against Birmingham ensuring Europa League qualification, his availability will be key going into next weekend.
Awesome Dawson
Michael Dawson was an immovable object in the Tottenham defence as they kept Carroll and company at bay at Anfield. The centre-back returned a clean sheet – his first in seven league starts and also fetched the maximum 3 FPL Bonus Points for only the second time this season. Dawson’s dominance in the Spurs back four is clearly evident in our Members OPTA data; had he been fit for the early part of the season, it seems likely that Tottenham would have fared better defensively this term and Dawson would be amongst the top FPL prospects.
Arsenal Loss Hands Advantage to City
The 1-0 home win over Man United a couple of weeks ago looked like just the result to reinvigorate Arsene Wenger’s side, but last week’s loss at Stoke was topped off by a miserable home performance against Aston Villa yesterday. Arsenal’s 2-1 loss now hands the impetus to Man City in the race for third place; that perhaps suggests Roberto Mancini will be more inclined to field a full-strength side for Tuesday’s match at home to Stoke, knowing two wins in their last couple of games would see them finish above the Gunners.
Wenger confirmed in his post-match comments that skipper Cesc Fabregas would not play again this season following his thigh injury, while both Johan Djourou and Samir Nasri are major doubts for next Sunday’s trip to Fulham.
Darren Bent
A win at the Emirates ended any questions over Villa’s survival bid and Bent was, once again, the man to find the net. He scored both goals and grabbed 3 Bonus Points for a 13 point FPL haul against a hopelessly out-of-sorts Arsenal. In fifteen games since his move from Sunderland, he has scored 10 of Villa’s 23 goals, showing just what a great piece of business his January acquisition was by Gerard Houllier.
