The Weekend Awards – Sunderland at the double

The Weekend Awards are a somewhat serious, somewhat tongue in cheek affair in summary of the best and worst of the Premier League and FA Cup.

Highlight of the Weekend

Paolo Di Canio’s celebration

With each goal that Sunderland scored, Di Canio’s celebrations became more and more over the top and his wide eyed visceral passion was transferred on to the pitch as a Sunderland side that had looked moribund and completely uninspired for a couple months fizzled in to life. They played the exact brand of football that Di Canio promised which is an impressive achievement after just two weeks of work in a season.

They pressed high and consistently, they passed the ball with a purpose and tempo that has been sorely lacking and they looked like a team that believed in themselves. It’s pretty basic stuff yes, but sometimes doing the basics well is exactly what is needed when you are in trouble.

Lowlight of the Weekend

Tony Pulis accepts defeat before kick off

Stoke have made a name for themselves by making life extremely difficult for visiting clubs at the Britannia through a mix of ferocious passion from the stands, commitment on the pitch and a direct, in your face, scared-of-no-one style of play.

So, after a terrible run of results, and with a possibly tentative Manchester United heading to town, surely the time was right to attack them and go all out for a victory which would haul them 6 points clear of the drop zone. Well, apparently no one told that to Pulis. All of the old favourites were selected, with the selection of Ryan Shotton on the right wing particularly baffling. He was picked to counter the roaming runs from left back of Patrice Evra. Seriously? You pick a right winger to stop their left back? At home? In a team that is overburdened with attacking talent? If United found that Evra was shut down, he could just stay back and the attack go elsewhere and still be just as dangerous. This isn’t Everton and Leighton Baines we’re talking about.

He picked Charlie Adam, a deep lying midfielder by trade as the number 10 behind the striker. Thus, when Adam dropped ever deeper to seek out the ball Kenwyne Jones was stuck upfront on his own and unable to bring any others in to play. The apparently key Glenn Whelan was back but hardly got a touch of the ball as the defensive full backs meant that Stoke were very deep. They didn’t try to unsettle an out of position Rooney in midfield and didn’t bombard David De Gea in goal.

Instead of flying all out for a win they went in to the game trying to avoid a loss but expecting that they would. Disgraceful.

Goal of the Weekend

Stephane Sessegnon vs Newcastle

This was good for two reasons; importance and quality. In and of itself, it was a nice goal. A tricky shuffling run followed by a precise finish in to the tiniest of spaces from a good 20 yards out. All very pretty. But the key to this being the goal of the week was it’s importance in the flow of the game.

Sunderland had started well but cautiously, not really able to capitalise on their good attitude with any real goal threat. It was a familiar pattern for their fans who must have feared that when they eventually ran out of steam that Newcastle would punish them, but the goal came at just the right time and sent the delirious Sunderland fans, including one who had somehow got in to the commentary box, in to raptures.

Really?! Moment of the Weekend

Sergio Aguero tangles with David Luiz

Was it a two footed horror lunge? Was he falling over in an unfortunate way? Only Aguero knows what his intention was.

How did you miss that Ref?!

Gouffran on Johnson & Torres on Aguero

This could easily go to the Aguero one but that was so absurd we won’t give it two awards. This however, is a joint winner because both tackles were similarly vicious. Jamie Redknapp pointedly, and correctly, called them ‘cowards’ tackles. Both of them involved studs being raked down an opponents legs to cause maximum, and intentional, damage.

As Redknapp said, perhaps referees don’t realise the severity of these assaults but anyone who saw the way that Adam Johnson’s ankle buckled was surprised not to have witnessed a bad injury. Torres could have annihilated Aguero’s achilles.

Mind you, the ref was right there when Johnson took his shirt off to celebrate his goal. Quite right too, we don’t want any of this shirt off nonsense. Two bits of awful refereeing that have so far gone unexplained.

One man team of the Weekend

Dimitar Berbatov vs Aston Villa

Berbatov successfully defends his title from last week after another virtuoso, and single handed, display. He literally posed the only threat for Fulham and probably should have won the game for them. His frustration at his inferior team mates is getting stronger by the week despite Fulham’s serene mid table progress.

Most bizarre team selection

Frank Lampard rides the bench

Benitez deployed Ramires and Mikel in deep midfield behind the ‘three musketeers’ and it was a disaster. Chelsea didn’t need John Terry, they need Frank Lampard and he was conspicuous by his absence.