Eugene YS Han salutes the latest Heroes and Zeroes from another exciting round of Barclays Premier League football.
HEROES
MANCHESTER UNITED
Another week, another goal from you-know-who. Wayne Rooney is quickly becoming a living legend at the club. But to be fair, his display was hardly the most eye-catching one. Dimitar Berbatov was superb against Fulham, just we expected him to while Park Ji-Sung is rapidly earning the plaudits. But it's the return to form and fitness of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic that is paramount to United's winning run. They are shutting out the opposition in order for the United attack to move forward without any defensive worries. A great attack wins games, but a great defence wins you titles.
ARSENAL
Arsene Wenger must be beaming from ear to ear this past week. Arsenal have again 'gunned down' their critics by maintaining their pursuit of the top two after a last-gasp win over Hull. In doing so they notched their fifth straight win in the league - their best sequence this season. And who said they are too soft for the Premier League? Arsenal showed their tenacity and determination by snatching late winner against the toothless Tigers. The Gunners have now scored 15 goals in the last 10 minutes of a match.
TOTTENHAM
White Hart Lane are still rocking after Tottenham beat Blackburn 3-1 to strengthen their grip on the coveted fourth place spot in the Premier League this season. Spurs may not have the spending power of Manchester City but Harry Redknapp has built a depth to rival City's. Roman Pavlyuchenko and Gareth Bale may not have been first-team choices at the start of the season, but they are now key members of the side who are pushing for the Champions League.
CHELSEA
It was a tricky tie on paper on Saturday but Chelsea responded in the right manner to romp home 4-1 following Scott Parker's shock equaliser. The Blues may only have the league and the FA Cup to aim for after their Champions League exit but Carlo Ancelotti will rally his troops and that will only spell trouble to their title rivals.
WOLVES
It was billed as a relegation six-pointer between Burnley and Wolves and it was Mick McCarthy's side who came out tops. The three points earned at this late stage of the season against one of their relegation rivals will go a long way in ensuring another season of Premier League football at Wolves.
ZEROES
MANCHESTER CITY
It seems that the only club that are serious about getting that fourth place are Tottenham. Liverpool and Aston Villa have dropped points recently while Manchester City with no other distractions to worry about have followed suit. To be honest, City could have gone away from Sunderland without a single point if not for Adam Johnson's magnificent equaliser. With such an array of talent at Roberto Mancini's disposal, City have the players to win games against the likes of Sunderland and Stoke. With Tottenham getting into the groove and, Liverpool and Aston Villa stirring back into life, City's chances of fourth spot are looking ever so slim.
BURNLEY
It's just as hard to see how Burnley avoid joining Portsmouth in the Championship next season after yet another insipid display. Even at Turf Moor a place where Burnley are expected to win, the Clarets were tamed by fellow relegation rivals Wolves. The defeat has again put the spotlight on Brian Laws. Reports from England have suggested Burnley want to replace Laws with Phil Brown. Is he the lesser of two evils? Either way, Burnley looked doomed.
HULL CITY
After laughing off handbags between Jimmy Bullard and Nick Barmby during a training session, Phil Brown was not laughing when Hull gave him the boot. The Tigers have been in dire form and their season could end with relegation after defeat to Arsenal left them second from bottom. Given how Hull have struggled, Brown's sacking was expected but what's surprising was the timing. Wouldn't new Hull boss Iain Dowie be able to do more if he was appointed in January?
WIGAN
After the high of beating Liverpool last Monday, Roberto Martinez's side crashed to successive defeats to Bolton and Aston Villa. The Spaniard must be wondering how his team can be so inconsistent. The Latics can still breathe easy as they are four points off the relegation zone but Martinez will have to rediscover the form that helped see off Chelsea and Liverpool to help them pull away further from the relegation zone.
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