Best of the weekend By Lewis Rutledge Last updated: 13th January 2008
Game of the Day Manchester United v Newcastle There had been relatively few goals in the afternoon games and the trend looked set to continue as managerless Newcastle bravely held out in the first half at Old Trafford. But Manchester United had other ideas and produced a sensational second half performance to return to the top of the table. It was not much of a contest but certainly very entertaining, with some magnificent goals, comical defending, a controversial strike from Carlos Tevez that led to the dismissal of Alan Smith, and a stunning performance from Cristiano Ronaldo. By the final whistle Newcastle fans may even have been screaming for Sam Allardyce to come back to the club. Player of the Day Cristiano Ronaldo Not exactly a stranger to this award, but his hat-trick scoring display against The Magpies was special even by his standards. His first goal came when he drilled a free-kick underneath Newcastle's wall as the defenders jumped en masse, a ploy that may have been labelled a fluke had another player done it. Ronaldo scored a second when he brought Carlos Tevez's firmly-hit pass under control expertly and fired past Shay Given. To complete his hat-trick Ronaldo needed the help of a deflection but few would argue that he did not deserve it, and all the signs suggest there will be many more to come. Goal of the Day Kevin Nolan Kevin Nolan scored a brilliant volley to put Bolton in front against Blackburn. Blackburn keeper Brad Friedal punched out a free-kick which Joey O'Brien put back in the box, finding Nolan at the back post. The Bolton captain, with his back to goal, then unleashed his stunning volley which left Friedal with no chance. Controversy of the Day Arsenal penalty Arsenal were below their best as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham and were perhaps lucky to take the lead after being awarded a debatable penalty. Stephen Kelly appeared to win the ball when he challenged Eduardo da Silva from behind but Phil Dowd had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up to score. Save of the Day Radek Cerny Jose Reina pushing Stewart Downing's shot onto the post comes a close second, but the winner is Cerny's fantastic save from Nicolas Anelka, which denied the Frenchman a goal on debut for Chelsea. It looked for all the world as if Anelka had scored when he turned and volleyed Shaun Wright-Phillips' clever pass towards the bottom corner, but Cerny repaid Juande Ramos' faith in him with a superb diving stop. Miss of the Day Luis Valencia Valencia missed an absolute sitter from seven yards as he dragged a shot wide following a goalmouth scramble. Thankfully for him it mattered little as Wigan went on to beat Derby 1-0 in a key game at the bottom of the table. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
