Wayne Bridge was involved in the game of the weekend as West Ham came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with relegation rivals West Brom. Meanwhile, Nedum Onuoha’s Sunderland surrendered their lead to lose 2-1 against Spurs.
Roque Santa Cruz returned from injury for Blackburn but couldn’t prove the difference in their Premier clash with Newcastle – the Paraguay striker missed the best chance of the game, heading against the post from close range.
Vladimir Weiss was at the centre of all that was good about Rangers’ 6-0 rout of Motherwell as the young Slovakian’s pace left defenders reeling and kept the Scottish champions in touching distance of the league summit.
In La Liga action, Felipe Caicedo returned from suspension to score the only goal in Levante’s 1-0 win over struggling Almeria, while Emmanuel Adebayor posed a constant threat as his Real Madrid side overcame Espanyol by a single goal.
Cardiff skipper Craig Bellamy was denied a penalty in his side’s 1-0 win over Abdi Ibrahim’s Scunthorpe, but an 85th-minute winner was enough to move Bellamy & Co into an automatic promotion spot while pushing Scunthorpe further into the relegation mire.
Ben Mee and Leicester continued their impressive climb up the Championship table with a 2-0 win at Derby and the Foxes now sit only one place off the play-off spots. Mee started the move that led to Leicester’s clinching second goal.
Colombian keeper David Gonzalez had to settle for a watching brief as Leeds won 2-0 at Bristol City to boost their promotion hopes, and Kieran Trippier came on as a second-half substitute in Barnsley’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich.
Javan Vidal was bench-bound for League Two leaders Chesterfield, whose blip continued as they were beaten 1-0 by relegation-threatened Burton. They remain four points ahead of Shrewsbury, but Vidal’s side haven’t won in four.
