Wayne Bridge made his debut as a substitute against Norwich last week but remained on the bench throughout the Black Cats’ revival victory at Stoke. Dedryck Boyata was also an unused sub in Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Norwich City.
Emmanuel Adebayor failed to find the net in 71 minutes of Spurs’ goalless draw with Liverpool and was replaced by new signing Louis Saha.
Vladimir Weiss had a weekend to remember as he continued to shine during his spell in Spain. The Slovakian winger’s Espanyol side had to rely on a last minute equalizer to secure a point from their meeting with Athletic, but Weiss was in the thick of the action as his side clawed their way back into the game.
Having set-up the equalizer which leveled the scores at 1-1, provider the City Academy graduate turned scorer to put his side in front, before slipping 3-2 behind.
John Guidetti was unable to replicate his heroics from last weekend but was still on the winning side as Feyenoord beat NEC 2-0. Without midfielder Abdi Ibrahim, NEC went into the game overwhelming underdogs and were comfortably overcome by Guidetti’s side who are now separated from the top four only by goal difference.
Roque Santa Cruz was also unable to find the net as his Real Betis were downed 1-0 by nine-man Mallorca. Now without a win in four, a single goal in the first half condemned the Paraguayan’s side to defeat but it was from the flurry of second half dismissals that headlines were made.
Mario’s sending off 15 minutes from time all but ended Betis’ fight back before two Mallorca reds in the final seven minutes reduced the numbers further.
A 90th minute Ipswich winner proved a devastating sickener for Alex Nimely’s Coventry who were beaten in the final minute for the second time in a week. The Sky Blues remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship table and are still seven points adrift of safety.
Meanwhile, a 3-0 reverse against managerless Leeds means Ryan McGivern’s Bristol City – who were reduced to nine men – were unable to extend the gap between themselves and the drop, now sitting just six points clear of the bottom three.
