Two Bill Sharp goals were enough for Southampton against his former club, and far from keeping with the modern tradition of not over celebrating goals against previous clubs he went so over the top after the second that he earned himself a yellow card. Some footballers really do have short memories.
At the Madejski, normal service was resumed after Reading's brilliant run came to an end in midweek at Peterborough. They cruised past Blackpool whose performance certainly didn't impress Ian Holloway as they dropped out of the top six.
That top six now includes West Ham, Brighton, Middlesbrough and Birmingham but things could change this week if West Ham can get back to winning rather than drawing. The game at the Turf on Saturday was their fifth successive draw but two wins this week, at Peterborough and at home against Reading in the game of the on Saturday, will see them back in an automatic place.
I've written Coventry off on a number of occasions this season, but they are still in there with a reasonable chance of avoiding the drop. Saturday was a vital game for them and one they won, beating Portsmouth who are now very much bottom of the league with 30 points.
Doncaster have one point more but there's then a further four points to Coventry's 35 and they are now only a point behind Bristol City who have won just once in twelve games and only Pompey can match their recent run of poor results.
All clubs now have either seven or eight games remaining and so there are not going to be too many changes at top and bottom. Surely Southampton have pulled too far away now and I can't see them missing out on promotion and neither can I see their rivals Portsmouth or Doncaster staying up.
I still have a hunch that West Ham will make it, and at least that would mean we wouldn't have to put up with Sam Allardyce next season, whilst down at the bottom I'll stick with Coventry for that third relegation place, but even at this late stage in the season it is very likely that I've still got things horribly wrong.
The weekend results are below along with the stats, the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary record, the highest and lowest attendances and the week's fixtures.
The Week's Results | |
Saturday 24th March | |
Barnsley 1 Peterborough United 0 | Millwall 0 Leeds United 1 |
Burnley 2 West Ham United 2 | Nottingham Forest 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 |
Coventry City 2 Portsmouth 0 | Reading 3 Blackpool 1 |
Derby County 3 Crystal Palace 2 | Southampton 2 Doncaster Rovers 0 |
Leicester City 2 Hull City 1 | Watford 2 Ipswich Town 1 |
Middlesbrough 1 Bristol City 1 | |
Sunday 25th March | |
Birmingham City 1 Cardiff City 1 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win | Coventry City 2-0 v Portsmouth (home) Reading 3-1 v Blackpool (home) Southampton 2-0 v Doncaster Rovers (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 31 (20 home - 11 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals |
2 - Billy Sharp (Southampton) |
Highest Attendance | 30,209 - Southampton v Doncaster Rovers |
Lowest Attendance | 9,698 - Barnsley v Peterborough United |
Total Yellow Cards | 32 |
Total Red Cards | 4 |
Most Cards in a Game | Barnsley v Peterborough United (6Y 1R) Ref: Andy Haines |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
24 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 9 penalties |
16 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
15 | Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 2 penalties Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Jay Rodriguez (Burnley) - includes 3 penalties |
14 |
Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) |
13 |
Billy Sharp (Southampton) - includes 1 penalty (10 with Doncaster Rovers) |
12 |
Matty Fryatt (Hull City) - includes 1 penalty |
11 |
Craig Davies (Barnsley) - includes 1 penalty |
10 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Ashley Barnes (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 3 penalties Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middllesbrough) - includes 1 penalty - (9 with Coventry City) Robert Koren (Hull City) Adam Lallana (Southampton) Kevin Nolan (West Ham United) Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) Chris Wood (Bristol City) - (9 with Birmingham City) Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City) |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
26/12/11 | 3: Matthew Phillips - Barnsley v BLACKPOOL |
31/12/11 | 3: Ricardo Vaz Te - BARNSLEY v Leeds United |
21/01/12 | 3: Darius Henderson - Barnsley v MILLWALL |
31/01/12 | 4: Nikola Zigic - Leeds United v BIRMINGHAM CITY |
26/02/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Watford v SOUTHAMPTON |
17/03/12 | 3: Rickie Lambert - Millwall v SOUTHAMPTON |
20/03/12 | 4: Garath McCleary - Leeds United v NOTTINGHAM FOREST |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 53 | 2 | 56 | 2 | Ipswich Town | 49 | 5 | 50 | 5 |
Birmingham City | 50 | 3 | 55 | 3 | Leeds United | 62 | 5 | 68 | 5 |
Blackpool | 49 | 1 | 52 | 2 | Leicester City | 54 | 9 | 62 | 9 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 81 | 8 | 95 | 8 | Middlesbrough | 65 | 7 | 68 | 7 |
Bristol City | 72 | 6 | 74 | 6 | Millwall | 66 | 2 | 73 | 2 |
Burnley | 54 | 2 | 62 | 2 | Nottingham Forest | 52 | 4 | 57 | 4 |
Cardiff City | 46 | 0 | 62 | 0 | Peterborough United | 46 | 2 | 49 | 2 |
Coventry City | 48 | 2 | 50 | 2 | Portsmouth | 62 | 4 | 69 | 4 |
Crystal Palace | 47 | 2 | 51 | 3 | Reading | 52 | 0 | 55 | 0 |
Derby County | 52 | 1 | 52 | 1 | Southampton | 46 | 4 | 49 | 4 |
Doncaster Rovers | 62 | 2 | 64 | 2 | Watford | 55 | 2 | 57 | 2 |
Hull City | 56 | 1 | 61 | 1 | West Ham United | 57 | 6 | 60 | 7 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
34,936 | West Ham United v Coventry City (02/01) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
34,900 | West Ham United v Crystal Palace (25/02) | 6,392 | Peterborough United v Millwall (06/03) |
34,749 | West Ham United v Barnsley (17/12) | 6,717 | Peterborough United v Reading (20/03) |
34,650 | West Ham United v Doncaster Rovers (10/03) | 7,004 | Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/02) |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 7,540 | Peterborough United v Blackpool (10/03) |
33,366 | Leeds United v West Ham United (17/03) | 7,555 | Peterborough United v Portsmouth (28/01) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,572 | Doncaster Rovers v Millwall (20/03) |
33,010 | Derby County v Leeds United (26/12) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
33,010 | Derby County v Nottingham Forest (17/03) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
32,875 | West Ham United v Southampton (14/02) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 27th March | |
Crystal Palace v Doncaster Rovers (20:00) | Peterborough United v West Ham United |
Ipswich Town v Middlesbrough | Portsmouth v Hull City |
Leicester City v Nottingham Forest | |
Friday 30th March | |
Doncaster Rovers v Birmingham City | |
Saturday 31st March | |
Blackpool v Southampton (17:25) | Ipswich Town v Barnsley |
Brighton & Hove Albion v Middlesbrough | Leeds United v Watford |
Bristol City v Derby County | Peterborough United v Leicester City |
Cardiff City v Millwall (12:30) | Portsmouth v Burnley |
Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest | West Ham United v Reading |
Hull City v Coventry City |