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A sore loser and a graceless victor were the legacy of a contentious clash in which the referee ultimately had far too great an impact and which would appear to have gone a long way towards settling two of the Premier League campaign’s many outstanding issues. An extraordinary Blackburn comeback, featuring two goals in the final eight minutes after Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios had been incorrectly dismissed, will surely be enough to keep Sam Allardyce’s in-form team in the top flight.

For Spurs, despite a league run in 2009 that had only been bettered by the top four and Everton, lingering hopes of competing for an unlikely place in Europe next season seem to have been removed thanks, as the manager Harry Redknapp was swift to point out, to Peter Walton. “The sending off was wrong. It was diabolical,” said Redknapp after the referee twice booked Palacios within 60 seconds for fouls on David Dunn.

“It was the second tackle; he didn’t touch him. The referee was completely wrong. He does his best, bless him, but he makes a lot of mistakes. I have seen him do it before. I said to the players at half-time that he would do something to try to even things up. I thought he would give a penalty or a free-kick or a sending off, and I was right.

“It’s disappointing, but we can build a team from here. I have good players. We were bottom when I came to the club and we could have gone seventh today. I have players who can play and that is what I want. I want my teams to play on the floor. That is the way that I know. I would rather play that way.”

Until Palacios’s 79th minute departure Tottenham had comfortably handled anything Rovers had thrown at them, whether route one or not. Spurs’ dominance was absolute and, yet, they had only Robbie Keane’s penalty to show for their endeavours.

Gaël Givet was harshly adjudged to have handled an Aaron Lennon cross when it seemed more a case of ball hitting hand, and Walton further angered Rovers players and supporters by refusing to even investigate their claims that Keane placed the ball in front of the penalty spot before beating Paul Robinson with the kick.

As predicted by Redknapp in the dressing room at half-time, Walton’s influence on the game was not over, and his decision to dismiss Palacios contributed to a quite remarkable Spurs capitulation. That display by his team and some inevitable questionable goalkeeping from Heurelho Gomes – not Blackburn’s alleged route one approach, not Walton’s ineptitude – might have been a more appropriate target for Redknapp’s ire.

In the 82nd minute, the previously immaculate Jonathan Woodgate allowed the emergency forward Christopher Samba to gather a long ball, turn and play in the unmarked Benni McCarthy for the equaliser. And three minutes from time, Ledley King and Samba tussled at the near post as El Hadji Diouf’s corner came across, Gomes flapped, and Andre Ooijer stood unhindered as he forced in the ball.

Christopher Samba in each half, having been pushed up front at half-time

The Blackburn relief was absolute although Diouf, true to character, managed to play the role of graceless winner, seeming to celebrate in front of the Tottenham fans and their goalkeeper on the final whistle. Gomes, certainly, interpreted Diouf’s gestures as inflammatory and the pair had to be separated.

“Diouf is an emotional guy,” said the Rovers defender Ryan Nelsen. “He brings a lot of personality to the team and I mean that in the right sort of way. Since he’s come here he has been fantastic, a real breath of fresh air. He’s hungry and he wants to win. So maybe it was just a bit of that.

“What you have to understand is that he is cut from a different mould to a lot of us. But to me that’s awesome; it would be boring if we were all the same. He’s a fantastic lad and an emotional guy. He wants to win so badly when he’s on the field and people can sometimes take it the wrong way. Maybe that’s what’s happened.”

Had Tottenham displayed a similar will to win, the Senegalese would have had no cause to celebrate.

Man of the match Christopher Samba (Blackburn Rovers)

• Delight, despair and all points in between
• To take part in the fans’ verdict, email fans@observer.co.uk

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester City

Louise Cowburn, Observer reader

I wrote a piece for the Observer at the beginning of the season suggesting it could be “au revoir” to Wenger if we didn’t win a trophy this year, but that won’t be the case now and that’s as it should be. Everyone was behind Wenger today, which was good. There was lots of creativity and a real sense of “teamship”; we basically took over the show. Having Fábregas back and Walcott there was massive. In fact, everyone was behind the team, and the players looked confident. Even Emmanuel Eboué got plenty of support when he came on.

Player ratings Almunia 9; Sagna 7, Touré 8, Gallas 8, Clichy 6; Denilson 7, Song 6; Walcott 8 (Eboué 70 7), Fábregas 8 (Ramsey 79 6), Arshavin 7; Adebayor 8 (Bendtner 70 5)

Kevin Parker, official supporters’ club We’ve become used to this away from home. It’s depressing. It looked like the players expected to get beat, but the worst thing was that they didn’t put up a fight. I thought Dunne and Onuoha played quite well, but beyond that there were several less than acceptable performances. There was no chanting for Mark Hughes to be out, but the reality is that it depends on the Uefa Cup this week. There were some individuals having a go at Hughes, but he will really be under pressure if we fail this Thursday. Everyone is waiting for that game.

Player ratings Given 7; Richards 6, Onuoha 7, Dunne 6, Bridge 5 (Fernandes 17 5); Wright-Phillips 6, Zabaleta 5, De Jong 5, Kompany 5 (Elano 38 5), Robinho 5 (Sturridge 76 n/a); Bellamy 5

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Bill Boaden, Observer reader

We didn’t deserve the win. Our passing was woeful, but we’ve got spirit and we’ve played better and lost. Tottenham didn’t help. It’s in our hands now and we should stay up. We’re supposed to respect referees, but Peter Walton was unsighted for the handball and still gave a penalty. We’ve had him before and he’s been poor. We’re happy with Allardyce. It’s not always pretty, but he’s got us organised.

Player ratings Gomes 7; Corluka 7, King 7, Woodgate 7, Assou-Ekotto 6; Lennon 7 (Zokora 81 6), Palacios 7, Jenas 6, Modric 7; Keane 6, Bent 6 Subs not used Cudicini, Dawson, Chimbonda, Huddlestone, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko

Dave Mason, Observer reader

We lost because we had no drive to impose our superiority. We were at least a division better than them, but we got into a comfort zone, and players like Keane and Jenas go missing. With Allardyce teams it’s watch your ankle time. How they got one yellow card for dissent alone is beyond me, and Diouf disgraced himself at the end by winding up our fans. Allardyce’s team was epitomised by Diouf’s sneering attitude.

Player ratings Robinson 6; Andrews 5, Nelsen 6, Samba 7, Givet 7; Diouf 6, Mokoena 5 (Tugay 62 6), Warnock 7, Pedersen 6 (Dunn 25 7); McCarthy 6, Roberts 6 (Ooijer h-t 7) Subs not used Brown, Olsson, Villanueva, Treacy

Bolton Wanderers 4-1 Middlesbrough

Aaron Haley, worldwidewanderers.co.uk

4–1’s a flattering result, but you have to win these games in such a tight league. Ricardo Gardner was outstanding and could be our player of the year alongside Kevin Davies. Gary Megson still gets stick. He has done well, but he’s the wrong fit for us. We needed someone with fresh ideas after Allardyce and Lee. But we’re safe now and you can’t argue with that.

Player ratings Jaaskelainen 6; Steinsson 6, Cahill 7, Shittu 7, Samuel 6; McCann 7; Davies 6, Muamba 6, Gardner 9, Taylor 7; Elmander 7 (Basham 83 6) Subs not used Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Cohen, O’Brien, Smolarek

Rob Skilbeck, MSS-online.org

We’re down. We were relegated after the Stoke game but this was the final nail in the coffin. We gifted them three goals, and teams will punish you. The lesson for Southgate is that if you sign a £13m striker, make sure he can head. Alves missed an absolute sitter at 2–1. When we went down in 1997, we fought until the final day, but this time everyone’s already given up.

Player ratings Jones 5; Wheater 4, Huth 4, Pogatetz 4 (Taylor 36 5); Hoyte 4, Bates 5, O’Neil 5, Downing 5; Tuncay 8; Aliadière 5 (Emnes 74 5), Alves 3 Subs not used Turnbull, McMahon, Shawky, Walker, King

Fulham 0-1 Liverpool

David Lloyd, There’s Only One F In Fulham

It was a sickener. The stats will show that Liverpool had countless attempts, it was like crossbar challenge. We were in the game. They couldn’t finish and the fact that we lost shouldn’t detract from how well we were in the game. We had courageous defending – compact, solid. Murphy did very well against his old team and there were no real weak links. Unlike United they really came at us. There was full commitment from both teams and a feeling for us of being calm in the situation. I drove away thinking: where did he get the extra four minutes?

Player ratings 8, Konchesky 7; Davies 6 (Gera 79 6), Etuhu 7, Murphy 8 (Dacourt 76 6), Dempsey 6; Johnson 7, Zamora 6 Subs not used Zuberbühler, Nevland, Kamara, Kallio, Baird

Darren Phillips, ShanklyGates.co.uk

To borrow a saying: Football – bloody hell. It was amazing because a player not due to play comes on and has an impact. We didn’t seem affected by the international break. For a while it felt like the woodwork was giving Fulham an extra man. Fulham played much the same as against Man United but I think we had more chances. And we hit the bar four times – just a matter of inches but it never seemed it was going to go in. I’m delighted to be on top of the league again – you fear a draw just wouldn’t have been enough with United looming.

Player ratings Reina 6; Arbeloa 7, Skrtel 7, Carragher 7, Insúa 7; Alonso 8, Lucas 7; Kuyt 7 (Benayoun 7 76), Gerrard 8 (Agger 90), Dossena 7 (Babel 6 65); Torres 7 Subs not used Cavalieri, Riera, Mascherano, Ngog

Hull City 0-0 Portsmouth

Rick Skelton, HullCityOnline.com

A poor game, all in all. There were only about three or four serious efforts at goal in the entire game. Towards the end David James made a good save from Fagan and Portsmouth hit the post in stoppage time. Both defences were on top – Crouch didn’t win a thing and was well marshalled. It was a scrappy midfield. Glen Johnson should have been sent off for his first yellow card.

Player ratings Duke 7; Dawson 7, Zayatte 8, Turner 8, Ricketts 7 (Folan 85 n/a); Fagan 6 (Kilbane 71 6), Ashbee 8, Geovanni 6, Mendy 5; Barmby 8 (Marney 74 5); Manucho Subs not used Myhill, Garcia, Halmosi, Featherstone

Chris Gibbs, Pompey-Fans.com

The biggest cheer of the day was actually when Southampton’s score went up – as they’d lost! This wasn’t the best of games and you could see why both teams are where they are in the league. The match was crying out for a bit of inventiveness. Neither manager was prepared to commit more players forward. Kaboul was perhaps man of the match, but the keepers had little to do.

Player ratings James 7; Kaboul 7, Campbell 6, Hughes 6, Distin 6; Johnson 5, Mullins 5, Kranjcar 6 (Belhadj 76 7), Hreidarsson 6; Crouch 7, Nugent 5 (Kanu 64 7) Subs not used Begovic, Pennant, Basinas, Pamarot, Utaka

Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea

Rob Higgins, Observer reader

The Shearer bubble of the past few days was already pricked before kick-off by the result from Blackburn and the atmosphere was surprisingly flat. Chelsea quickly showed they were different class with their slick passing, and our back four – with Coloccini as the new Titus Bramble – was always going to cave in. The second half was a stroll for Chelsea. The effort was there but we didn’t have the quality. It was great to see Shearer on the touchline but we need him in his prime and on the pitch. All the signs are that we’re going down.

Player ratings Harper 7; R Taylor 3, Beye 5, Coloccini 3, José Enrique 5; Lovenkrands 5 (Duff 44 4), Butt 4, Nolan 4 (Guthrie 69 4), Gutiérrez 4; Martins 4 (Carroll 80 n/a), Owen 5 Subs not used Forster, Smith, Geremi, Edgar

Trizia Fiorellino, Chelsea Supporters’ Group

We started poorly and for a long while it was looking horribly like the defeat at Spurs until Lampard – as usual – came to the rescue. After the first goal the team relaxed and we could’ve had three or four. It was peculiar that Anelka was playing wide, it was only when he came into the centre that we looked dangerous, I don’t know why Quaresma isn’t used more. I don’t think we’re back in the title race, we had our chance at Spurs and blew it. Newcastle were dire. They call Shearer the messiah and he’ll need higher powers to keep them up!

Player ratings Essien 8 (Ballack 57 7), Mikel 7, Lampard 8; Kalou 6, Anelka 6 (Di Santo 68 8), Malouda 7 Subs not used Hilario, Carvalho, Deco, Belletti, Mancienne

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Stoke City

Terry Wills, Baggies@yahoogroups.com

Before the game we had already lost the war to stay in the Premier League but, considering our record against Stoke, I just wanted us to win this one battle. But instead of coming out of the trenches fighting, we came over the top waving a white flag. It was a huge letdown; we made the usual defensive errors and the game was effectively settled in the second minute. In midfield, we continued to overplay and pass the ball in every direction but forward. This result confirms we’re back on the road to nowhere in terms of securing a long-term position in the top flight.

Player ratings Carson 4; Zuiverloon 4, Martis 6, Olsson 6, Robinson 5 (Bednar 61 4); Morrison 4, Greening 5 (Koren 61 5), Valero 6, Brunt 5; Fortune 5, Simpson 4 (Teixeira 61 4) Subs not used Kiely, Hoefkens, Moore, Dorrans

Richard Murphy, Author, Stoke City On This Day

We’ve finally claimed our first away win of the season – but we always beat West Brom so we knew that was going to happen! It was a normal Stoke-West Brom game from start to finish: they had all the ball and we scored all the goals. But to start the way we did with Fuller’s strike, they were destined to struggle. We’re really playing to our strengths, we’ve got blokes who can score in Fuller and Beattie and neither goal came from a long throw. To be honest, Stoke fans always knew we’d stay up – and now we’re one step closer to proving that to everyone else.

Player ratings Sorensen 7; Wilkinson 7, Shawcross 8, Faye 8 (Pugh 75 6), Higginbotham 7; Lawrence 6, Whelan 8, Delap 7, Etherington 6; Beattie 8 (Cresswell 79 6), Fuller 9 (Olofinjana 89 n/a) Subs not used Simonsen, Kelly, Camara, Sonko

West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland

Pete May, author, Hammers in the Heart

Really good result today, considering the scratch team we had to put out. It was great to see Stanislas and Tomkins score, and players like Lucas Neill did well out of position. Even Boa Morte had one of his better games. If we can get results out of games like today and get a few players back like Parker and Cole we’ve got a chance of Europe, but it’ll be difficult. It’s just nice to see the academy still going strong.

Player ratings Green 7; Spector 6 (J Collins 73 5), Tomkins 8, Upson 7, Ilunga 6; Neill 7; Boa Morte 7, Noble 7, Stanislas 8 (López 90 n/a) Tristán 6, Di Michele 6 (Dyer 81 n/a) Subs not used Lastuvka, Savio, Sears, Payne

Martyn McFadden, A-Love-Supreme.com

We were too negative from the outset, and despite some good possession in the first half had no penetration. Worryingly, we didn’t show any fight. In the past we had players who may not have been as good but gave 110%; now we have better players who don’t give 100%. The matches against Hull and West Brom will decide our fate. Sbragia hasn’t proved himself. We need a high-profile, box-office manager.

Player ratings Gordon 7; Bardsley 7, Ferdinand 6, D Collins 6, Ben Haim 5; Malbranque 6 (Edwards 75 6), Leadbitter 6, Richardson 7, Whitehead 6, Murphy 4 (Jones 54 5); Cissé 6 Subs not used Fulop, Nosworthy, Reid, Healy, McShane

Wilson Palacios’ sending off proved costly for Tottenham as they conceded the late goals that keep alive Blackburn’s hopes of Premier League survival.

The visitors were forced to play the final dozen minutes without midfielder Palacios, who collected two bookings inside 60 seconds, both for fouls on David Dunn. And that lack of discipline was the game changer, as Benni McCarthy and André Ooijer were both on target in the closing stages for what could prove to be a vital victory for Rovers.

Three minutes after Palacios’ departure, Spurs failed to properly clear a Blackburn corner and Keith Andrews’ long ball was helped on by the emergency striker Chris Samba for McCarthy to convert emphatically.

Three minutes remained when Blackburn completed the comeback after the Tottenham goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes, had tipped over Stephen Warnock’s strike and conceded a corner, and El-Hadji Diouf’s delivery was forced over the line by Ooijer after Samba and Ledley King’s near-post tussle seemed to put off Gomes.

Tottenham’s first half opener had been shrouded in controversy, coming after 28 minutes following a flowing Spurs counter-attack, which saw Keane’s pass free Aaron Lennon down the right. The England winger’s centre struck the arm of Gaël Givet and, with his linesman motionless, referee Peter Walton immediately pointed to the spot.

The harsh decision by the official was compounded when Keane placed the ball off the penalty spot, at least a foot closer to the Blackburn goal and, despite Rovers’ protests about the positioning, the Irishman calmly beat Paul Robinson low to the keeper’s right.

Contentious as that opening goal may have been, it was no more than the visitors deserved on the balance of first half play. Robinson had saved brilliantly from Darren Bent and there were also threatening set-piece headers from Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate.

In response, Diouf headed Morten Gamst Pedersen’s hanging cross just wide, while Diouf’s 21st minute effort was cleared off the line by Benoît Assou-Ekotto.

After the interval, and with Samba pressed into service up front because of injuries, McCarthy headed wide from six yards but there was no hint of the drama to come until the dismissal.

• Referee Walton ‘made a big mistake’ says Harry Redknapp
• Sam Allardyce pleased with Blackburn’s ‘never-say-die’ attitude

Tottenham’s manager, Harry Redknapp, was furious after his side’s 2–1 defeat to Blackburn, placing the blame squarely on the dismissal of Wilson Palacios.

Redknapp was incensed by the referee Peter Walton’s decision to send the midfielder off in the 80th minute, opening the door for late goals from Benni McCarthy and Andre Ooijer to overturn Robbie Keane’s first-half penalty.

“I’ve got to say the referee made a big mistake sending Wilson off,” Redknapp said. “We’d dominated the game and I couldn’t see them scoring a goal if they’d played all night when we had 11. But to lose a midfield player who had probably been our biggest player today gave them a massive lift. From a game we had complete control of we’ve come away with nothing … unbelievable.”

The Spurs manager hinted that the home crowd’s reaction may have swayed the referee. “Wilson made no contact at all with David Dunn and I think he was embarrassed because he got up and shook Wilson’s hand,” he said, “but the crowd started shouting and he’s decided to send him off.”

The Rovers manager, Sam Allardyce, was impressed with his team’s battling qualities after being forced to press the defender Chris Samba into a makeshift role up front following an injury to Jason Roberts.

“It was desire, a bit of determination, overcoming adversity, never giving up, never saying die – which I don’t think we’ve done since I’ve been here,” said the Blackburn manager. “It probably was one of our lesser performances but that doesn’t matter; it’s all about results. We’ve nicked a win and we’re very happy.”

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” That’s what the Newcastle United crowd screamed at Sam Allardyce last season. Thing is, he does know, doesn’t he. Blackburn were in real bother when he took over at Ewood Park in December; now they’re out of the relegation zone with a real chance of staying up. The same can be said of Harry Redknapp, whose Spurs have sprung from the very bottom to the safety of mid-table. As for Newcastle United? Ahem.

A quick word on Newcastle United’s Alan Shearer, before we get down to business: Shearer spent the majority of yesterday banging on about how riding in on his white charger is a selfless act. He’s only doing it for the club, and not for Alan Shearer. Not, repeat, for Alan Shearer. Thing is, he’s just been on Football Focus to say: “A friend of mine asked me this question: if you don’t take the job, and Newcastle stay up, will you regret it? And the answer was yes.” He’d regret it if Newcastle stayed up? And he wasn’t involved?! Where’s Sigmund Freud when you need him?

Blackburn make one change from the team that drew with West Ham, Keith Andrews replacing Andre Ooijer: Robinson, Andrews, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Diouf, Mokoena, Warnock, Pedersen, Roberts, McCarthy.
Subs: Brown, Ooijer, Kerimoglu, Dunn, Villanueva, Treacy, Olsson.

Ledley King is fit! Ledley King is fit! Gomes, Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric, Bent, Keane.
Subs: Cudicini, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Pavlyuchenko, Dawson, Chimbonda.

Northamptonshire’s finest: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)

Kick off: 12.45pm. At the time of writing, that’s in ten minutes time, not that you or anyone else in the future will be interested about that.

And we’re off! Tottenham have lost to every team below them in the table this season - apart from Blackburn. If this stat is wrong, don’t blame me, I’ve not been doing any research. I’m simply parroting what the chap on Sky is saying. Thank you, my Guardian!

3 min: Kickity hoof, hoofity kick. Onwards, upwards, upwards, onwards.

7 min: “Forgive my ignorance of Tottenham glory teams of the past, but who is the tiny fella under the trophy? He has the look of a northerner to me,” writes Ian Copestake, showcasing attitudes without which the mid-70s LWT sitcom would have been nothing. That’s 5ft 3in Terry Dyson, and he is indeed a Yorkshireman. He’d just scored in the 1961 FA Cup final against Leicester, and would be Tottenham’s man of the match in the 1963 European Cup Winners Cup final. As you may have worked out, there is absolutely nothing to report from this match so far. Sky Sports may as well have trained a camera on a glass of warm still water.

9 min: Diouf miscontrols a ball while ambling down the right wing. King watches it fly out of play. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for the FA Premier League, the best in the world!

10 min: Bloody hell. This is dreadful. I’m under no obligation to big this up, so I’m not going to. I’m wondering whether this will be the first match in the history of All Football during which absolutely nothing of note happens. Even the 2003 Champions League final had something for the defensive purist.

11 min: SOMETHING VAGUELY INTERESTING HAPPENS! Sort of. Pedersen cuts inside from the left and swings a cross to the far post. Diouf dives and heads well wide right of goal. Gomes had it covered. However, the pulse still isn’t racing yet.

12 min: SOMETHING VAGUELY INTERESTING HAPPENS AGAIN! Keane breaks down the inside-left channel. His cutback into the centre isn’t great, but thanks to hapless Blackburn defending eventually falls to Modric, whose shot is deflected wide for a corner on the left. From it, King sends a glancing header drifting wide right, Jenas not too far from latching onto it himself and prodding home. Perhaps this is slowly turning into a classic.

15 min: Gomes comes off his line to claim a long ball, but doesn’t make it. Do Blackburn take advantage? No. “Perhaps this is slowly turning into a classic.” Well, it’s not.

18 min: Here, this was brilliant. Almost. Palacios slides a beautiful ball, centre-left to right, along the ground and into the area for Bent, who comes in from the right wing and arrows a shot towards the bottom-left corner. That’s such a sweet pass. Robinson, the sort of flying potato not seen in the game since the days of Tommy Lawrence, sticks out a strong hand to turn the shot wide. The corner is a waste of time. Anyway, Terry Dyson. “Many thanks, very enlightening,” replies the ever-so-polite Ian Copestake. “I’m also glad to see my investment in box sets of Mind Your Language continues to pay off.”

21 min: Pedersen Rory Delaps it into the Spurs area from the left. The ball causes confusion and breaks to Samba, who has space to shoot - but the ball won’t sit up for him and the chance is gone. That was nearly a very promising opening for the home side - and Spurs were lucky there.

22 min: Pedersen Delaps it again from the left. Gomes comes, misses, and the ball falls to Diouf. The resulting shot is arrowing towards the ungarded top-right corner of the net, but Assou-Ekotto somehow highkicks it clear. Tottenham are not dealing with these long throws at all; expect more trouble ahead for them.

25 min: Great news for Spurs: Pedersen-Delap sits down on the turf and holds his calf. It looks as though he might have to be replaced by Dunn. Yep, he’s going off, to a smattering of light applause. Dunn eventually comes on, about a minute later, when he can be bothered.

26 min: Lennon makes a brilliant run down the right, cuts into the box, and shanks a hilariously useless cross high into the stands. England fans will be familiar with this.

27 min: Brilliant play by Palacios again: he dummies to send Keane into space down the middle. Keane sprays the ball out right to Corluka, who cuts inside at pace and scrapes a shot just wide right of goal. He should have done slightly better with the shot, but that’s a great move by Spurs.

28 min: Very fortunate penalty for Spurs! Lennon comes in from the right and whips a low cross into the area which dinks off Givet’s hand. Givet was taking his hand out of the road, albeit not quite quickly enough, and was only standing about a yard from Lennon, but a penalty it is.

30 min: Blackburn 0-1 Tottenham. Keane places the ball not on the spot, but in front of it! Blackburn complain, but to no avail; he’s allowed to take it anyway. What nonsense. He might as well be allowed to shove it over the line from 1cm with his nose. Anyway, Keane takes the kick with confidence, slotting it in the left-hand inside side netting. Robinson goes the right way, but he’s never getting there.

34 min: Blackburn can’t keep hold of the ball at all now. To a man, they’ve got real funky heat. “Can I just politely (cos that seems to be the order of the day, and is much nicer) point out that Tommy Lawrence was known as the flying pig, rather than the flying potato?” asks Mike Fitzgerald. Yes, Mike, yes you can. He did look more like a potato than a pig, though, didn’t he? You’ve at least got to give me that.

36 min: Blackburn are all over the shop. Corluka, Keane and Bent diddle around down the left, then Modric is slipped into the area. He’s free, just to the left of goal, ten yards out with only the keeper to beat! But he hesitates for no reason whatsoever, allowing Andrews to steam in and naff off with the ball. Meanwhile Gary Naylor is of the opinion that Aaron Lennon is hot bull: “We’re always told that once Lennon learns how to play a decent cross, he’ll be a fantastic player. After 204 appearances, I venture to suggest that if he was capable of learning, he’d have learned by now.” In fairness, learning about stuff ain’t so easy. For example, I’ve been doing these reports for years now, and will you look at the state of them.

38 min: Blackburn put a one-pass move together! Robinson hoofs it long, and it skims off Samba’s head in the Spurs area. Woodgate spirits the ball clear of danger. That’s better from Rovers, would you believe, who are playing very badly indeed.

41 min: Tum te tum. Nothing doing here at present. A very poor match, this, give or take a couple of thrusts forward by Tottenham. So, then, Tommy Lawrence. “He possibly did look more like a potato than a pig,” concedes Mike Fitzgerald, “though seeing him dive full length was thing of rare beauty, with the emphasis on the rare rather than the beauty.”

42 min: Another peach of a pass from the super-impressive Palacios, who sprays one to the right-hand corner of the Blackburn area, where Lennon awaits. If the winger takes that down, he’s clear on goal, but his first touch isn’t too clever, spooning up into the air, and Nelsen flees the scene with the ball, cackling.

44 min: Ewood Park is very quiet. And no wonder. Blackburn are a shower.

45 min: Keane and Modric stream down the field and win a corner. From the left, the ball’s sent to the edge of the area for Palacios, who hammers a volley towards the bottom-right corner. That’s a super effort, though it’s impressively blocked by Samba.

HALF TIME: Absolute Shower 0-1 Tottenham. Woodgate flashes a header wide right of goal from a corner. Givet Delaps it from the left and Warnock slices a shot wide left. And that’s that for the half. Blackburn have been utterly woeful and deserve to be losing. Whether Spurs deserve to be winning after being awarded a soft penalty, subsequently taken from one yard out, is another matter. But winning they are. This is a good day for Alan Shearer and Newcastle United so far.

And we’re off again! An injured Roberts is off, Oojier is on. It looks like Samba is being played as an emergency striker. Within ten seconds, McCarthy has had a wild swipe at goal. Blackburn have come out with their gamefaces on, it would seem.

48 min: Blackburn should have equalised here. Robinson pumps a long ball into the Spurs box. Samba beats Woodgate to it with ease, heading down from the left into the centre. The ball falls just behind McCarthy, but finds Diouf, eight yards out. The resulting shot is ugly as sin, sliced high into the stands and well wide right of goal. But Sam Allardyce will be pleased with his side’s reaction so far, a vast improvement on their first-half showing (although admittedly that isn’t much of an achievement in itself).

51 min: Hmm, already it seems Blackburn’s sting has been drawn. The match, all of a sudden, has gone as flat as Ian Brown at a festival.

52 min: Samba wins another header from another long ball, but Corluka steers him down a blind alley and eventually wheechs off with the prize.

53 min: Keane is sent clear down the centre of the park, but he’s flagged offside after breaking a split second too soon. On Sky, Andy Gray suffers an apoplexy, though why I don’t know. He suggests that the benefit of the doubt should have been given to Keane because the decision was a tight one. The fact the linesman got it right - by millimeters, admittedly, but right nevertheless - seems not to have penetrated his hot head. Does football analysis have to be as difficult as this?

57 min: Blackburn are doing that thing when they can’t keep a hold of the ball again. Oh dear. “When Big Sam was doing this at half time,” wonders Gary Naylor, “didn’t somebody tell him that saying ‘Samba is better up front than you shower’ was only a threat and not an actual plan?”

59 min: This is all Spurs, though they’re carving absolutely nothing out up front. “Do Blackburn’s fans hold Shearer in the same regard as Newcastle’s?” asks Ian Copestake. Probably not, Ian, as self-delusion appears to be an art form up in the north-east at the moment (that moment lasting around 17 years). “They should as he played far better for them. Perhaps when his eight games are up at Newcastle he can really come home by replacing Big Sam.” Maybe Shearer should take over at Southampton. As things stand, he appears to have taken the easy option yet again.

62 min: Keane battles brilliantly down the right and feeds Lennon. And what a cross he sends over. What. A. Bloody. Cross. Dear Lord. Bent, in the centre, almost breaks his neck as he snaps it back to see where the ball is.

64 min: Mokoena smacks Palacios in the mouth. He’s off! Only because he’s immediately subbed while the Spurs player gets treatment, though. Much to the home crowd’s pleasure, the ever-excellent Tugay, 83, is on.

66 min: Samba is booked for a sneaky shove in Jenas’s back. “Judging by the ‘improvement’ in performance since the interval, perhaps Big Boned Sam took a leaf out of John Sitton’s book and asked a few of them for a fight to which they could ‘bring their f*@%ing dinner as well’,” writes Lee Calvert, with reference to the greatest football documentary of all time, Leyton Orient: Club For A Fiver, in which Sitton has a thundering nervous breakdown and starts sacking folk at half time. “Of course Sam would not have been using the dinner reference as a euphemism.”

67 min: Jenas is sprung into the box from the right by Corluka. Jenas’s ball across the face of goal is majestic, but no Spurs player is on the front foot, and it rolls sadly out of play on the left.

68 min: See 67 mins, except it’s Lennon sending the ball across, and this time Andrews hacks clear from the centre of his goalmouth. Blackburn are beginning to rock here, and it’s Spinal Tap rather than Deep Purple.

70 min: Blackburn are now just hacking it clear, left right and centre. They’re getting worse and worse. Forget Spinal Tap, this is Jazz Odyssey:

“On the bass… Sam Allardyce! He wrote this.”

74 min: Ewood Park is almost totally silent. Perhaps with the realisation that Blackburn’s next two matches are difficult trips to Liverpool and Stoke City.

76 min: Blackburn stroke it around for a bit, Warnock and Tugay in the thick of it. Diouf scoots down the right and manages to dig out a cross, sending a swerving low effort screwing towards McCarthy. Six yards out, the striker dives and meets the ball with his head, but sprays it well wide right. That was more than a half chance. A three-quarter chance? He should have done a lot better, anyway.

79 min: Palacios is booked for nudging over Dunn with a slightly late nibble.

80 min: RED CARD! And now he’s off! He picks up a second booking for another late lunge on the same player, despite pulling out of the challenge at the very last minute. He deserved a card for the first tackle, but overall that’s pretty harsh, that.

82 min: GOAL!!! Blackburn 1-1 Tottenham. What a passage of play this has been. From a corner on the right - which was probably a goal kick - the ball hits Keane on the hand. The ref doesn’t give a penalty, but no matter: the ball’s lifted back into the box for Samba, who powers clear down the inside-left channel and passes into the centre for McCarthy to sidefoot home under a flailing Gomes.

84 min: Spurs make a change, Lennon being replaced by Zokora.

85 min: How quickly games change. Blackburn have been dismal all afternoon, and now there’s only one team looking like winning it. Twice Samba gets on the end of crosses, one from the left - which clanks off his shins with Dunn waiting on the edge of the area to power home if the ball’s pulled back - and a second from the right, that one seeing him send a slightly clumsy bicycle kick towards the bottom right and into the grateful arms of Gomes.

89 min: GOAL!!! Blackburn 2-1 Tottenham. Superb play from Blackburn: Diouf shimmies down the right, sends Andrews to the byline, and Warnock hammers the subsequent cutback netwards. Gomes palms over brilliantly. What follows from the keeper isn’t so clever: a corner from the left is sent skidding right through the six-yard box, past three black Spurs shirts and the flapping keeper, and to the feet of Ooijer, who scrambles a sidefoot home from two or three yards! Samba was causing a whole lot of bother there at the near post. What a turnaround! How precious could this be to Blackburn Rovers?

90 min: There are going to be three added minutes of this. Samba has been immense.

90 min +2: This looks over now. Sam Allardyce’s half-time tactical change - no matter it was dictated by an injury to Roberts - should get the credit it deserves.

FULL TIME: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur. And that’s that. Spurs remain in mid-table on 38 points, but Rovers leap four places in the table to 13th - and more importantly are now five points from the relegation zone.

Not sure what’s going on here, but Diouf has lost the place totally! He’s rowing with Woodgate, rowing with King, and rowing with Gomes. Suddenly his mood lifts, and he sprints around in front of his own fans dancing like the bastard love child of Terry Butcher and Chris Waddle circa Italia 90. What an afternoon - and not a good one so far for Allardyce’s old club Newcastle, who are a further point from safety as a result of this. “You don’t know what you’re doing”? It seems that’s not the case.

• Drogba and Bosingwa to miss Newcastle trip
• Fábregas and Walcott back for Arsenal

Arsenal v Manchester City (Saturday, 3pm)

Arsenal welcome back Cesc Fábregas after three months out with medial knee ligament injury, but the Gunners will have to make do without leading scorer Robin van Persie, who injured his groin while playing for Holland against Scotland last Saturday, and Eduardo who suffered a similar problem while playing for Croatia.

Midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) is out while Samir Nasri (virus) and Carlos Vela, who has had to make a long journey back from Mexico duty, are also doubtful.

However, Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Adebayor return as does Nicklas Bendtner (knee).

Arsenal (from): Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Denilson, Fábregas, Arshavin, Bendtner, Adebayor, Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Vela, Eboue, Silvestre, Song, Nasri.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes could be without striker Craig Bellamy but expects top-scorer Robinho to be fit for selection against Arsenal.

Bellamy is a major doubt with the knee injury that flared up again on international duty with Wales and forced him to miss his country’s midweek defeat to Germany.

Robinho also limped off during Brazil’s 3-0 win over Peru on Wednesday, but Hughes is hopeful the 24-year-old will be available as City try and claim a first away league win since August.

Wayne Bridge could return from a hamstring strain, while Michael Johnson, Martin Petrov, Daniel Sturridge, Benjani and Didi Hamann are all nearing return from injury.

Manchester City (from): Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Elano, De Jong, Kompany, Robinho, Bojinov, Bridge, Garrido, Fernandes, Evans, Etuhu, Berti, Vassell, McGivern, Hart.

Blackburn v Tottenham (Saturday, 12.45pm)

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is to see a specialist next week if he fails to show signs of a recovery from a knee tendon injury.

The Paraguay international has been out for a month and misses a fifth successive game tomorrow when Tottenham visit Ewood Park for an early afternoon clash in the Premier League.

It is the same situation with midfielder David Dunn, who has been out of action for three weeks with an achilles problem.

Midfielder Vince Grella has returned to training following a groin injury and, although in the squad, tomorrow’s game probably comes too soon for him to figure.

Allardyce’s injury list stretches to four key players, with Brett Emerton and Steven Reid on the long-term casualty list.

Blackburn (from): Robinson, Bunn, Ooijer, Khizanishvili, Nelsen, Samba, Simpson, Warnock, Givet, Olsson, Villanueva, Tugay, Andrews, Diouf, Treacy, Mokoena, McCarthy, Roberts, Pedersen, Grella.

Tottenham club captain Ledley King should be fit for the trip to Ewood Park after resting his suspect knee during the international break.

Alan Hutton returned for Scotland from his foot injury last week but Jermain Defoe is still out, also with a foot complaint, although he is running again.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will make late checks on players who have been on international duty such as Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric and Darren Bent – who hobbled out of England training this week.

Tottenham (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Corluka, Hutton, Chimbonda, Bale, Assou-Ekotto, King, Woodgate, Dawson, Modric, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, O’Hara, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell, Keane, Bent.

Everton v Wigan (Sunday, 3pm)

Everton manager David Moyes will make a late decision on the fitness of Tim Cahill for Sunday’s visit of Wigan as the midfielder has not yet returned from international duty.

The Australian has spent the last week in Sydney recovering from a calf injury but did not play any part in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

Moyes is also waiting for the return of American goalkeeper Tim Howard, the only other player yet to make it back after the internationals.

Right-back Tony Hibbert has resumed training after a thigh problem but may not be ready to play against the Latics.

Everton (from): Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha, Jo, Rodwell, Baxter, Nash, Castillo, Jacobsen, Gosling, Wallace, Van der Meyde.

Wigan will be without Amr Zaki after the Egyptian striker again failed to return from international duty on time. It is the fourth time this season Zaki has gone walkabout after an Egypt game and looks set to be heavily fined by Steve Bruce as a result.

Jason Koumas has a hip problem which needs to be assessed, otherwise the Latics squad is at full strength.

Wigan (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.

Bolton v Middlesbrough (Saturday, 3pm)

Bolton’s players all returned unscathed from international duty leaving midfielders Mark Davies and Joey O’Brien (both knee) the only absentees. Defender Andy O’Brien could feature after being rested in their last game.

Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Andy O’Brien, Samuel, Riga, Taylor, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Kevin Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Makukula, Shittu.

Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson faces a fitness test after picking up two knocks playing for England’s Under-21s. Meanwhile, Chris Riggott returns from injury, midfielder Matthew Bates is back from suspension, but Robert Huth is a doubt with a sore knee.

Middlesbrough (from): Jones, Turnbull, Hoyte, McMahon, Taylor, Grounds, Huth, Pogatetz, Wheater, Riggott, Aliadiere, O’Neil, Johnson, Bates, Walker, Shawky, Downing, Emnes, Alves, Tuncay, King.

Fulham v Liverpool (Saturday, 5.15pm)

Mark Schwarzer and Clint Dempsey will play for Fulham in tomorrow’s clash with Liverpool. Australia goalkeeper Schwarzer and USA winger Dempsey only returned from international duty this morning but have already been involved in training.

Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Stoor, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Baird, Davies, Etuhu, Dacourt, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora, Zuberbuhler, Kallio, Nevland, Kamara, Gray, Barnes.

Liverpool are likely to be without defender Sami Hyypia and midfielder Yossi Benayoun for the trip to Fulham.

Hyypia returned from international duty with a knee injury, and manager Rafael Benítez doubts that the centre-back will be fit for the evening kick-off at Craven Cottage. He could be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Chelsea, however.

Benayoun went on World Cup qualifying duty with Israel already with a hamstring injury and now also has a calf problem.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Dossena, Babel, Mascherano, Gerrard, Alonso, Lucas, Torres, Kuyt, Ngog, Insua, Cavalieri, Riera.

Hull v Portsmouth (Saturday, 3pm)

Striker Daniel Cousin is Hull’s only doubt for tomorrow’s visit of Portsmouth. Cousin has missed the last two games with a back complaint and, having not reported for international duty with Gabon, must still prove his fitness.

The club’s other injury concerns, Michael Turner (thigh), Kamil Zayatte (knee), Andy Dawson (thigh) and captain Ian Ashbee (hamstring), are all fit.

George Boateng (knee) is set to return to full training next week but Anthony Gardner (back) and Jimmy Bullard (knee) are out for the season.

Hull (from): Duke, Ricketts, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Mendy, Ashbee, Marney, Kilbane, Geovanni, Manucho, Garcia, Barmby, Fagan, Halmosi, Folan, Doyle, Hughes, France, Cousin, Myhill.

Peter Crouch, David James and Glen Johnson have all returned unscathed from England duty for Portsmouth’s clash at Hull and Niko Kranjcar has reported no ill-effects after his efforts for Croatia.

On-loan Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has recovered from a thigh injury and should return to the attack, enabling Johnson to revert to his more familiar full-back role but Armand Traore’s hopes of a first-team recall have been hit by a damaged ankle playing for France Under-21s.

Reserve goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown is back after three months out with an ankle ligament injury and could return as cover for James on the substitutes’ bench but Jerome Thomas and Marc Wilson picked up further knocks in their midweek comeback attempts for the reserves.

Portsmouth (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Mullins, Davis, Nugent, Kranjcar, Crouch, Kanu, Kaboul, Pamarot, Utaka, Hughes, Belhadj, Basinas, Ashdown, Begovic.

Manchester United v Aston Villa (Sunday, 4pm)

Gary Neville is expected to return for the first time since January as Manchester United look to halt a two-game losing sequence against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Neville has been struggling to overcome a groin injury but came through a reserve team outing on Monday without a problem and is set to figure for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Nemanja Vidic are all suspended, Dimitar Berbatov (ankle) is out for a fortnight and Anderson is not likely to play after picking up a knee injury on World Cup duty with Brazil.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Ronaldo, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Possebon, Carrick, Park, Giggs, Tevez, Welbeck.

Gabriel Agbonlahor could be restored to the Aston Villa line-up as they look to end a run of eight games without a win in all competitions against Manchester United.

Agbonlahor was left out of the starting XI for the 5-0 mauling by Liverpool at Anfield before the international break with John Carew and Emile Heskey preferred in attack. But Heskey is ruled out with a hamstring injury he suffered after scoring the opening goal in England’s 4-0 win over Slovakia at Wembley last weekend.

O’Neill has to decide whether left-back Wilfred Bouma is ready to play any part after eight months out with a dislocated ankle. He came through a third reserve game in mid-week with no ill effects.

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, Reo-Coker, L. Young, Knight, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Bouma, Milner, Gardner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, Salifou, A. Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Delfouneso, Heskey.

Newcastle v Chelsea (Saturday, 3pm)

Newcastle manager Alan Shearer hopes to have three key players available for his first game in charge against Chelsea tomorrow.

Steven Taylor (ankle) and Sebastien Bassong (groin) are improving and have not yet been ruled out, while Damien Duff (hamstring) was expected to train today. Danny Guthrie is back in contention after an eight-match lay-off with a torn hamstring and strikers Andy Carroll (ankle) and Xisco (fractured toe) have returned to training.

But Shola Ameobi is out with an ankle problem and Joey Barton (fractured metatarsal), Mark Viduka and Ignacio Gonzalez (both achilles) remain on the sidelines.

Newcastle (from): Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce, Figueroa, Watson, Brown, Scharner, Kapo, N’Zogbia, De Ridder, Rodallega, Mido, Kingson, Pollitt, Edman, Cho.: Harper, Forster, Krul, S Taylor, Beye, Bassong, Coloccini, Enrique, Edgar, Cacapa, Butt, Duff, R Taylor, Gutierrez, Nolan, Guthrie, Lovenkrands, Geremi, Smith, Martins, Owen, Carroll, Xisco.

Chelsea are without striker Didier Drogba and right-back Jose Bosingwa for the trip to Newcastle. Drogba jarred his ankle in a training ground accident while Bosingwa returned from international duty with Portugal suffering from a hamstring strain.

Chelsea are boosted by the return of fit-again Nicolas Anelka. The France international has shaken off his toe problem to be included in the squad.

Chelsea (from): Cech, Hilario, Taylor, Belletti, Alex, Ivanovic, Terry, Mancienne, A Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Obi, Kalou, Essien, Malouda, Di Santo, Anelka, Quaresma, Stoch.

West Brom v Stoke (Saturday, 3pm)

West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite returns to the squad for tomorrow’s clash against Stoke.

Meite has recovered from a hamstring problem and illness, although he may have to be content with a place on the bench as manager Tony Mowbray is set to continue with Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis at the centre of defence. Albion have only conceded one goal in the two games they have played together.

Mowbray looks set to retain the side that started West Brom’s last match – the 1-1 draw against Bolton.

West Brom (from): Carson, Kiely, Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Olsson, Martis, Donk, Pele, Meite, Robinson, Cech, Koren, Teixeira, Do-Heon, Valero, Brunt, Simpson, Fortune, Bednar, Moore, Menseguez.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis will assess the fitness of his international quartet ahead of tomorrow’s visit to West Brom.

Republic of Ireland duo Glenn Whelan and Stephen Kelly, Senegal star Abdoulaye Faye and Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen were all due to return to training this morning.

Kelly is likely to be on standby for full-back Andy Wilkinson (back), while Pulis has jet-lag fears over Faye who played in a friendly fixture in Iran.

Amdy Faye will be recalled in central midfield if Salif Diao (groin) fails a fitness test, but striker Mamady Sidibe will play no further part this season after a damaged cruciate ligament was confirmed.

Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Diao, Whelan, Delap, Beattie, Fuller, Simonsen, Etherington, Amdy Faye, Camara, Sonko, Cresswell, Cort, Pugh, Tonge, Griffin, Olofinjana.

West Ham v Sunderland (Saturday, 3pm)

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has a groin injury and may be out for the rest of the season. Scott Parker is carrying a groin problem but may still play, while Radoslav Kovac (thigh) has also picked up a knock.

Central defenders Matthew Upson and James Collins are both fit for selection after missing the last two matches, Savio Nsereko has recovered from a minor knee injury, but Valon Behrami, Jack Collison (both knee) and Danny Gabbidon (back/stomach) are out.

West Ham (from): Green, Neill, Tomkins, Spector, Ilunga, Noble, Parker, Kovac, Boa Morte, López, Tristán, Payne, Di Michele, Dyer, Lastuvka, Sears, N’Gala, Stanislas, Upson, Collins, Savio.

Kieran Richardson returns from suspension for Sunderland’s game against West Ham. But George McCartney is a doubt after sustaining a calf injury in Northern Ireland’s win over Slovenia on Wednesday and Calum Davenport is ineligible because he is on loan from the Hammers.

Ricky Sbragia will give late fitness checks to Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards, who did not get back from international duty in the USA until Friday.

Craig Gordon is pushing for a return after playing for Scotland in midweek and Nyron Nosworthy returns to the squad after coming through a reserve game on Thursday.

Sunderland (from): Fulop, Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Ben-Haim, Collins, Nosworthy, McCartney, McShane, Edwards, Malbranque, Whitehead, Leadbitter, Richardson, Reid, Murphy, Jones, Healy, Cisse.

Here are the matches, moments and Moroccan strikers around Europe that we’ll be keeping a close eye on

WOLFSBURG v BAYERN MUNICH (Bundesliga, Saturday 2.30pm)

You don’t need to be high on Scampi Fries to get excited about the outstanding Bundesliga title race. One point separates the top four with nine games to go, and second and third – Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg – have identical records, even down to goals scored (53) and conceded (31). All of which adds greater intrigue to an already compelling contest: Wolfsburg, who were ninth during the winter break, have won seven in a row, while Bayern cut the gap to the leaders, Hertha Berlin, to one point last weekend. Wolfsburg have taken more points at home than any other side this season; Bayern Munich have taken more points away than any other side. It’s not only the Scampi Fries that have a serious sniff about them.

BLACKBURN v SPURS (Premier League, Saturday 12.45pm, Sky Sports 1)

The brilliant Sam Allardyce has, entirely predictably, done a superb job of cleaning up the mess Paul Ince left at Blackburn: since he inherited a side in freefall in December they have lost just three out of 13 league games, all to top-five sides, and taken 18 points in the process (that’s 53 from a 38-game season, which would have secured a top-10 place in each of the last eight seasons). But Blackburn have developed an uncomfortable habit of not getting their just deserts – one of those defeats, at Old Trafford, should have been a draw, and on the balance of play they could quite easily have won eight and drawn three of the 13 games under Allardyce – and the consequence is that they are only two points off relegation. They should be fine, but with eminently losable games at Liverpool and Stoke next up, anything other than a win at home to an in-form Spurs would leave them vulnerable. Yet they are clearly too good to go down. Aren’t they?

ATLETICO MADRID v OSASUNA (La Liga, Sunday 4pm)

One of the many things that make La Liga so superior to the Premier League (yes, we know the top four are stronger over here, but last time we checked there were 18 or 20 teams in the major European leagues) is the competitiveness. Whereas in England you almost need formal approval to move between the four tiers – Big Four, Everton and Villa, teams who won’t go down, teams who might – from one year to the next, in Spain the league giddyups violently from season to season. Nothing is sacred. Sometimes they even have a different team in the top four! And sometimes, Big Teams go down. In the last decade, for example, five teams who have qualified for the Champions League have also been relegated (Atlético Madrid, Celta Vigo, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and Sevilla) as against just one, unusual case in England (Leeds).

It could soon be Spain 6-1 England, because Osasuna – who finished fourth in 2005-06 – lie in the relegation zone. They have won six of their last nine at home to give themselves a chance of survival, but their away form (no wins in 14) remains awful. This weekend they go to Atlético Madrid, who themselves need a win to potentially narrow the five-point gap to Villarreal in fourth. On the face of it, it’s a home banker. But the lovely thing about La Liga, as we saw when Barcelona hosted Espanyol six weeks ago, is that you never really know.

AZ v ADO DEN HAAG (Eredivisie, Saturday 6.45pm)

For the runaway leader there are two stages of winning the title. The first comes when the public declare you champions; the second when the mathematicians and the proverbial fat lady do so. After the heartbreak of 2006-07 – when they went into the final day of the season top and finished third – AZ Alkmaar, chasing only their second title and their first since 1981, will only be interested in what the mathematicians and the fat lady have to say. They are nearly there: to be certain they need 10 points from their final six games, starting with Den Haag on Saturday. That’s the same Den Haag who smashed AZ 3-0 in September. That was their second defeat in the first two games on the back of finishing in the bottom half last season, when they were hungover and depressed after the brutally cruel ending to the 2006-07 campaign, and collectively not arsed about getting out of bed, never mind brushing their teeth and washing their special place.

Since those defeats, however, AZ have gone on a simply outrageous run of 22 wins and four draws from 26 league games. This achievement is all the more remarkable given that their coach, Louis van Gaal, originally planned to leave in the summer, and that their squad has no truly big names: no AZ players started for Holland in their back-to-back World Cup qualifiers this week, and even the league’s top scorer, Mounir El Hamdaoui, only made his Morocco debut two months ago. One name that is familiar is that of the visionary Van Gaal, who has introduced what our Dutch correspondent Leander Schaerlaeckens calls Total Football 2.0. And after 27 years’ waiting, it is surely going to bring them Title 2.0.

MATCH OF THE DAY (BBC One, Saturday 10pm)

It’s almost worth staying in for again.

The best images from Wednesday night’s action in the top flight

When Blackburn’s manager, Sam Allardyce, emerged from the January transfer window having fought off the attentions of Manchester City for his star forward, Roque Santa Cruz, he probably did not expect that his team’s Premier League survival might depend on the attacking threat of a 6ft 5in centre-half.

It may well be that it is Christopher Samba, rather than Santa Cruz, who holds the key to Rovers’ safety. The theory, offered by Allardyce, may sound as if he is clutching at straws but, having seen his team dominate the 1–1 draw with West Ham without capitalising on their superiority, the manager can be forgiven.

“Chris Samba is one of our major assets,” said Allardyce, explaining his tactic of thrusting the defender up front for the latter stages of the game. “Not only as a defender but in getting us opportunities to score goals. This player will strike fear throughout the Premier League with his aerial power and I am going to use it to its absolute maximum because it’s something that we will be renowned for. He’ll not only be known as a great defender but someone who makes opportunities for us to score goals.”

Note Allardyce’s emphasis on Samba’s ability to create rather than finish. The Congan’s tally of six goals in 73 Premier League games is respectable but hardly a statistic to fill Blackburn fans with optimism. Yet desperate times require desperate measures. Rovers, despite only three defeats in Allardyce’s 13 games in charge, and for all their improvements in confidence, organisation, fitness and durability, are still part of one of the most intriguing relegation battles in Premiership history.

A knee injury ruled Santa Cruz out of this contest and, without him, Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts failed to force a save of note from Robert Green. It was left instead to the substitute Keith Andrews, filling in at right-back, to drill in an equaliser that cancelled out a beautifully worked goal from Mark Noble that, Blackburn claimed, featured an offside contribution from Luis Boa Morte.

West Ham threatened on the counter-attack but it was Samba, in defence, who helped negate the threat. Still, the point kept the Hammers in the chase for a place in Europe. “It would be a massive achievement but all my pleasure would be for the players,” said Gianfranco Zola of his team’s European target. “You see them once a week and I see them every day and the way they work is unbelievable. They deserve to get the reward.”

Man of the match Christopher Samba (Blackburn)

Blackburn enjoyed a lot of possession - but wasted nearly all of it, flinging hopeless balls into the area towards nobody in particular