Man City miss the chance to make Fergie even more furious

THE weekend was dominated by the sad news of the sudden death of Wales manager Gary Speed, and while it threw events on the pitch into perspective there was still much to talk about after the latest round of matches, that saw five of the top seven draw.

Spurs and Chelsea both made up ground on their rivals with wins, while Wigan's win over Sunderland dragged them off the bottom of the table.

Here's what the fans will be talking about this morning:

City blow their chance
After seeing Man United and Newcastle draw and Arsenal also drop points on Saturday, Manchester City had the chance to open up a seven point lead at the top of the table, and also kill off Liverpool's title challenge. But their failure to beat the Reds will give their title rivals hope. Although they are still well out in front of the pack City blew a golden chance to twist the knife, and showed that they are susceptible to pressure. While Mario Balotelli proved, yet again, that he has the ability to self destruct at any moment.

Hot Spurs in with a chance
Last week Harry Redknapp confidently predicted that if Spurs carried on playing the way they were then they would win the league. It seemed like an idle boast, but Tottenham did it again on Saturday, coming from behind to beat West Brom and go third in the table. They are now seven points behind league leaders City, but have a game in hand. If they win that the gap is down to four and they could emerge as City's most serious challengers. Few people would have given Spurs a chance of winning the title at the start of the season, but it could be time to start taking them seriously.

Chelsea back on course
Andre Villas-Boas badly needed a result on Saturday to ease the pressure on his shoulders after a run of three defeats in five league games, and his side delivered with a 3-0 win over Wolves. The Blues may have slipped to fifth in the table, but their victory came with perfect timing as five of the top seven drew. AVB now needs to regain the momentum the Blues have lost.

Fortress Anfield?
What to make of Liverpool? A couple of weeks ago they were booed off after a 0-0 draw with Swansea, and Kenny Dalglish's men have now not won a home game for over two months (Sunday's game was the fourth straight draw at Anfield). However, the pundits are hailing the Reds' home form and harking back to the 'old days' of fortress Anfield. Both City and United have drawn blanks front of the Kop, but surely Liverpool's failure to beat the likes fo Swansea, Nowrich and Sunderland will have more bearing on their title challenge.

Furious Fergie bemoans penalty
That's what the BBC have been missing all these years, a proper Alex Ferguson rant on Match of the Day. The Manchester United boss was furious after Newcastle were awarded a controversial penalty at Old Trafford and let it be known in his post match interview. He described the decision as a "travesty" and said that no-one in the ground apart from the linesman saw a foul. Even Toon manager Alan Pardew had to agree that his side were lucky, but that may not be enough to spare Ferguson yet another FA charge.

Arsenal are still a one man team
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen joined a select band of Gunners on Saturday when he scored at both ends against Fulham. The centre back put the visitors in front after 65 minutes when he poked the ball past Wojciech Szczesny under pressure from Bobby Zamora. But he made amends eight minutes from time when he burst into the box to head home Theo Walcott's cross and salvage a point for Arsene Wenger's men. It seems at the moment that there's always one Gunner who is the centre of attention, and as Robin van Persie failed to make an impression for once, it was Vermaelen who grabbed the limelight.

Bruce living on borrowed time
Blackburn may be rooted to the bottom of the table after being beaten by Stoke on Saturday, but Steve Kean is set to continue as manager. He is unpopular with many fans but was handed a payrise by the club's Indian owners last week and has been promised funds in January to help Rovers escape the relegation scrap. So, that leaves Sunderland boss Steve Bruce as the leading candidate for the sack after the Black Cats lost at home to fellow strugglers Wigan. His side have won only two games at home all season and there was a mutinous atmosphere at the Stadium of Light at the end of the game. He was in such danger that bookies had suspended betting on his departure by Sunday evening. ·