Chelsea 2 - Arsenal 0 (Premier League, February 7, 2010) (Longer highlights here.) The Gunners conceded a poor goal after just seven minutes at Stamford Bridge, a quick corner whizzed into the near post where John Terry (who else!) rose unchallenged to flick a ball to the back stick and Didier Drogba stuck the ball over the line. Arsenal came back into the game after falling behind, but a 21st minute Blues counter-attack led by Lampard found Didier Drogba out wide on the right, the Ivorian cut past two Arsenal defenders and drilled a brilliant left foot shot past Almunia for his incredible 12th goal against the Gunners in 12 games. (First half highlights here.) The post match interview with Didier Drogba can be seen here.

Birmingham 2 - Wolves 1 (Premier League, February 7, 2010) (Longer highlights here and MOTD highlights here.) Wolves break the deadlock at St. Andrews minutes before the halftime interval, as Johnson deflected a cross on to his own post and striker Kevin Doyle was in the right place at the right time to tap home with Hart sprawled on the ground. Birmingham levelled the match 10 minutes from time when Fahey’s chipped a pass over to the far post where old-timer Kevin Phillips claimed his second goal of the season with a header across goal. Kevin Phillips then went on to steal all the headlines with a second five minutes from time, Carr raced down the right and his cross eventually arrived to the Phillips who controlled the ball on his chest before volleying a wonderful finish past Hahnemann.

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Nottingham Forest 2 - Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Championship, February 6, 2010) Dexter Blackstock’s first-half penalty gave Forest the lead before Luke Varney levelled with 17 minutes left for the Owls. But Billy Davies’ side claimed maximum spoils as Blackstock grabbed his second goal.

Hartlepool 2 - Leeds 2 (League One, February 6, 2010) Luciano Becchio bagged a brace for Leeds United but a 90th minute goal from Hartlepool’s Antony Sweeney denied the promotion hopefuls as the encounter dramatically finished 2-2.

Tranmere 0 - Oldham 1 (League One, February 6, 2010) Pawel Abbott’s ninth goal of the season eased some of the pressure on Oldham boss Dave Penney as they recorded a second win from 12 games.

Manchester United 5 - Portsmouth 0 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (MOTD highlights here.) Pompey were under the cosh from virtually the first minute of the match, but just after the half hour Nadir Belhadj saw his effort cleared off the line by Evans. Manchester United waited until five minutes from the interval to breach the Pompey backline, Wayne Rooney continuing his spellbinding form to head home a Fletcher cross as the visitors’ defence went awol. United doubled their lead in injury time at the end of the half, Nani ran Vanden Borre ragged down the United left hand side and the full-back deflected the winger’s cross past James into the near post. After the break United went into overdrive, Michael Carrick saw a deflected shot loop over James for number three, and Dimitar Berbatov then got on the scoresheet with a gentle strike into the far corner. Dead and buried, Pompey’s misery continued when Marc Wilson turned an Evra cross into his own net.

Gary Neville’s post match interview can be seen here, Michael Carrick’s here, Patrice Evra here and Sir Alex Ferguson here.

Liverpool 1 - Everton 0 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (Longer highlights here.) The first half of the Merseyside derby was more about the bad tackles and the furious tempo rather than actual goal mouth chances, with the main talking point concerning the sending off of Kyrgiakos in a filthy challenge with Fellaini that should have seen the Belgian dismissed too. Gerrard, after falling all to easily, went close with a free-kick while Cahill sent a point-blank header over the bar at the other end. (First half highlights here.) Nine minutes after the break the 10-men of Liverpool struck as Dirk Kuyt was left unchallenged in the six yard box to head in a corner. Everton were impotent after falling behind and a disappointing day for the Toffees ended when Pineaar collected his second yellow at the death.

Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt’s post match interview can be seen here. A selection of the hard tackles on show at Anfield can be seen here.

Hull 2 - Manchester City 1 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (Longer highlights here and MOTD highlights here.) City fell behind at Hull just before the break, Jan Venegoor of Hesselink held the ball up brilliantly on the edge of the visitors’ box and teed up Jozy Altidore for his first Premier League goal into the bottom corner from 20 yards. The Tigers netted a crucial second at the start of the second half, Hunt’s corner was headed to the edge of the box by Toure and George Boateng cracked in a left-footed bullet past Given. The Citizens found a lifeline when Johnson’s corner wasn’t dealt with by the Hull defence and Emmanuel Adebayor claimed his second goal since returning from the African Cup of Nations.

Tottenham 0 - Aston Villa 0 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (MOTD highlights here.) Spurs and Aston Villa played out a competitive first half (highlights here) in the race for a Champions League berth, Jermain Defoe having the best chance of the opening 45 when he scooped a shot just over the bar. After the break Villa parked the bus in front of Friedel’s goal, and despite Spurs’ almost total control the Lilywhites failed to find the breakthrough.

Sunderland 1 - Wigan 1 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (MOTD highlights here.) Wigan broke the deadlock at the Stadium of Light with an absolute corker, the Black Cats lost possession to Mohamed Diame, the midfielder advanced into the area on the right and released a rocket into the top corner. Kenwyne Jones came to Sunderland’s rescue with a second half header.

Burnley 2 - West Ham 1 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) The Hammers fell behind at Turf Moor getting sucker-punched by a long ball in the first half, David Nugent latched onto the hoof and lifted the ball over Green for the opener. New signing Danny Fox sealed Burnley’s first league win since October with a stunning second-half free-kick, but substitute Ilan reduced the deficit 10 minutes from time and Mido came agonisingly close to rescuing a point for the Hammers when his low effort struck the post in stoppage time.

Stoke 3 - Blackburn 0 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (MOTD highlights here.) Stoke started and finished the first half (highlights here) against Blackburn finding the net, Danny Higginbotham swept home a loose corner after eight minutes and Mamady Sidibe headed home an Etherington cross just before the halftime whistle. Christopher Samba then saw red for a second bookable offence for Blackburn after the break, and the Potters capitalised on their extra numbers when Matthew Etherington slotted home from 10 yards for Stoke’s third.

Bolton 0 - Fulham 0 (Premier League, February 6, 2010) (MOTD highlights here.) Kevin Davies thought he had secured the points late on, only for referee Mark Clattenburg to rule out the goal for a push on Brede Hangeland.

Newcastle 5  - Cardiff 1 (Championship, February 5, 2010) (Longer highlights here.) Andy Carroll plundered a double inside a devastating opening 15 minutes and in between, was instrumental in defender Gabor Gyepes putting through his own goal as the home side wrapped up the points barely before they had got their second wind. Stephen McPhail was unable to stem the tide as Cardiff wilted in the face of a storm and substitute Peter Lovenkrands claim a brace of his own as Chris Hughton’s men extended their unbeaten league run to 15 games.

Doncaster 1 - Reading 2 (Championship, February 6, 2010) A fabulous Shane Long header, meeting a brilliant cross from the right wing, fired Reading in front at Doncaster. Doncaster struggled to battle back and Brian Howard added a second in the 77th minute before the Rovers revival. Billy Sharp scored a late penalty for the hosts.

Blackpool 1 - Leicester 2 (Championship, February 6, 2010) French forward Dany N’Guessan netted in the 15th minute when he collected a diagonal pass from Martyn Waghorn and fired home left-footed from 12 yards. Substitute Lloyd Dyer added a second in the 78th minute before Blackpool grabbed a late consolation through Stephen Dobbie.

Aston Villa 3 - Chelsea 1 (Barclays Premier Reserve League, February 1, 2010) The home team had defenders Wilfred Bouma and Curtis Davies in their defence and Nathan Delfouneso up front but it was Andreas Wiemann who gave them a seventh minute lead. Kenny Strickland pulled Chelsea level pouncing on a loose corner eight minutes later, but after the break Villa retook the lead when Ciaran Clark scored with a gymnastic bicycle-kick. Jonathan Hogg’s last minute goal sealed the win.

Fulham 1 - Portsmouth 0 (Premier League, February 3, 2010) A dull game between two of the out of form sides in the division was settled in the 74th minute by Jonathan Greening who swept home the only goal after determined work by Duff.

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Leeds 1 - Tottenham 3 (FA Cup 4th round replay, February 3, 2010) Elland Road fell quiet midway through the first half when David Bentley skipped down the right hand side and his cut-back was sliced into the far top corner by the ever-lethal Jermain Defoe to put Tottenham ahead. The Whites fought back valiantly after falling behind, and the home crowd ending up roaring the team into the break after Luciano Becchio bundled home the equaliser in a move in which several Leeds players were offside. Tottenham regained the lead midway through the second half when the David Bentley-Jermain Defoe partnership struck again as the greased-back winger whipped in a low cross that the striker gobbled up. With Leeds throwing caution to the wind at the death, Spurs hoofed the ball up to Jermain Defoe and the forward showed all his confidence to race through on goal and net his hat-trick to set up a tie at Bolton in the fifth round for Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham side.

Hull 1 - Chelsea 1 (Premier League, February 2, 2010) (Longer highlights here.) Manchester United and Arsenal cheered after half an hour at the KC Stadium as Hull centre half Steven Mouyokolo headed home a corner to leave league leaders Chelsea playing catch up. The Pensioners drew level in the 41st minute when returning striker Didier Drogba found space to curl a free-kick through the Hull wall and into the far corner. (First half highlights here.) Hull remained determined, solid at the back and competitive up front throughout the second half as the Tigers put in a stellar performance to deny Chelsea two crucial points in the title race.