Carlos Tevez has removed any doubt that he is the most important player in the Premiership. Without the moody striker, City could very well be a mid-table team. He is the heartbeat of what they are doing at City, and with two goals in Sunday's win over Fulham, Tevez has become the top goal scorer in the entire Premier League.
In North London, Samir Nasri stoked the fire of an already ferocious rivalry between Spurs and Arsenal when he announced that he would not be shaking the hand of ex-teammate William Gallas before the game. Gallas, whose Arsenal contract expired last year at Arsenal, signed with Tottenham in the summer. When the two clubs met each other earlier in the season in a Carling Cup tilt, Gallas took exception to Nasri's incessant flopping and diving all over the pitch.
Once Nasri's nonsense was over, Tottenham and Arsenal played to another classic North London derby. Arsenal surged out to a 2-0 halftime lead, thanks to goals by Nasri and Marouane Chamakh, before the brilliance of Gareth Bale and Rafael Van Der Vaart took over for Spurs. Bale scored another highlight reel goal, Van Der Vaart finished a penalty, and in the 86th minute the Dutch superstar sent a free kick into the box to have defender Younes Kaboul head in the dramatic winner as Spurs stole an impressive 3-2 win against their hated rivals.
Chelsea struggled again, losing 1-0 to Brimingham City, and suddenly a team that seemingly had the Premiership title locked up has huge concerns, with Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Man United all within striking distance of the number one spot.
Elsewhere, Bolton continue to show that they are for real, and will be a force to be reckoned with all season long. Swedish star striker Johan Elmander added two more goals, and Kevin Davies, one of the more enjoyable players to watch in the Premiership, scored twice as the Wanderers thumped Newcastle 5-1.
Manchester United took care of business, something Chelsea could not do, taking a 2-0 decision over Wigan in what was a nasty battle that saw Wigan players sent off. Stoke City won 3-0 over West Brom, as Tony Pulis' men continue to impress with their defense. Blackpool continue to look like a team that has no designs on making it a one-and-done in the Premier League, winning 2-1 over Wolves at Bloomfield Road to life themselves into 11th place in the table. Liverpool spanked West Ham 3-0, and Blackburn stifled a hard to figure out Aston Villa side 2-0.
With Sunderland still scheduled to play Everton on Monday night, this is what the table looks like through 14 games:
RK | TEAM | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | Pts | ||||
1 | Chelsea | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 28 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 28 | ||||
2 | Manchester United | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 28 | ||||
3 | Arsenal | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 26 | ||||
4 | Manchester City | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 25 | ||||
5 | Bolton Wanderers | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 22 | ||||
6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 22 | ||||
7 | Sunderland | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 19 | ||||
8 | Stoke City | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 19 | ||||
9 | Liverpool | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -1 | 19 | ||||
10 | Newcastle United | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 18 | ||||
11 | Blackburn Rovers | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -1 | 18 | ||||
12 | Blackpool | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 18 | ||||
13 | Aston Villa | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 15 | -5 | 17 | ||||
14 | Birmingham | 14 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -2 | 16 | ||||
15 | West Bromwich Albion | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | -9 | 16 | ||||
16 | Everton | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 15 | ||||
17 | Fulham | 14 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -3 | 14 | ||||
18 | Wigan Athletic | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -13 | 14 | ||||
19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | -11 | 9 | ||||
20 | West Ham United | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 | -14 | 9 |