Benfica kissed the embers of their title hopes goodbye as they lost 1-0 at home to mid-table Académica.
The Eagles have now gone four games without scoring from open play, a fact which marks a harsh contrast to their big name rivals.
Porto and Sporting easily put three past their opponents this week and haven’t failed to score since their goalless draw at the end of February.
In my opinion, one of the most overrated players in the Premiership is Richard Dunne. The guy is the master of the schoolboy error and is practically guaranteed to provide the opposition with one golden opportunity over the course of 90 minutes. His rather vacant eyes display the intelligence levels that lead him to repeatedly make rash decisions and if his simple, pudgy countenance was topped off with a scraggly bowl-cut then he would make the perfect village idiot for that long awaited Willow sequel.
He has the most Premier League own goals (tied with Jamie Carragher on 6) and the most Premiership red cards, clocking in with 9. Dunne’s most famous red was when he hauled down Tuncay in last season’s encounter at the Riverside. In a tribute to the hapless Irish centre-back, the City team that day all tried to emulate his skill level and as a consequence, Boro stuffed them 8-1.
There have been a lot of stories in the last few weeks and days about the impending 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, which occurs this coming Wednesday. Clearly it was and still is a real tragedy that is rarely seen in the usually safe world of sport. Yet one of the saddest aspects about it is that almost twenty years on there remains a need for a campaign for justice.
So, did you successfully spot the footballer last week?
Did you win the chance to write an article for 90minutesonline?
No, you didn’t, because it was Fulham’s Danny Murphy, not Phil or Gary Neville or Barry ‘two fingers’ Ferguson.
Wetherspoons seemed a fitting location to meet before the match. Over a £1 pint in a dirty glass I perused the League One standings in a copy of the Sun.
It appeared that the result would mean as little to the teams as it would to me. Both Orient and Colchester were stoically mid-table. Their five remaining fixtures were of almost no consequence.