Robin Van Persie ended his 751-minute goal drought as Manchester United continued their charge towards the English Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Stoke. After 10 games without scoring, the Dutchman made amends at Britannia Stadium with a well-taken penalty. Van Persie’s 20th league goal put him hot on the heels of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (22 goals) in the race for the golden boot. He also becomes the sixth United player to reach 20 league goals in a single season after Dwight Yorke, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Robin Van Persie celebrated his first goal in 11 games with manager Sir Alex Ferguson
Meanwhile, Suarez’s own goal drought continued into a fourth match as Liverpool was held to a 0-0 draw by relegation-bound Reading. After an impressive mid-season run, the Reds have now collected just five points from their past four games.
Several EPL games were postponed due to the semi-finals of the FA Cup last weekend but Arsenal enjoyed the opportunity to show their wares as they came from behind to beat Norwich City 3-1 at home. The Gunners moved up to third place with 59 points from 32 games – one point ahead of Chelsea with a game in hand.
Paul Di Canio celebrated with his players in the Tyne-Wear derby
The highlight of the weekend was the Newcastle–Sunderland derby. Controversial Black Cats manager Paul Di Canio traveled to St James Park for his first ever Tyne-Wear derby and left with his side’s first triumph at Newcastle in 13 years. The relegation-threatened Sunderland belted the Magpies 3-0, collecting a crucial three points in their fight for Premier League survival. But the shock result only inflamed hostilities between fans with a number of incidents after the game resulting in the arrest of 26 people.
Sadly, it was the second violent event of the weekend. Premier League side Wigan won their FA cup semi-final at Wembley against Championship club Millwall to reach the FA cup final for the first time in their history, albeit against EPL powerhouse Manchester City, but the win was marred by brawls between Millwall fans in the stands. As Wigan Chairman Dave Phelan said, “I just don’t understand Millwall fans!”
