Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao) – The young Basque was rested for the mid week game against Valencia when they lost 2-0 at the Mestalla. San Jose however returned to the backline at the weekend to face Real Zaragoza at home and Bilbao once again kept a clean sheet with him in the side. The Basque side should have however beaten their lowly opponents, who are still battling against relegation, and Fernando Llorente especially will feel frustrated that he did not put away one of the many chances that came his way. They battered Zaragoza but the game ended 0-0. Zaragoza did have a couple of openings of their own to score but Humberto Suazo blasted wide from outside of the box in the first half, and Bilbao goalkeeper Iraizoz had a heart in mouth moment late in the second half, after stopping an attack, he controlled the ball with his feet and ran with the ball like a defender outside of his own penalty area, his delusion of granger however got him into trouble when he passed it straight to a Zaragoza who could only fire it at a Bilbao defender. Bilbao now lie seventh in the table with five games to go.
Krisztian Nemeth (AEK Athens) – The Hungarian striker completed 90 minutes as AEK won 2-0 against Asteras Tripolis in the Greek Super League. On 12 minutes, good combination play between Manduca and Nemeth led to the Liverpool loanee firing wide right of the post. The Hungarian more than made amends after half-time though when his cross across goal was met by Djebbour, who finished to make it 1-0 on 47 minutes. Nemeth also combined well with Leonardo on the hour mark to set up a shot but it was Pantelis Kafes who finished off their opponents late on into injury time. See highlights of the match: AEK Athens v Asteras Tripolis.
Jay Spearing (Leicester City) – The midfielder scored his first goal for Leicester City in the 4-1 drubbing of Watford. Spearing had a lively game, and was involved in the action from the off. He nearly had a good chance to score the opening goal but Andy King’s cross was cleared before the ball got to him. The Liverpool loanee then nearly sent Steve Howard through on goal but his pass was blocked. Leicester did however go in at half time in the lead after a penalty from Martyn Waghorn and a goal from Paul Gallagher saw the Foxes go in 2-0 at the break, although Steve Howard was sent off just before the interval. The ten men were not deterred in the second half though and Jay Spearing struck a fantastic volley to make it 3-0 on 51 minutes, sealing victory for Leicester. The Foxes still however kept going forward and substitute James Vaughan made it 4-0 on 67 minutes before Watford got a consolation goal through Martin Taylor to make the final score 4-1. The Foxes are now on 70 points, safely in a playoff place with 2 games to go.
Stephen Darby (Swindon Town) – Swindon failed to capitalise on Leeds and Millwall’s defeats at the weekend as they were held at home by Walsall. The Robins dominated possession and the goal scoring chances in the first half, and young right back Stephen Darby also had a chance to score but after being well positioned in the box, he miss-controlled the ball and the chance was gone. It was Walsall who took the lead though just before halt-time when striker Steve Jones calmly finished from short range. Prolific striker Charlie Austin equalised 10 minutes into the second half but the Robins couldn’t find the winner, leaving them in 4th, 2 points off second place.
Robbie Threlfall (Bradford City) – The Reds full back started once again for the Bantams as Bradford came from 1-0 down, to win 2-1 against third bottom side Barnet at Valley Parade. Albert Adomah had put the visitors into the lead but a late Bradford fight back put pay to Barnet’s ambitions of a victory. Mid way through the second half, Threlfall fired a blistering 30 yard effort which only went narrowly over the bar. The attempt seemed to spark Bradford into life and goals from substitutes Luke O’Brien and Michael Flynn sealed victory for the home team.
