Five Things Learnt from midweek action

Aston Villa win, Gary O’Neil loses his head and BT Sport treat us

With the FA Cup taking centre-stage over the weekend, Premier League action was pushed into midweek, with three games on Tuesday and seven on Wednesday.

It was yet another exciting game-week for England’s top division, and it’s time for SillySeason to highlight their Five Things from the 10-games.

So without further ado, here are Five Things Learnt from Tuesday and Wednesday’s games.

5) Remi Garde’s First Win

Remi Garde’s first win as Aston Villa boss and the club’s first win since August. Fair to say Tuesday was a massive night for the Villains.

Rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, Villa were desperately seeking a win, and thankfully for them, they got that over Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

Wayne Hennessey will certainly be receiving thank you cards from the Villa fans as he fumbled the ball over his goal-line, but that’s the luck you need when you are at the bottom.

Can Garde keep Villa up? It’s not looking good as it stands, but that win was huge for the club.

4) Gary O’Neil Is A Foolish Man

If you haven’t seen Gary O’Neil’s red card yet from last night, find it and watch it.

It has to go down as one of the stupidest red cards in Premier League history. The ball was harmlessly rolling out for a throw-in near the halfway line, and O’Neil decides to go flying through the Stoke City player from behind.

The game was at 0-0 and only 30-minutes played.

No clue what was going on in O’Neil’s head, but it’s one of the dumbest things we have seen on a football field.

He has since apologised to the club and the fans, but that doesn’t bring them three points.

3) Jermain Defoe Still Has It

He might not be as quick as he used to be, but boy he can still finish.

Jermain Defoe netted another Premier League hat-trick last night as Sunderland thrashed 10-men Swansea City 4-2 at the Liberty Stadium.

He may not be able to run onto the through balls these days, but give the man a chance in front of goal, and he’s almost certain to take it.

Three goals and three vital points for Sunderland and Sam Allardyce.

Can Defoe keep them in the Premier League?

2) Leicester City Take Advantage

Manchester City drew 0-0 at home to Everton and Arsenal drew 3-3 away at Liverpool.

Perfect time to score a late winner against Tottenham Hotspur and that’s exactly what Leicester City did last night thanks to Robert Huth.

A 1-0 win over Spurs put Leicester joint-top with Arsenal and it certainly keeps them in the title-race.

Surely they must be considered genuine title-contenders now?!

1) BT Sport Treat Us

Two games. 12 goals. Thank You BT Sport.

On Tuesday night they showed us Newcastle United vs Manchester United. A game which ended 3-3 with a dramatic late equaliser for the Magpies.

They then followed that up with a night at Anfield where Liverpool also scored a last-minute equaliser to draw 3-3 with Arsenal.

Two games with 12 goals and plenty of entertainment.

A great mid-week treat.

So there are our Five Things Learnt from the mid-week action.

What are yours?

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt