Here's the past two days in footballing highlights:
Match of the Weekend: Leeds United 2 Norwich City 2
With the FA Cup going pretty much according to plan, excuse Leyton Orient and Everton, the weekend's best match-up came in the Championship as two of the division's high-fliers fought out an entertaining draw. This was a League One fixture last year, but both teams have hit the ground running in the Championship and heading into the Spring fixtures, the pair find themselves very much in the promotion picture. Leeds had led through Lucciano Becchio, but a forward-thinking Canaries side then went ahead through strikes from loanee Henri Lansbury and Wes Hoolahan. Both sides hit the woodwork, but substitute Davide Somma hit a superb equaliser to share the spoils. Pacy, equally full of mistakes and class - all what is brilliant about football in the Championship, and played in front of no less than 31,000 at Elland Road.
Hero of the Weekend: Jonathan Tehoue
Kept the romance of the FA Cup going, as Crawley Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton all fall at the fifth round hurdle. Leyton Orient were trailing one-nil to a Tomas Rosicky header and the O's substitute collected the ball just in front of the Gunners' defence on eighty-nine minutes. With equal amounts of skill, drive and luck, Tehoue powered through Kieran Gibbs and Ignasi Miquel before firing a neat finish past Manuel Almunia. Que euphoric celebrations at Brisbane Road, and Orient now have a lucrative replay at the Emirates to look forward to, which will help with their Olympic Stadium bid. To add to the glory even more, Orient chairman Barry Hearn has rewarded his hard-working troops with a trip to Las Vegas. I think I speak for his team-mates when I say he is the hero of the weekend.
Villain of the Weekend: Ashley Cole/Nicolas Anelka
Both massive sulks and massively out-of-form, but I could have chosen any of the woefully out-of-form Chelsea team. Their double defence is now all but over as they surrendered the FA Cup in dreary fashion, slugging out a second level 90 minutes with Everton, then letting a lead slip in injury time. Many would have thought Frank Lampard would have spared their immensely disappointing season descending into disaster, but the plucky Toffees hit back in the last minute with a Leighton Baines free-kick. Enter penalties, and a lazy spotkick from Anelka and a down-right ridiculous one from Cole left Phil Neville free to win the match for Everton and seal their passage to the fifth-round. But Chelsea are left to muse on a poor season, only savable by an unlikely Champions League victory.
Pause for Thought - The Championship Promotion Race
It seems now there is a six team race for the one remaining promotion spot (assuming QPR keep their impressive lead) and the rest must fight it out for the play-offs, with one missing out. Leeds and Norwich shared a point this weekend, while Nottingham Forest jumped into second spot with a big victory over Cardiff City. There were also wins for Swansea City and outside bet Leicester City, meaning there are six in-form sides in the mix - discounting extraordinary runs from Burnley, Millwall or Hull. All that guaranteed is it will change almost every week and it will be entertaining, but at this present moment; with one defeat in nineteen games; Leeds have the form to carry them back to the Premier League. But any of them would bring something to the top division, so let's enjoy the best fought title race in years.
And here's the Hero of the Weekend in action, Tehoue's equaliser and the match highlights of Leyton Orient 1 Arsenal 1.
NWR
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