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Plays of the Day: Chips are down for Balotelli

Mario Balotelli 'celebrates' his opening goal © PA Photos

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You've got the wrong guy
Tongues were set to wagging prior to kick-off at the Etihad Stadium as Newcastle named Sammy Ameobi ahead of the more experienced Shola against Manchester City. "Shola's no longer even the best in his own family", one ESPN staff member may have snorted. But did Alan Pardew definitely mean to include Sammy? Surely if he writes "S. Ameobi" on his team-sheet he can keep the opposition guessing right up until kick-off?

When the chips are down...
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for Manchester City fans, they were hit where it really hurts on Saturday. Having already had to stomach the agony of dropping two points in their first 11 fixtures, and bite their tongues when Darren Fletcher scored that meaningless consolation for United in a 6-1 drubbing at Old Trafford, City fans may well feel it was the final straw when the club ran out of chips at the Etihad Stadium. In the owners' defence, they are shy of a fiver or two.

Mario's not happy
The facts: Manchester City get a penalty, Mario Balotelli takes that penalty, and Mario Balotelli scores that penalty. However, you wouldn't have known it by the Italian's celebration, which involved crossing his arms and scowling as if he was doing a Simon Cowell impression. Maybe Mario had been banking on a chippy dinner at full-time...

Knocking it out of the park
Following Robin van Persie's equaliser for Arsenal in their 2-1 win at Norwich (he ended up with two goals although could have had half a dozen), the Dutchman celebrated by swinging an imaginary golf club (these footballers are so imaginative aren't they?). As a result, it seems only right that we rate the Gunners' individual performances in golfing terms. You might say Van Persie was Arsenal's ace, their hole-in-one, while Aaron Ramsey probably did enough for a birdie. Gervinho tried hard enough to be considered a par-save after finding the bunker, but Per Mertesacker - not for the first time - has to be labelled your triple-bogey. Flimsy defending Per, flimsy.

Robin van Persie's goal celebration caught the eye © PA Photos

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Showboat of the day
When you think of the art of showboating in football, you maybe think of Cristiano Ronaldo smugly looking the other way whilst throwing a step-over, or Andrei Kanchelskis looking for shore as he stands on top of the ball. However, those guys never produced the goods under the shadow of their own crossbar - they never turned on the style when a mistake would result in a certain goal.

Step forward Norwich's Russell Martin, the new showboating king. Reacting to the threat of Theo Walcott, who had stepped inside and side-footed the ball past the keeper towards the far corner, Martin lunged towards his net, turning his right boot to the side in order to glance Walcott's shot an inch over his own bar. We bow to you Mr Martin (even if you did later cost your team the game).

Good coaching
Here's a question. What do you do to keep nerves to a minimum when you've won just one of 11 matches this season, ahead of a relegation six-pointer? Blackburn's answer? Turn up to the ground less than an hour before kick-off, giving the players just about enough time to groom David Dunn's hair before heading onto the pitch. The result? A goal in 67 seconds. They eventually drew, but give the coach driver a raise nonetheless.

Scandalous decision of the day
Wigan were made to settle for a point against Blackburn when really it should have been all three. Trailing 2-1, Rovers equalised through Junior Hoilett, but a second inspection showed Morten Gamst Pedersen took the corner to himself. The controversy began when Yakubu motioned to take the corner but did not touch the ball, meaning Pedersen should only have been allowed one legal touch. However, the referee thought Yakubu had already got the ball rolling, so to speak, allowing Pedersen to storm towards goal in order to set up Hoilett.

Miss of the day
What is it about players of promoted Premier League sides missing golden chances against Manchester United? Earlier in the season Anthony Pilkington looked more likely to predict the winning lottery numbers, twice, before he would find the net at Old Trafford for Norwich, and on Saturday Scott Sinclair caught the bug for Swansea. Offered an open goal dead centre of the area, six yards out, Sinclair suddenly became Djimi Traore, getting his legs in a complete mess to waste the opportunity.

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