• Premier League Plays of the Day

Plays of the Day: Case closed for Ferdinand

Wayne Rooney lost his cool with Fabricio Coloccini © PA Photos

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Roo stupid little...
When Wayne Rooney got himself sent off for England for lashing out at a Montenegro defender, it was said by Stuart Pearce that the Manchester United man would "learn from it and become a better player". Well, given the fact Rooney is just days away from his hearing for that resulting suspension, you might have thought he would keep his boots to himself. This is Rooney we're talking about though, the ticking time bomb with increasing hair coverage, so when Fabricio Coloccini's body was over the ball in the first half at Old Trafford, of course Rooney took his opportunity to boot the Newcastle man.

Pearce was right though, Rooney clearly had learned. He'd learned to do it whilst the referee wasn't looking so that he avoided any punishment.

Right place at the right time
If there's one way to describe Javier Hernandez, it's surely the saying above. Certainly it summed up Manchester United's opener against Newcastle. The Magpies had coped well with the champions until the 49th minute, when Rooney's volley was blocked by Steven Taylor. However, Taylor's instinctive clearance clattered into Hernandez, who was not even looking as the ball dribbled over the line.

Get it on your Twitter account
Poor old Rio Ferdinand may well find it irresistable to enter the social networking realm to complain about Newcastle's penalty on Saturday. Having got a large section of the ball when sliding in on Hatem Ben Arfa, the United defender got up to see the linesman pointing to the spot. Rio's reaction? Point to the thousands of fans in red shirts all complaining about the decision, as if that was proof that it couldn't possibly have been a penalty.

Heroes in black-and-white
There were too many to speak of as Newcastle clung on for the draw in the final 10 minutes at Old Trafford. After Pirates of the Caribbean auditionee Jonas Gutierrez had taken the easy way out by getting sent off for a stupid challenge, Tim Krul was first to stand tall, blocking Nemanja Vidic at point-blank range. Then Danny Simpson took over, stretching out a leg on the goal-line to effectively stamp on the ball, keeping it out by a matter of centimetres to earn the Magpies a draw.

Tim Krul made an outstanding save from Nemanja Vidic © PA Photos

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A fast learner Villas-Boas is not
If we're honest, we all knew that John Obi Mikel needed replacing at Chelsea. Long before he dwelled on the ball for Liverpool's opener last week, we all knew he was the best piece of business Manchester United have ever done. It seems Andre Villas-Boas needed time to realise, but finally he fielded Barcelona Academy product Oriol Romeu against Wolves. Unsurprisingly, the Barca kid was class, and turned in a better display than Mikel has ever provided in Chelsea blue.

Moses the example to follow
Sunderland were 1-0 up and battering Wigan at the Stadium of Light, but the mood changed moments before half-time when Victor Moses received the ball. Getting himself into the area, the Wigan man suddenly hit the turf, touched by absolutely nobody. Sebastian Larsson was the culprit in the referee's eyes, who pointed to the spot, and Wigan went on to win the game.

Good touch for a big man
Big David Wheater never looked like the most cultured of defenders, yet he was once tipped to be England's future in that particular position. This cameo for Bolton, against Everton, argues to the contrary. First showing the kind of touch that Emile Heskey has built a career on, Wheater then lunged at Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's ankle, earning himself a red card before the game had even got going.

Over-used cliche
We all knew what would happen when Glenn Whelan's strike was deflected past Paul Robinson in Blackburn's 3-1 defeat to Stoke. Cue the commentator: "That's the type of thing that happens when you're down the bottom." What? Countless shots at goal? A deservedly one-sided defeat? An eighth loss in 13 games? A pay rise for your manager? Oh, hold on...

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