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Plays of the Day: Sammon smoked

Charlie Adam slices the ball into his own net from a corner © Getty Images

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Two Kean by half
Blackburn fans must have been even angrier than normal when they viewed the teamsheet ahead of their side's game against Liverpool at Anfield. With one Kean still (somehow) in the dugout, they must have been horrified to see a second Kean filling the substitute goalkeeper spot on the bench.

Fortunately for them, it was not Steve taking on an additional role - or even him giving a job to a relative at Christmas. Instead 20-year-old Kean is no relation to his manager, which is probably just as well - even if only in saving him from the fears of early onset baldness...

Ba-tman
With his important strike against Bolton, Newcastle United striker Demba Ba has now scored 21 goals in 25 games for Newcastle, and 20 in 24 starts in the Premier League since joining West Ham at the start of 2011. Robin van who?

Sammon done like a kipper by Dowd
There was something fishy about Conor Sammon's sending off against Manchester United just before half-time on Boxing Day. Referee Phil Dowd appeared to take exception to the Wigan striker's innocuous leap, one that led with an elbow but didn't even see Michael Carrick complain before Dowd took the red card from his pocket.

Sammon's dismissal meant he was off before having a chance to find the net, while Roberto Martinez on the sidelines was left looking very much like a fish out of water. Dowd, however, would make no acknowledgement about the scale of his mistake.

After Sammon's exit Wigan were left swimming upstream, and it was no surprise when they succumbed to an eventual 5-0 defeat.

A history of goals
Back in 1963, there were a staggering 63 goals scored in First Division games on Boxing Day. Fast forward 48 years, and exactly 13 goals were scored across the six top flight games (not including the late kick-off). Which is good news for those tasked with writing the reports on each game, perhaps, but not really for those paying punters looking for some excitement to keep them awake after that second turkey dinner.

Bunn rises to the challenge
A witty Liverpool fan may have observed before kick-off that losing Paul Robinson might not be the blow to Blackburn Rovers it would appear, and so it proved at Anfield on Monday. Back-up shot-stopper Mark Bunn, making a rare first-team start, certainly earned his crust as he helped his side to hold on to a 1-1 draw.

Despite having a defence comprising of (natural midfielder) Jason Lowe and (17-year-old) Adam Henley in front of him, Bunn proved himself up to the challenge of denying Liverpool - with two saves from Andy Carroll in particular catching the eye.

The second was incredible, diving at full stretch to keep out the £35m man as the game entered the fifth and final minute of injury time. Blackburn fans may have secretly wanted their side to lose to increase the chance of manager Steve Kean being sacked, but Bunn's save was certainly worthy of at least a point from the game.

Home Alone 5
Following Monday's draw with Blackburn, Liverpool have now taken just five points from a possible 21 against this fine list of teams: Sunderland, Stoke, Norwich, Swansea, Fulham, Wigan and, er, Blackburn.

Four of those games were at home. Ouch. With or without Luis Suarez, Kenny Dalglish has a lot of work to do.

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