• What They Said

Winning ugly is good for Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo saw his Chelsea side battle to a 1-0 win over Stoke courtesy of Didier Drogba's 100th Premier League goal and the Italian felt it was positive for his players to show their fighting skills in a physical affair.

Di Matteo said: "When you play against Stoke City you know it is going to be difficult to break them down because they defend well and they defend with a lot of players,' noted Di Matteo after the final whistle.

"The sending off really didn't change much because they still had two banks of four and defended very deep, so it was just a case of getting one goal, and if you get an early goal it obviously makes it easier.

"Sometimes you have to win like this, it is not always going to be pretty. Sometimes you have to win playing scrappy."

Stoke had Ricardo Fuller sent off for a stamp on Branislav Ivanovic and manager Tony Pulis was disappointed with his striker. He said: "It's a ridiculous reaction from Ric. He has been at this football club for six years now or whatever and he's been a fantastic player for the club. But he is prone to react sometimes like that and - like I say - it's unacceptable. He's a great lad, I've got a lot of time for him, and he's the first one to apologise when he went in the room.''

Owen Coyle saw his Bolton side claim a vital three points with a late win over QPR. He said "Today is a very valuable three points, we've managed to leapfrog them and it was important to win that game today. We've had to change shape but with 15 minutes to go we thought it was there to win.

"I think I said it would be two teams going out to win the game and so it proved. It was incident-packed from the early stages."

Bolton's win was overshadowed by a series of blunders from officials, the most serious of which was the failure to award QPR a goal despite Clint Hill's headed effort being at least two feet over the line. And R's boss Mark Hughes was far from happy with the outcome.

Hughes said: "I gave myself a little bit of time to calm down before seeing the press, but I'm still desperately disappointed. The officials really let themselves down today.

"Martin Atkinson is a good referee, I acknowledge that, but he was hugely let down by his assistants today. How they missed the Hill header which crossed the line is beyond me. Everyone else in the ground knew it was a goal. That's why the assistant is in the position he is in from corner kicks, so how has he missed it?

"Someone has told me the FA have released a statement saying they're fully behind the bid for goal-line technology, which does nothing for our situation - that's laughable. The timing of that statement staggers me. They're just covering themselves because they know how much criticism they'll get for the displays of officials that they supply.

The goal that never was left Mark Hughes extremely angry © PA Photos

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"All we want is a fair crack of the whip and we didn't get that again today. I feel we should have had two penalties, but the assistant on the near side had lost his nerve by then.

"We've benefitted from an equaliser that was slightly offside, but that doesn't matter. The key decision, at the key moment, went against us. All we're asking for is a fair wicket, which we're not getting at the moment."

Sunderland claimed a 1-0 win over Liverpool courtesy of a bizarre goal from Nicklas Bendtner. The ball struck the post twice, once via the back of Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, before Bendtner stabbed home and lack Cats boss Martin O'Neill felt his side deserved the win.

O'Neill said: "I thought we played very strongly today - we had to. It was a game where there were very few chances, but it was very entertaining nonetheless.

"The crowd got behind us and stayed with us, which was great - very encouraging.

"Eventually, I thought we just about deserved to win the game. It was probably even but we had a chance and Bendtner took it and I'm delighted we got the win. With the goal we got that little bit of luck that we needed."

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish did not think it was the greatest game at the Stadium of Light. He said: "I don't think it was much of a game. It was always going to be a bit of good fortune, rather than a bit of brilliance, that won it.

"I think we matched all the attributes Sunderland have. They've been on a good run, but I don't think there was much in the game other than the bit of luck that decided it.

"It never happened for anyone. It wasn't much of a game. It was a bit of luck that decided the difference between a draw and a victory - and Sunderland got the good fortune."

"Although we lost today, I thought we matched them and then when we went behind I thought it was a good reaction from everyone to try and rescue something from the game."

Roberto Di Matteo celebrates Chelsea's victory © PA Photos

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Everton manager David Moyes hopes his side can carry their momentum into a vital week in the club's season after they saw off Tottenham. Unbeaten in 10 games, the Toffees now must prepare for a derby meeting with Liverpool in the Premier League on Tuesday and an FA Cup quarter-final with Sunderland next weekend.

Moyes, who celebrates ten years at the club this week, told ESPN: "It's a hard week for us but it's the sort of games I want to be involved in. I have always hoped when I came here that we would be able to challenge with the big teams. We were a bit lucky but we got three points."

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp could not believe his side had failed to score after seeing Jermain Defoe have a goal ruled out for offside and substitute Louis Saha shoot against the post late on against his former side.

Redknapp said: "How did we lose it? In the second half we never came out of their half. We just couldn't get a goal.

"They couldn't get the ball off us. We penned them in and we just couldn't get the break. It was just one of those days in the end."

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish praised goal hero Andreas Weimann after he silenced the boo-boys with a last-gasp winner against Fulham at Craven Cottage. McLeish was greeted with boos and cries of 'you don't know what you're doing' when he took off Charles N'Zogbia and replaced him with Weimann in the 73rd minute. But with seconds remaining, Weimann earned Villa their first home win for four months after fellow substitute Gary Gardner's shot had been parried by Mark Schwarzer.

McLeish said: "Listen, the fans were great. They see a forward coming off and Charles has been in good form, no doubt about it, but I did want to get Weimann onto the pitch at some stage. I'll take it (the boos) on the chin. You don't want to be hearing it but it is part of the modern game. The fans were excellent but I thought we gave the fans something to be excellent about because of the way we played.''

Fulham boss Martin Jol admitted: "It was a real kick in the teeth and harsh to concede in the final minute. I don't blame anyone for the goal but I feel in the last minute you have to keep the opposition in front of you. We didn't do that for the goal.

"Villa pressed us high up the pitch in the first half and did well but in the second half we were the better team. We changed the system, created a spare player in midfield for the second half and that was the solution for us.''

Jol took the decision to replace skipper Danny Murphy at half-time after he received a cut to his face in an aerial challenge with Stephen Ireland. He said: "Danny had a cut to his face and they had to stitch it so I made the decision to put someone else on instead of waiting for the doctor's decision.''

Terry Connor insists Wolves have what it takes to stay up despite the team's 2-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Blackburn. The result at Molineux, coupled with Bolton's 2-1 victory over QPR earlier in the day, left Wanderers 19th in the Premier League table, a point adrift of safety with ten games left to play.

"This leaves us second-bottom, but still with a lot of fight,'' Connor said. "We spoke after the game and we still believe. One game doesn't make or break a season, so we will be in there and be competitive for the next 10 games. Regardless of the losses we suffer, we must remain positive so we can get enough points to remain above that dotted line come May 13.''

Blackburn boss Steve Kean was delighted with his team's efforts, particularly as they managed to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season.

"I felt as though probably we should have got another couple of goals, but what impressed me was the work ethic of the team,'' Kean said. "Junior Hoilett will get the headlines for his performance, but I felt right from (goalkeeper) Paul Robinson, through the back four and into the midfield unit, our work off the ball was really good and I think that gave us a platform to go and get a clean sheet, which we have been working so hard to get.''

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