A look at who was hot and who was definitely not in the weekend's matches, with the Gunners taking the initiative in the title race.

Winners

Arsenal: The Gunners became the first side to beat Sven's men at the City of Manchester Stadium in the league this season. The fact that they did it in such style and that neither of their title rivals could match their result means it's advantage Arsenal in the title race.

Jermain Defoe: After putting up with splinters in his backside for so long at Spurs, no one can begrudge Defoe his move to Portsmouth. Scoring on his debut to salvage a point against Chelsea reminded everyone of his class, so much so that he's made the England squad following Gabriel Agbonlahor's injury. Should Benjani's move to Manchester City go through, Defoe will be promoted to top dog at a side pushing for Europe, which is nothing less than he deserves.

Jimmy Bullard: Having been out injured since September 2006, a sentiment had grown that perhaps Fulham wouldn't be in the mess they are in if he had been fit and maintained his early form for the club. Scoring a late cracker on his first home start in almost 18 months to give the strugglers their first win under Roy Hodgson will only increase his legend at the Cottage. Also, he has long, unkempt hair, likes fishing and is called Jimmy. All he needs is a big moustache and he's the complete 1970s footballer.

Losers

Manchester United: Was it a point won against Tottenham, or two points dropped? Alex Ferguson seemed think the former, and we'll have to agree with him after an uncharacteristically below-par performance from the champions very nearly saw them go home with nothing. As it was, the last-gasp equaliser from Carlos Tevez/Michael Dawson salvaged a point but did little to gloss over the fact that United deserved to lose at White Hart Lane.

Alex McLeish: Built up a great reputation for himself by leading Scotland to the double over France and to the brink of Euro 2008 qualification. Big Eck has promptly seen it disappear by leading Birmingham into the relegation zone after his side couldn't even beat an extra-poor Derby at home.

Reading: The fact that the 2-0 home defeat against fellow strugglers Bolton was the Royals' sixth straight loss in the league tells its own story. If the England manager's job was available now, how many people would be calling for Steve Coppell to take up the hot seat?

Kevin Keegan: Leading in the Tyne/Tees derby, with a goal from Michael Owen, it looked as though the second coming was finally getting off to a belated start. Robert Huth's late equaliser condemned the miraculous return of the Geordie Messiah to two defeats, two draws and just one goal scored. Newcastle are still a long way off being the great entertainers they were under Keegan first time round, so expect those theatres down south to be packed for some time yet.

TM / MH / Eurosport