A brief look at the winners and losers after the weekend's Premier League action, with one man returning to his former glory.

Winners

Lassana Diarra: Impatiently demanding moves away from not one but two of England's top clubs within six months after just a handful of appearances doesn't seem like grounds for calling the Frenchman a winner. Neither does admitting he expects to walk out on Pompey as soon as the big guns come calling. However, his performance on his Fratton Park debut, which helped Portsmouth to their first home win since September, had winner written all over it. As does his hefty pay packet.

Claudio Pizarro: The former Bayern Munich striker may have been the very antithesis of prolific since joining Chelsea, but he's now scored two goals in two games against Birmingham City. Do they sing "Can we play you every week?" in Peru?

Mark Hughes: The Blackburn boss proved gladiatorial appeal has not abated in the age of prawn sandwiches and cushioned seats. With his side 1-0 down at home, Hughes whipped up the crowd by sparking an argument with Boro manager Gareth Southgate after throwing the ball at Jeremie Aliadiere. "The fact of the matter is I saw a couple of centre halves I used to do battle with and reverted to type," quipped Hughes. "It was pre-meditated, the crowd was flat and it was the best thing I did." Ewood Park began to stir, and Hughes was vindicated when Matt Derbyshire came off the bench to grab a share of the points.

Losers

Alex Ferguson: Unlike his former United protégée, Fergie fired up the crowd in the wrong way. Following Wayne Rooney's opener at the Madejski, Fergie twice gave a clenched fist 'up yours' gesture at the Reading fans that was reminiscent of Mel Brooks in Spaceballs. He now faces a 'rap' from an FA 'probe' into the incidents.

Titus Bramble: The first 40 minutes were so promising for Wigan. The hitherto dour Latics have started to play something resembling football under Steve Bruce, even on the comically awful JJB pitch. Then Bramble undoes all his and his team mates' good work in an instant with a criminally under-hit backpass for Andy Johnson to pounce on and nutmeg Chris Kirkland. To add insult to injury it was Johnson, and not Bramble or the excellent Marcus Bent, who got to pull off the 'A-Star' celebration they all covet.

Roy Hodgson: The home defeat to Arsenal at the weekend means that Hodgson has picked up just two points from a possible 15 since taking over at Fulham. The Cottagers have trips to fellow strugglers Bolton and Boro in two of their next three league matches. Failure by Fulham to get results from those fixtures will most likely send them down.

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