Sir Alex Ferguson endured a rotten time at Stamford Bridge, but he wasn't the only one who had a weekend to forget.

WINNERS

Michael Ballack

The German was not Chelsea's man of the match against Manchester United - Michael Essien put in a storming display - but he stepped into the absent Frank Lampard's shoes to provide two telling moments, scoring a header and a penalty. After two up-and-down seasons, Chelsea fans might now say he is worth every penny of that £120,000 a week.

Roy Hodgson

Things looked bleak at 10 past four on Saturday. With Fulham 2-0 down to Manchester City and Bolton and Birmingham winning, the Cottagers were down as things stood. But substitute Diomansy Kamara sparked a remarkable turnaround and Fulham grabbed a 3-2 win while their rivals surrendered their leads. They are now three points adrift with two to play.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The PFA player of the year award was a forgone conclusion, even if the Arthur Fonzarelli outfit he wore to accept it was not. What made Ronaldo a winner this weekend was that the result at Stamford Bridge increased the perception that United cannot win without him. Even if he was on the pitch when Chelsea scored the winner and found himself foiled by Ashley Cole yet again.

Tottenham Hotspur

Managed to fight off Newcastle to secure the £16m signing of Croatian international Luka Modric, a player who also interested Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona. Although the player declared himself "very surprised" to be heading for White Hart Lane, and the fee looks exorbitant, Spurs desperately need some genuine quality to augment a distinctly average midfield, and now they have it.

LOSERS

Sir Alex Ferguson

Not so much for the graceless way he reacted to United's defeat - accusing referees of having a vendetta against his side - as for the spectacular backfiring of his selection gamble. With three big games in six days, he could have been forgiven for leaving out Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves - but only if United had escaped with a point. Still, Evra appeared to have plenty of energy after the game.

David James

What a time to suffer your first injury in six years. James had not missed a league game since he was a West Ham player, but a torn calf not only ruled him out of Portsmouth's defeat at home to Blackburn, but more importantly made him doubtful for the FA Cup final. Harry Redknapp said James should be OK but admitted "you never know" with calf injuries.

Clint Dempsey's chances of having children

The Fulham forward got his comeuppance after inadvertently clocking Manchester City's makeshift right-back Elano in the eye with a stray elbow. Dempsey stretched out a leg to block a cross from the Brazilian but misjudged the ball's trajectory and looked on in horror as it thumped into his exposed nether regions. Several eye-watering minutes later, the American managed to resume play.

Chelsea

Well, not really. But the fact that none of their players made the PFA player of the year shortlist, or even the team of the season, proves that nobody really wants them to win the title. Rarely has less credit been given to a team or a manager who are joint top of the league with two games to go.

Alex Chick / Eurosport