Mario Balotelli had provided an answer to his critics although he was still involved in some controversial-looking incidents during Liverpool’s dramatic 2-1 Capital One Cup victory over Swansea at Anfield.

Capital One Cup Fourth-Round

Liverpool 2 Swansea 1

Fulham 3 Charlton 0

Rotherham 2 Leeds United 1

Crystal Palace 0 Leicester 0

Arsenal 1 Southampton 2

Nottingham Forest 2 QPR 0

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY manager Gary Megson was not getting too carried away with his side’s defeat of West Ham in the FA Cup, insisting ensuring such days return to Hillsborough for good is his main priority.

Sheffield Wednesday 1 West Ham 0

KAGISHO DIKGACOI’S late header secured a first home win for Palace since October and left Birmingham’s European adventurers empty-handed.

Gillingham 1 Aston Villa 2

JIMMY BULLARD is a man in demand.

Fulham 3 Middlesbrough 0

THE sound of Stoke fans jeering Phil Brown highlighted how the Hull City manager’s profile has risen in two years in the job.

Hull manager Phil Brown believes his side was robbed of another Premier League away win after fellow new boys Stoke levelled through a late penalty.

Stoke 1 Hull 1

Chelsea have labelled Didier Drogba’s decision to throw a coin back at Burnley fans as “inexcusable”.

A three-match ban for Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is the only appropriate response to last night’s coin-throwing incident, players’ chief Gordon Taylor said today.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba’s apology for throwing an object back at Burnley fans may not be enough to save him from a Football Association charge.

Joe Kinnear will look to get one over on a man he believes is a Manchester United boss-in-waiting when he sends his Newcastle side into derby battle with Sunderland.

ROY KEANE’S reputation rests on being notoriously hard to please, but the Sunderland manager appears to be mellowing in his old age.

Fulham 0 Sunderland 0

West Brom manager Tony Mowbray praised his team after they withstood a “bombardment” from Bolton to record their first point back in the Premier League with a 0-0 draw at the Reebok Stadium.

EVEN with precious little other than pride at stake, it would have been out of character for Roy Keane or Arsene Wenger to lose any focus. That said, they could have been excused yesterday if their thoughts occasionally drifted to events elsewhere.

Sunderland 0 Arsenal 1

ADRIAN Boothroyd may not have set much store by the FA Cup this season but that did not allow his Watford players to escape a tongue-lashing after this limp 4-1 defeat.

STEVEN REID wants Blackburn to banish an unwanted Premier League statistic.

Blackburn striker Jason Roberts returns to the starting line-up against Middlesbrough at Ewood Park today.

“GOODNIGHT Irene” sang the 7,000 Rovers fans when they weren’t busy taunting the home crowd.

Fulham 2 Bristol Rovers 2

DIMITAR BERBATOV almost single-handedly hoisted Tottenham to the top of the Premier League goalscoring table but even that was not enough to quell his frustration at the end of this extraordinary afternoon.

MARTIN O’NEILL is insistent that he has no interest in walking out on Aston Villa, but more results like this and it will not just be England wanting to speak to the Irishman.

Reading 2 Wigan 1

Birmingham 2 Sunderland 2

Derby 0 Stoke 2

Birmingham 2 Colchester 1

Blackburn 2 Sunderland 0

Blackburn 2 Sunderland 0

West Ham 1 Osasuna 1 (Osasuna win 8-7 on penalties)