TEAM: CHELSEA
There were several really good performances this week, but none were more convincing and more dominant than the Chelsea one.
They mauled their London rivals in their own back yard, reducing them to just two shots on goal, while they had ten. None of the strikers got on the score sheet but if the strikers don’t get you, the others will, demonstrating the immense strength of their squad.
Well done also to Brentford, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Brighton, Man Utd, Watford and Arsenal.
GOALKEEPER: DAVID DE GEA (Man Utd)
Although there were a few good keepers to choose from, you couldn’t ignore the last minute penalty save to help earn his team another away win.
He wasn’t overly troubled in the game but the mark of a good keeper is how you perform in key moments and he proved he is still a top goalkeeper.
Shout out also to Leeds’ Meslier, Newcastle’s Darlow, West Ham’s Fabianski, Spurs’ Lloris and Arsenal’s Ramsdale who was close to winning this.
DEFENDER: JAN BEDNAREK (Southampton)
I could have really put the whole back line up here. But he was the catalyst and led the defence exceptionally well, making tackles, last minute blocks, interceptions, headers and just seemed to always be in the right place at the right time, to secure a well earned and unlikely away point.
Amazingly, Southampton reduced City to just one shot on goal, how often does that happen, if ever?
Well done also to his team mates, Salisu, Livramento and Walker-Peters, Aston Villa’s Cash, Liverpool duo Konate & Tsimikas, Arsenal’s Gabriel, Brentford trio Ajer, Jansson & Pinnock, Brighton duo Cucurella & Duffy also Chelsea trio Azpilicueta, Rudigar and Thiago Silva who was close to winning this.
MIDFIELDER: ISMAILA SARR (Watford)
Undoubtedly, he was the star man. A constant menace and thorn in Norwich’s side. He showed great movement and intelligence to bamboozle the defence and nick the first goal at the near post.
Then the awareness to back up play and come from deep to score, after the keeper had saved for his second and his teams third, to seal the victory.
Shout out also to his team mate Dennis, Leeds duo Raphinha & Rodrigo, Liverpool’s Keita, Arsenal’s Odegaard, Villa’s Luiz, Chelsea duo Kante & Alonso also Man Utd’s Lingard.
FORWARD: LEON BAILEY (Aston Villa)
Although he only played 21 minutes of the game, his introduction changed the game and his contributions settled it.
Swung in a lovely corner from the right, which deceived Digne, forcing him to flick into his own net to double their lead. Then his pace was too much as he was played in on the left and did brilliantly to control a bouncing ball and smash home the third.
Well done also to Newcastle’s Saint-Maximin, Norwich’s Pukki, Liverpool duo Mane & Salah, Man Utd’s Ronaldo, Leicester’s Vardy, Brighton duo Maupay & Welbeck, also Brentford duo Mbeumo, also Toney who was close to winning this.
MANAGER: DEAN SMITH (Aston Villa)
Again, several very good candidates for this but when you make such a signifiant change that makes such an instant and considerable difference to the game, you just cannot ignore it.
He brought Bailey on at the 61 minute mark, changed the team’s shape and by the 75th minute,e Bailey had scored their third, assisted one and Villa was well on their way to victory. Shout out also to Chelsea’s Tuchel and Brentford’s Frank who was close to winning this.
UNSUNG HERO: THIAGO SILVA (Chelsea)
It really shows what experience mixed with quality can produce. He may not be able to play every game, but days short of this 37th birthday, in the early months of the season.
Chelsea are really reaping the benefits. As solid as they come, unflappable in defence and when your strikers are not doing it, he pops up to head home the opening goal on the way to a dominant victory, in what should have been a very tough game.
A leader in every sense of the word.
GAME: WEST HAM 1-2 MAN UTD
After a good start by both teams which saw Fabianski push Fernandes’ shot onto the post.
West Ham took the lead when Bowen picked up the ball on the right and fed it across the box to Benrahma, who controlled and fired a ball in from 20 yards that took a wicked deflection off Verane to wrong foot De Gea and nestle in the bottom corner (30).
United were soon level when Fernandez crossed a ball in from the left for Ronaldo to ghost in a guide the ball goalward with the outside of his boot. Fabianski got down to save but could only parry for Ronaldo to tap in from two yards (35).
In the second half, Ronaldo had two good penalty decisions turned down, either side of United scoring when Matic on the left fed Lingard just inside the box on the left, he cut inside and curled a lovely effort into the top corner (89).
But the drama was not done there, in stoppage time, Yarmalenko’s cross on the right of the box was blocked by Shaw’s arm. Ref gave a corner but VAR urged ref to look at the screen, to which he did and pointed to the spot.
Noble came off the bench to take it, but De Gea pulled off a great save to win the game for his team.
GOAL: NABY KEITA (Liverpool) v Crystal Palace
From a corner, which was swung in from the right hand side and punch out by the keeper from the six yard box.
The high ball dropped just to outside the box, where Keita was standing. He set himself, adjusted his feet, waited for the the ball to drop, then connected with a flush, left footed volley, that flew into the far corner of the net.
The keeper got his finger tips to, but the shot was too powerful to keep out. There were also good goals from Aston Villa’s Cash and Man Utd’s Lingard.
FOOL: WOLVES
To be fair, this was a very close run thing, as Norwich are sitting rock bottom with no points from five games and lost at home to their newly promoted rivals Watford.
However, Wolves on the other hand, although they did beat Watford away last week, with their only goals of the season so far.
This week, they lost at home to play off winners Brentford and even after playing against 10 men for 30 minutes, still didn’t register a single shot on goal. This is extremely worrying and doesn’t bode well for the future. FOOLS!
