TEAM: NOTTINGHAM FOREST
If ever there was a way to inject confidence and belief into a relegation fight, then a 5-0 away win will do it.
Forest are fighting for their lives, and this was potentially a tough game. However, they showed no signs of nerves as they destroyed Sunderland away with a five-star performance, leaving them five points above the relegation zone.
Well done to Brighton. Liverpool. Tottenham. Man City. Arsenal. Fulham and West Ham.
GOALKEEPER: FREDERICK WOODMAN (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper found himself in the limelight after coming on as a substitute in the Merseyside derby to help earn a win.
This week, he made his first start and Anfield debut and had to work hard, especially in the first half, making several good saves, one of which led to Liverpool’s second. He only conceded when he was lying injured on the floor.
Shout out to Burnley’s Dubravka. Brighton’s Verbruggen. Tottenham’s Kinsky. Man Utd Lemmans and Forest’s Sels.
DEFENDER: ANDY ROBERTSON (Liverpool)
As he winds down on his Liverpool career with just a few more games to go, he gave the Liverpool fans at least one last reminder of his abilities.
Solid as you like in defence, and typically marauding going forward. He rolled back the years to find himself running down the centre in a counterattack, collected the ball and finished like a striker in form, inside the far post.
Well done to his teammate Jones. West Ham duo Disasi & Diouf. Brighton duo Kadioglu & Van Hecke. Fulham duo Sessegnon & Andersen. Man Utd’s Maguire. Forest’s Milenkovic.
Bournemouth’s Senesi. Arsenal’s Hincapie. Newcastle’s Burn. Palace’s Canvot. Everton’s Tarkowski. Tottenham’s Porro. Leeds’ Struijk and Man City duo Khusanov & Nunez.
MIDFIELDER: TOMAS SOUCEK (West Ham)
With West Ham fighting for their lives, trying to survive relegation, he epitomised their fight with a man-of-the-match performance.
He scored the important opening goal and then did everything in his power to keep Everton out with two superb goal-line saves, which allowed his team to win it late.
Shout out to his teammate Bowen. Forest duo Gibbs-White, Anderson. Tottenham’s Palhinha. Arsenal’s Eze. Brighton duo Hinshelwood & Beleba.
Man Utd duo Fernandes & Casemiro. Liverpool duo Wirtz and Mac Allister. Everton’s Dewsbury-Hall. Brentford’s Jensen. Leeds’s Longstaff and Man City’s Doku.
FORWARD: IGOR JESUS (Notts Forest)
Although several forwards scored this week, it was not a very tough decision as the Sunderland man played out of his skin and was involved in three of the five goals.
He thought he scored the opener with a header at the back post, but given as an own goal. He created the third with a level header back and scored the fourth with a sweet volley.
Well done to his teammate, Wood. West Ham’s Wilson. Man City’s Haaland. Liverpool’s Isak. Man Utd’s Sesko. Brighton’s Wellbeck. Bournemouth duo Kroupi & Rayan
MANAGER: VITOR PEREIRA (Notts Forest)
Since he came to the club, he has worked wonders and moved the team out of the relegation zone. Forest are playing with a freedom you wouldn’t expect from a side fighting relegation.
In what looked like a tricky away day, they made it look easy with a 5-0 thrashing. His team are now five points above relegation, top ten in the form table since his arrival and second in the form table for the last five games.
Shout out to Brighton’s Hurtzeler. Tottenham’s De Zerbi. Arsenal’s Arteta. Man City’s Guardiola. Man Utd’s Carrick. Liverpool’s Slot. Fulham’s Silva and West Ham Esparto Santo.
UNSUNG HERO: PALHINHA (Tottenham)
Although other teams around them won, it would have been even worse had they not scored the vital goal at Wolves, keeping their survival hopes alive.
A player who is usually known for protecting the defence with strong tackles was in the right place at the right time to turn home and earn three extremely vital points.
Well done also to Brighton duo Kadioglu & Hinshelwood. Arsenal’s Eze and Leeds’ Longstaff.
GAME: BOURNEMOUTH 2-2 LEEDS UNITED
All the goals came in the second half. Bournemouth took the lead when Senesi cut out a pass, then threaded a ball through for Kroupi to lash home (60). Leeds then equalised when Gnoto’s shot after a scramble in the box went in off Hill (68).
Bournemouth thought they won it late after Adams crossed low for Rayan to finish first time (85). They then had a goal disallowed for offside by VAR before Leeds equalised at the death through Longstaff’s sweet volley (90+7).
GOAL: EBERECHI EZE (Arsenal) vs Newcastle
In a well-worked corner routine, Arsenal lined up for their normal corner routine; however, they changed it up for the short corner.
Madueke played it into Havertz, just inside the box. He turned and played it out to Eze, lurking just outside the box, who hit a stunning, first-time effort that curled away from the keeper into the far corner.
FOOL: LIAM ROSENIOR (Chelsea)
Sadly, he will go down as one of the all-time worst managers in Chelsea’s illustrious history.
He was breaking unwanted records as his defeat at Brighton made it five defeats without scoring. Breaking a record that had stood since 1912. So it was inevitable that he was relieved of his position after just three months in charge. FOOL!
