by No round of the Premier League is complete without drama. And thankfully (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), this weekend was filled with questions, controversies and an avalanche of goals.
The ‘congratulations on participation’ award
Have you or your child ever come home with a participation trophy after completely failing at a sporting event? Will Marcus Rashford be showing off his new hardware? This weekend, Rashford was largely a passenger for Manchester United in their 1-0 win against Newcastle. During his 61 minutes on the pitch, Rashford produced no shots, created no chances and did not have a single touch in the Newcastle penalty area.
The icing on the cake came eight minutes into the second half; after Tino Livramento tripped him, Rashford began to walk rather than trying to make up for his mistake. There is some thought that Erik ten Hag would introduce the high-pressing football that suited him at Ajax for a long time due to the lack of urgency in his front line and the isolated midfield structure. But Newcastle’s performance marked a new low point for the Manchester United manager.
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The blame is being spread around. It was André Onana last week, Scott McTominay the week before. It’s Rashford’s turn under the United bus this week. His body language and sloth-like work rate are still issues. But, hey, at least he showed up.
Player of the week
Trent Alexander-Arnold has had a fantastic few weeks. He won the Three Lions version of The Great British Bake Off (earning a Hollywood Handshake in the process), scored the equalizer last week against Manchester City and then was blindsided on Sunday. His late strike won Liverpool 4-3 against Fulham in a thriller at Anfield. Alexander-Arnold initially thought he had given Liverpool the opener after his free-kick cleared the bar and ran over the goal line. However, he was credited with an own goal when he beat the Fulham goalkeeper on the way in. Alexander-Arnold finally found the net after 88 minutes, a chest strike that sealed the victory.
His influence was evident in front of goal, but Alexander-Arnold was everything, everywhere, all at once for Liverpool on Sunday. Only Virgil van Dijk finished the game with more touches than Liverpool’s hybrid defender/midfielder. After starting at the back, Jürgen Klopp pushed Alexander-Arnold into midfield as Fulham took a 3-2 lead. Joe Gomez was inserted at right back and Alexander-Arnold was given a free role further up the pitch; he rewarded the manager with the match winner from the edge of the box.
Liverpool’s reworked midfield brought more craft and balance to the team. But Alexander-Arnold remains Klopp’s creative fulcrum. They are now second in the league, two points behind Arsenal. If nerdy metrics are your thing, Klopp’s side also sit above Arsenal in the expected points table. We have a real three-way title race.
The ‘ka-chow’ prize
Jay Rodriguez recorded the fastest Premier League goal this season when he scored after 15 seconds. Charlie Taylor’s sublime cross found the Burnley attacker, who headed the ball into the bottom right corner. The goal not only opened the floodgates for Burnley in their 5-0 win over Sheffield United, but helped the 34-year-old make Premier League history by becoming the first player to score in the opening 15 seconds of two a separate game. His previous accolade came in 2013 when he scored for Southampton after 13.68 seconds at Stamford Bridge. As Lightning McQueen would say: ka-chow!
The situation of the week
Arsenal joined the coveted 100 club with their opening goal in a 2-1 win over Wolves on Saturday. The Gunners got off to a great start at the Emirates when Bukayo Saka scored six minutes in. His neat finish was Arsenal’s 100th goal in 2023 – they are the fifth team to reach that milestone in Europe’s top five leagues. Manchester City (137), Real Madrid (119), Bayern Münich (111) and Bayer Leverkusen (110) are also on the list. Saka’s goal was the club’s 36th in the Premier League, pushing him past former Arsenal boss Cesc Fàbregas.
The ‘I’m not mad, I’m disappointed’ award
You know that feeling. You’ve seen that look. They’re not mad, they’re just disappointed. You could catch it in Pep Guardiola’s eyes on Sunday. Despite scoring City’s crucial third goal v Tottenham, Jack Grealish was shown a yellow for kicking the ball unnecessarily after a foul, ruling him out of the midweek match against Aston Villa. Grealish’s suspension poses a problem for Guardiola against Unai Emery’s high-flying Villa: Jérémy Doku picked up an injury in the draw and is a doubt for Wednesday, meaning Guardiola will have to rejig his starting line-up without his two best left-back options . .
But Grealish was not alone. Erling Haaland was not so disappointed and was furious with the referee Simon Hooper. Hooper was one of the authors of the biggest official mess of this season in the match between Tottenham and Liverpool. That was a sequel to the fiasco of the opening week between Wolves and Manchester United. His hat-trick on Sunday was the latest entry in the officials’ franchise: late in the game, Hooper initially had the advantage for a foul on Haaland, before calling it back to awarded a free kick despite Grealish’s run. through on goal without opposition. Haaland was incensed. Unlike most franchises, Hooper at least gets points for originality.
Goal of the week
Despite serious competition from Dwight McNeil and Alexander-Arnold’s teammate, Alexis McAllister takes the gong. He scored a rocket for Liverpool in their dramatic 4-3 win over Fulham. It wasn’t quite as loud as Alejandro Garnacho’s wonder goal the week before, but the tension, control and power of his strike this week has been the prize.
The ‘hero to zero’ award
It’s not often we see a player score at both ends of the pitch, let alone within three minutes. Son Heung-min opened the scoring for Spurs with the team’s strike of the match six minutes into their match against Manchester City. The visitors countered on the right, and Mac made no mistake from close range. Although his goal gave Tottenham an early advantage over the reigning champions, his sympathy was short-lived. Three minutes later a City free-kick took him back and went past his own keeper Guglielmo Vicario. It was his first career own goal – he will hope it will be his last.
Performance hero of the week
In a weekend full of highs and lows, Everton’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest slipped under the radar. Sean Dyche’s side achieved their first win since being stripped of 10 points from the Premier League for breaching the financial balance rules. It’s hard not to see this as the beginning of her Cinderella story. For a club that fought a huge battle, Everton played tight, resilient football. Against all odds, the squad rallied and produced a strong 1-0 performance with further credit to McNeil for a superb goal. Should they have scored a few more goals than they did? Probably. But now that hope has been revived, they could be the surprise underdogs of the season.
VAR controversy of the week
No Premier League weekend goes by without a questionable VAR call. And some real doozies were added this week. Despite the many calls to choose from, a touching moment late in the Chelsea-Brighton game topped the list. Although Brighton were 2-3 down, they had the momentum after scoring in the second minute of added time. Then, the ball hit Levi Colwill’s face and bounced out of play behind the goal. The VAR official advised the referee to check the on-site monitor. Brighton were initially awarded a penalty, but the decision was overturned and Chelsea were awarded a drop ball. Confused? So was everyone in the land. Brighton should have been awarded a corner, with one last chance to put the ball in the box to try and score an equaliser.
