It was the weekend before Christmas when all hell broke loose across the Premier League.
The 17th round of the match has started continuation of Manchester City’s bizarre relegation form and he brought him to a breathless conclusion a a beautifully silly nine-goal thriller between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. There was even a wild edge to it 0-0 draw at the weekend.
These are the players who made the final push on Santa’s nice list.
Enzo Maresca was one of the few men to emerge from Sunday’s windy stalemate between Everton and Chelsea unreservedly happy. Nevertheless, Robert Sanchez also deserved a small smile for himself.
For the second week in a row, the Blues relied on their separation shooter to keep them in the contest. Either side of half-time, Sanchez denied Everton a number of clear scoring chances, keeping just his fourth clean sheet of the season.
After catching a hat-trick against Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, many wondered whether Gabriel Jesus would get a chance to start in Arsenal’s next match against the same opposition. For Mikel Arteta, that was never a question. “I had no doubts,” insisted the head of Topnik. “When a player is in that momentum, he has to play.”
Jesus rewarded his manager’s faith with his first Premier League goal in 11 months. The Brazilian added another inside a chaotic opening 15 minutes before Arsenal eventually secured a 5-1 win.
Unai Emery is not one for hyperbole, but the Aston Villa manager was taken aback by Morgan Rogers’ all-round performance against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon that he used the word “awesome” three times in less than 60 seconds.
The former City academy graduate was at the center of both goals in Villa’s 2-1 home win, creating the first for Jhon Duran before finishing off a move that began with a blistering run from his own half.
In the night when almost every Liverpool player impressedLuis Diaz deserves individual credit for his role in what must have been a particularly cathartic 6-3 win over Spurs.
The Colombia international, who was so controversially denied a goal at Tottenham last year, scored twice on Sunday, bagging nine goals in a bonanza with a couple of clinical – and legal – strikes.
The first Olympians were equipped with laurel wreaths, Roman gladiators were able to win their freedom, and modern football players have increasingly niche statistics imposed on them.
Mohamed Salah is a fool for any flattering fact or tidbit, with Jurgen Klopp previously revealing that his striker is the first to know of any data landmark. Two goals and as many assists against Spurs in another minimalist masterpiece saw Salah reach double figures in both statistical categories quicker in a given season than anyone in Premier League history.
Alexander Isak has been a consistent scorer since netting on 38 minutes on his debut against the Premier League Liverpool back in 2022. However, over the next two and a half years, Newcastle’s power forward never walked away with a match ball.
Isak made his first hat-trick in English football during 4-0 mess against Ipswich Town on Saturday. While “buzzing” about the performance, the 25-year-old admitted: “It’s been a long time coming.”
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