Despite the chilly, December air, drama in the Premier League kept us warm. Over the weekend, standout goals, shocking losses and VAR controversies headlined the action.
Stat of the week
Mo Salah has a new nickname: double centurion. During Saturday’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace, the 31-year-old scored his 200th goal for Liverpool. At the same time, he became the fifth player in Liverpool history to record this achievement. With his goal, which was his 150th in the Premier League, Salah became the joint-10th all-time top-goalscorer in the English top-flight. Not a bad afternoon for The Egyptian King.
Salah is not a classic, through-the-middle center-forward, instead doing his damage cutting from out-to-in. In that sense, he’s carrying on the lineage of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. But has any player in league history ever been so effective as an auxiliary striker while starting, ostensibly, out-wide? Henry played plenty of seasons as a more orthodox striker. Ryan Giggs scored 109 goals for Manchester United playing out on the wing. Raheem Sterling is on 120 goals and counting, having played a similar inverted-forward role for multiple clubs. But only Henry comes close to Salah – and the Egyptian is now just 25 goals behind Henry on the all-time scoring charts.
Adding to Salah’s individual excellence: Liverpool have now won 15 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other team. You can read that two ways: as a sign that championship, cliche ability to win while playing ugly; or as a sign that they’re often too scrappy, too grubby and too open defensively to be a legitimate title threat. Still, three points are three points, and their come-from-behind win took them to the top of the table – for now, anyway.
The ‘shaken, not stirred’ award
After missing the last three games with a muscle injury, Alisson Becker returned in style. His stupendous save in the 27th minute denied Jefferson Lerma the opener and further solidified his world-class credentials. The strength, agility and cool the Brazilian used to block the close-range shot was reminiscent of James Bond at his best. Give Becker a Vesper martini (shaken, not stirred), and it would be easy to mistake him for Ian Fleming’s leading man.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of Alisson on Liverpool’s title aspirations. It feels like no week goes by without Alisson pulling off a jaw-dropping stop. Since the start of last season, he laps the league’s goalkeepers in post-shot xG saved, which is a fancy way of saying he makes saves he has no business of even being close to.
Despite the Brazilian’s brilliance (which kept Liverpool in the game), Lerma should have found the net. Jordan Ayew’s cross was put on a plate for Lerma, and how he didn’t score from such close-range is beyond me. I guess that’s how Bond’s nemeses felt when they thought they had beaten their rival.
Goal of the week
While there were plenty of show-stoppers on offer, John McGinn’s opener over Arsenal earned top marks. Shortly after an incredible performance in Villa’s 1-0 win over Manchester City, McGinn made his mark once more when his quick shot found the net seven minutes in. For such a relentless runner without the ball, it’s McGinn’s calmness and composure that stand out when he has it.
The goal helped Villa beat one of the league’s top teams and extend their impressive unbeaten run at home. Will anyone say we’re in a four-way title race?
The ‘Maryanne Oketch’ award
And now for our regularly scheduled Sean Dyche praise-athon. Dyche’s Everton continued their impressive climb from the relegation zone after their point deduction, and demonstrated they have everything Chelsea lack: intensity, control and belief.
Everton came into the match with a plan and executed it to perfection in their 2-0 victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Chelsea don’t appear to have an identity or style of play, which Everton exploited. Outside Unai Emery, no manager has had a more immediate impact over the last 12 months than Dyche. Everton were relegation fodder under Frank Lampard. With Dyche at the helm, their form is closer to that of a team fighting for a place in Europe.
Despite their 10-point deduction, Dyche has Everton four points above the bottom three. By Christmas, they could be nearing mid-table. The league should get onto the Manager of the Year award engravers now, to save some pennies in the winter sales.
A special shoutout to Lewis Dobbin, too, who scored his first Premier League goal only minutes after coming on to the pitch. Dyche was even impressed with Dobbin’s celebration. “It was a really authentic reaction,” Dyche said. “I commended him afterward. Everyone nowadays wants to dance and all that nonsense. He’s run over, slid in the corner and said ‘have that’. And everyone went with him. Who even thinks of doing a dance? I can’t work it out.”
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Player of the week
The theory that Erling Haaland’s absence would add yet another nail in the coffin for Manchester City’s dismal results of late was quickly debunked by Bernardo Silva in their 2-1 come-from-behind win at Luton. Silva shut down accusations of a City wobble through relentless, precise passing and a front-page finish in the 62nd minute that proved vital not just for City’s title hopes, but to silence the gossip mill they were losing their touch. If it wasn’t for Silva, City could very well have dropped points again. With and without the ball, Silva is City’s most instrumental player. In fact, is there a better overall player in the league at the moment?
The ‘yep, it’s happening again’ award
In the pouring rain on Saturday afternoon, Bournemouth pulled off one of the season’s most dramatic wins, a 3-0 win at Old Trafford – a scoreline that might have, in the end, flattered the hosts.
Just three days after a stirring result at home over Chelsea, United were completely embarrassed by Andoni Iraola’s squad. And while Bournemouth certainly deserve praise, United have to clean up their mess. It’s classic 2020s United to have the Premier League Goal of the Month, Manager of the Month, and Player of the Month, and somehow produce another dismal performance and result.
Let’s summarize their week: it kicked off with leaks that the players are out on yet another manager; the club suspended newspapers and broadcasters from covering the team’s press conferences; United then delivered their best performance of the season against Chelsea, showing signs of fight and passion. Shortly after, they limped lifelessly through another home performance against Bournemouth. In the push to keep Scott McTominay on the pitch to offer a goal threat, they vacated the midfield, granting Bournemouth the freedom of Manchester to charge through the middle. Marcus Rashford crammed more running into a 10-minute cameo than he has in 10 months. Bruno Fernandes recycled his petulant act, running around for the final 15 minutes, kicking at opponents and earning himself a yellow card that will suspend him from the team’s trip to Anfield next week. And now Erik ten Hag has vaulted back up the managers-under-pressure standings. If we hadn’t seen it all before, it might even be entertaining.
Ten Hag’s days will be numbered if he can’t find a way to get his squad on to steady ground.
Celebrity sighting of the week
Last weekend, Birmingham co-owner Tom Brady popped up at Liverpool-Manchester City. This week, Hugh Jackman was in the stands at Selhurst Park to watch Liverpool v Crystal Palace.
While the camera panned to him during a break in play, fans seemed indifferent to his presence and kept their eyes on the pitch. It’s refreshing that English football culture doesn’t make A-listers the focus. If this was North America, celebs would be the star of the show and fans would line up for their autographs rather than watching the action – a broadcaster may even try to marry them off. Lucky for Jackman, he saw an entertaining match in London, although he was probably disappointed not to make the trip to Forest Green with Deadpool. Honestly, I thought he would be backing Wolves.
VAR controversy of the week
Why are we still giving VAR the benefit of the doubt? Is anyone enjoying the delays or inconsistencies? Is a drive for accuracy – if it ever comes – even worth it? There is always drama with the technology and the people working it. The weekend was kicked off with not one, but two disputed penalty decisions at Selhurst Park that started as a ‘huh’ moment and devolved into ‘I need to go for a walk’.
In the first half, Will Hughes’ challenge on Wataru Endo was replayed a whopping 31 times before Palace’s penalty was rescinded. It was the right decision in the end, but such a lengthy review for an obvious error was absurd. It was almost as if VAR were trying to persuade Andy Madley to overturn his original call. Soon after, it got worse. Early in the second half, Jarell Quansah made contact with Jean-Philippe Mateta inside the box, but Madley didn’t pause the game for 106 seconds. That’s more than enough time to pop the kettle on and brew a cuppa – or get something stronger if you work at Stockley Park. Perhaps the referee should have awarded himself a yellow card for time-wasting.