The Premier League hiatus after the festive season does leave the fans bereft on the weekends. Understandably for viewers outside the United Kingdom, the FA Cup is not what makes us sit up and take notice as the history of the Cup is sometimes lost on us.
But when it comes to the Premier League, names roll off our tongues from the top most clubs to the bottom clubs in the League. And Game Week 20 didn’t disappoint at all. There were a lot of movers and shakers in the table as London clubs took advantage of the clashes and slips ups of Liverpool and Manchester City.
That said, most of the games didn’t disappoint and the North-West Derby lived up to all the hype as both teams went for a win. Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries as their closest rivals dropped points to extend their lead at the top of the table to 7 points
#1 Goal of the Week – Andy Carroll v Crystal Palace
West Ham United v Crystal Palace
There is something magical about a goal when the player is in mid-air and striking the ball sweetly to ripple the net. And it becomes astounding when a player of 6 feet 3 inches goes into the orbit to smash a goal which gets the adrenaline pumping of the watching public. For all the talk about Carroll being a target man, the man does have a knack for scoring the spectacular.
Mind you, this was not the first time after he scored a sideway scissor kick last season in the London derby against Arsenal. And on this occasion, he once again chose another London rival. Carroll’s acrobatic scissor-kick volley no doubt takes all the plaudits for the goal of the week for Matchday 20. The goal came at a time which settled the match and West Ham as a team showed that they are better off than the histrionics of a certain Dmitri Payet.
Honourable Mentions: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (vs Liverpool), Lookman(vs Manchester City)
#2 Goalkeeper of the Week: Tom Heaton
Match: Burnley v Southampton
Joey Barton may have grabbed the headlines, but it was Heaton who kept Burnley in the match. The keeper has been an important fixture in his side and has been instrumental in maintaining Burnley’s home record which has already yielded a stat of 6 victories in their last 7 home league games. Heaton was outstanding as Southampton rained shots on his goal throughout the game.
The Saints had 20 shots on goal and maintained 5 of them on target. Unfortunately, Heaton was on song. Claude Puel after the game stated his appreciation for the Burnley keeper, stating, “We wasted many chances and the keeper made strong saves. It was a strong game for us. There was a good attitude and it was a good display. It was difficult to play against the long ball today.”
Burnley is reaping the benefits of the stupendous displays of their keeper as they finished the weekend with 26 points and in 10th place. Burnley may be weak in attack but disciplined defending and the brilliance of Heaton has been the reason of their stupendous home form.
#3 Standout Player of the Week: Marcos Alonso
Match: Leicester City v Chelsea
If there were any questions about Chelsea’s form before the game at King Power Stadium, then they answered them pretty comprehensively. The case of the missing Spaniard (read Diego Costa) was resolved by the actions of another Spaniard. The quiet demeanour full-back has been under scrutiny in recent weeks after the Spurs defeat. However, a brace against the defending champions should be enough to shut up their critic.
That aside, the left back dominated the battle against Marc Albrighton. His two finishes were well taken as he showed composure and the calmness of a natural finisher. The Spaniard had the chance of scoring the perfect hat-trick, having scored with his either foot earlier in the game.
Nevertheless, Alonso ensured that Chelsea went back to their winning ways, which had been snapped by the Spurs defeat. After all, the Blues ominous form means they have already picked up more points this season than they managed in the whole of last season.
Honourable mentions: Emre Can (Manchester United); Tom Davies (Manchester City)
#4 Best Team Performance: West Ham United
Before the game, much talk had been about the “attitude” of a certain Dimitri Payet. Bilic had stated that Payet doesn’t want to play for West Ham anymore and subsequently omitted the French midfielder from his matchday squad. And initially, it seemed that they sorely lacked the creative spark of the midfielder.
However, a bold substitution which meant replacing the experienced Ogbonna with Sam Byram immediately brought back urgency to the Hammer’s playing style. Soon enough, Antonio and Lanzini started finding space and it was only a matter of time before they extended their lead. And deservedly the plaudits were there for Bilic’s men who did play the game.
Speaking after the game, Bilic stated, “Payet is a great player so you are losing quality, but the team showed it is about the team and not individuals. This is a great example for that. So let's talk about Carroll, or Darren Randolph, or Mark Noble. Michail Antonio was down with a flu and a temperature of 38.4C last night. He showed brilliant determination, brilliant quality. That's what I want to talk about.”
Honourable mentions: Burnley and Everton
#5 Most Ineffective player: Paul Pogba
Match: Manchester United v Liverpool
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Pogba against Liverpool. In fact, for the world’s most expensive player, this was probably his worst display in the Red Devils shirt. For much of the game, Pogba’s ineffectiveness was evident and to top that, he made avoidable mistakes.
While being cheeky with feints and flicks is good but they do tend to embarrass you when they do not come enough. The nadir of the display was when Pogba was caught in no man’s land as he tried to defend from a corner and ended up handling the ball.
Some credit though must be given to Pogba for attempting the audacious but at times he left his team blindsided. Fortunately for him, Liverpool capitalised only once on his mistake as United managed to take a share of the spoils.
Other Mentions: John Stones (vs Everton), Papy Djilobodji (vs Stoke City)
#6. Unlucky Misses: Wijnaldum; Fellaini; Harry Arter; Tom Cleverly
While it is difficult to demarcate these misses in a said order. Cleverly’s chance will probably stand out as the most vital one. Cleverly making his debut for Watford could have been the hero but unfortunately wasn’t able to place the ball the way he intended.
Wijnaldum, on the other hand, could have sealed the game and was duly blocked one time and scuffed his shot the other time. Fellaini in the same match managed to hit the crossbar but Zlatan was there to leap the highest and guide the ball in almost immediately after the ball fell kindly to Valencia who made no mistake in putting it on the Swede’s head.
#7 Standout performance of the Week: Harry Kane
This was Gameweek 20’s first fixture and it was an opportunity for Spurs to pile on the pressure on the table toppers. And true to their guns they justified all the hype by smashing West Bromwich 4-0.
Spurs are currently nine points better off than last season and there seems to be no slowing down this team.
Pochettino believes that his squad has matured more this season and if they continue this way, they might just go the distance. And instrumental to their charge will be English striker, Harry Kane. Kane was the leading scorer last season and here he was on target once again. A clinical hat-trick by the striker ensured that Pochettino one of the high fliers of the season were comprehensively beaten.
Honourable mentions: Abel Hernandez (vs Southampton); Crouch (vs Sunderland)
