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Football is a team sport; it is the combined effort of the 11 players that yields success on the pitch. Well, all clubs have some players who are expected to be the star performers for them on the pitch, but depending on them too much is a never a good idea.
We all love individualistic heroics on the pitch. What can be more inspiring than watching a player turn the match on its head single-handedly? A key player for the team will always step up when his teams needs him, but expecting him to repeat such performances, again and again, is really asking too much.
Such players generally become the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal display by the team over the season. When teams start relying on a player too much, they expose a vulnerability to their opponents. The opponents know that if they stop the key man, they'll stop the team.
In the Premier League, with so many talented players playing for all the clubs, it is rare to see anyone putting on a 'one man show'. But this season, there have been instances where all the hopes of a team have been pinned on a single player.
So, here's a list of 5 clubs who have been in a true sense nothing more than a 'one-man show' so far.
#5 Southampton - Danny Ings
The on-loan Liverpool striker has been in good touch in front of the goal. Danny Ings has started in 4 of the 5 matches for Southampton and scored 3 goals already.
His goals have really been important for the Saints team that has only managed 1 win so far this season. His goal against Crystal Palace ensured that the Saints got their first win of the season.
After a long spell on the sidelines due to injury, he is looking like he's back to his best. Having only joined the Saints this transfer window, he has scored 3 of 6 goals scored by the team.
With no other player likely to step up, he looks like he'll have to keep on running his one-man show for the Saints for the rest of the season if they are to survive in the league.
#4 Brighton and Hove Albion - Glenn Murray
The 34-year-old English striker has been a consistent performer for Brighton this season. He has started all the matches for the Seagulls and managed to score 4 goals so far.
His 4 goals included the last minute penalty against Southampton and a goal in the famous victory over Manchester United. He was also awarded Man of the Match for his brace against Fulham.
With 4 out of 7 goals of Brighton coming from him, he has been the single stand out player for the Seagulls and no other player has had more impact on the results than him.
#3 Fulham - Aleksandar Mitrovic
The Serbian forward has been a real threat in front of the goal this season. He has already scored 4 goals for Fulham, which is more than half of the total goals (7) scored by them.
He has been the standout player for Fulham so far, having started in all the matches. Though Fulham have only won 1 game so far, it was because of the performances put in by him that Fulham are not in the relegation zone right now.
Whoscored.com gave him the highest rating of any Fulham player and we don't think there's anything wrong with that, they have got it spot on.
#2 West ham United - Marko Arnautovic
Marko Arnautovic has proven that he is a capable forward who can play in any attacking role. First with Stoke City and now with West Ham. He was very influential in his first season at the club. And this season he has been the lifeline of the Hammers.
He has scored 3 goals in 5 matches and provided an assist too. These stats are impressive as such, but what makes them more impressive is that he has been directly involved in 4 of the 5 Hammers goals so far.
Talk about carrying a team single-handedly. This man has been solely responsible for West Ham being out of the bottom three for the first time this season.
#1 Crystal Palace - Wilfried Zaha
And now coming to the player who has been putting in excellent performances not only this season, but for the last few seasons now.
Wilfried Zaha, the former Manchester United player, has scored 3 goals so far this season in 4 appearances. He missed out on the fixture against Southampton due to injury, which Palace lost. Having scored 75% of all Palace's goals, Crystal Palace are becoming more and more dependent on him than ever before.
This brings us to a very interesting statistic. Palace have lost all the matches when Zaha hasn't played. Now if that doesn't say that Zaha is running a one-man show at Palace, I don't know what does.
