The last weekend of November brought down the curtains on gameweek 13 of the Premier League in exciting fashion.
While Chelsea maintained their position at the top of the table, the Blues’ top four rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal all won their games to stay within touching distance of the summit.
Swansea City and Crystal Palace played out a goal-fest that ended 5-4 in favour of the Welsh side.
Manchester United drew (again!) at the Theatre of Dreams against Slaven Bilic’s resolute Hammers, the 1-1 stalemate ensuring that the Red Devils are off to their worst ever start in the PL era.
In this piece, we round up some of the best / worst performances and key moments that proved to be a turning point over the weekend.
#1 Best goal: Pedro
Match: Chelsea vs. Spurs
Despite conceding early on - to a lovely goal from Christian Eriksen - Chelsea handed Tottenham Hotspur their first league defeat of the 2016/17 season, thanks to goals from Pedro and Victor Moses.
The Blues’ equaliser came on the stroke of half-time thanks to a stunning goal from Pedro, who found himself in space, turned beautifully and pulled off an excellent shot which found the mark from range.
Despite the defensive hara-kiri that provided the Spaniard space and time to shoot; the placement, angle and accuracy makes it worthy of top spot.
Honourable mentions: Divock Origi (vs. Sunderland), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (vs. West Ham), Alvaro Negredo’s second goal (vs. Leicester City)
#2 Defensive bedrock: Darren Randolph
Match: Manchester United vs. West Ham
Manchester United went on the offensive and played with all they have got - in terms of attacking fluency and defensive solidity - but the lack of a clinical edge cost them a point against the Londoners.
Neutrals opined that United might have gotten a taste of their own medicine against Bilic’s Hammers, with stand-in keeper Randolph in excellent form. After all, David De Gea has singlehandedly won the Red Devils numerous points over the last couple of seasons.
Called on to replace Adrian - the regular man between the posts for the Hammers - Randolph put in a Man-of-the-match performance, blocking and saving everything coming his way, especially in the second half when United stepped on the gear in attack.
Honourable mentions: Petr Cech (saved with his knee, vs. Bournemouth), Angelo Ogbonna (blocked goal, vs. Manchester United), Nathan Ake (blocked goal, vs. Arsenal)
#3 Standout player: Alexis Sanchez
Match: Arsenal vs. Bournemouth
Alexis Sanchez turned in a marvellous performance for the Gunners, capping it with a brace that effectively sealed a win.
Arsenal’s number 7 was everywhere, mopping up a stray pass in midfield, putting in last-minute tackles, spraying passes, and of course scoring goals.
There was a point in the game when the commentators wondered out loud if there are clones of the Chilean on the pitch; such was the extent of his impact and the Cherries had a tough time coping with his energy and omnipresence.
Honourable mention(s): Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea vs. Crystal Palace)
#4 Best team performance: Arsenal
Match: Arsenal vs. Bournemouth
Arsenal shook off their ‘November curse’ in style by putting in an impressive showing against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth at the Emirates.
The Gunners started off on a high, with Sanchez capitalising on a mistake by Steve Cook to open the scoring within minutes.
However, the Cherries were awarded a dubious penalty, and things were back on level terms. Despite playing an eye-catchy spell for a few minutes thereafter, Bournemouth failed to score from two mouth-watering chances.
Arsenal came back into the game strongly, thanks to the dynamic Alexis Sanchez and the workhorse Elneny, who were ably supported by the rest of the team. Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Petr Cech, Theo Walcott, Laurent Koscielny all played their part, and so did the substitutes.
The introduction of Giroud proved crucial, as the Frenchman turned in an assist for the Gunners’ third goal of the evening – a tap-in by Sanchez.
Honourable mentions: Chelsea, Manchester United
#5 Worst / most ineffective player: Miguel Britos
Match: Watford vs. Stoke City
Stoke City scraped to a win over a haplessly poor Watford at the Vicarage Road, thanks to a Charlie Adam goal off a Gomes deflection.
Miguel Britos saw red on what was a torrid afternoon for the Hornets; almost everyone in yellow struggled, but the centre-back was shaky throughout and capped a mediocre performance with a sending off late in the game.
Britos’ second yellow came as a consequence of an entirely unnecessary foul on Xherdan Shaqiri; his absence leaves Walter Mazzarri struggling for options in defence.
Honourable mentions: Jose Holebas (vs. Stoke City), Jordi Amat (vs. Crystal Palace), Martin Kelly (vs. Swansea), Matteo Darmian (vs. West Ham)
#6 Unlucky miss: Shinji Okazaki
Match: Leicester City vs. Middlesbrough
Half an hour into the game, the King Power stadium almost erupted in delight. The keyword is ‘almost’.
Boro had taken the lead through Negredo, but Riyad Mahrez was not giving in without having some fun.
The Algerian did wonderfully to keep possession and navigate through the Boro defence to send a beautiful cross which was met by Shinji Okazaki.
The Japanese forward attempted a scissor kick which was executed in grand fashion, but the ball grazed the crossbar and went just over. Certainly, tops our charts for the ‘miss of the week’ this one!
#7 Controversial refereeing decisions
(a) Soft penalty in favour of Bournemouth (vs. Arsenal)
Callum Wilson went down in the box after barely any contact with Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal; however, his fall was enough to convince the referee to point to the spot.
Replays showed Wilson straying into Monreal and made the most of what could easily have passed off as a shoulder challenge (but didn’t!).
A very soft penalty decision indeed - one that turned the game on its head leading to a good spell of attack from Bournemouth, as Arsenal looked rattled.
However, if the final score had not been favourable, Gunners fans would have had good reason to complain.
(b) Jose Mourinho sent off to the stands (vs. West Ham)
The Manchester United manager was sent off to the stands for kicking a water bottle in frustration and straying out of his technical area.
Although the bottle was not hit at anyone, in particular, the act of dissent (in response to Pogba being booked for a dive) was perceived as an offence, resulting in the punishment.
More agony may be in store for the Portuguese as reports float around of a potential two-match touchline ban; this is as a consequence of his second sending off within a month.
