Our weekly Premier League awards honour the best – and worst – of the football action from the weekend.
Moment of the Week
Manchester United were given a reality check this weekend as the bubble of optimism surrounding the club’s new investment burst at Old Trafford.
Fulham secured their first win at Manchester United in two decades and few inside the famous old ground would have argued it was not a fair result.
The Cottagers cut through a lethargic press and open midfield time and time again and opened the scoring through Calvin Bassey’s thumping finish. Harry Maguire’s equaliser looked to have rescued a point for Erik ten Hag’s team late on, only for Alex Iwobi to score a stoppage-time winner.
Iwobi’s goal came after a fine run from Adama Traore and was the second-latest winning goal scored against Manchester United in the Premier League era, timed at 96:04.
The 97th minute is our new favourite minute. ???? pic.twitter.com/ChyiRiaNnS
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) February 24, 2024
Player of the Week
Aston Villa’s charge towards the Champions League continued with a 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest this weekend, an entertaining Midlands match-up that saw Leon Bailey star.
The winger has been electric on occasion this season and produced one of his best performances of the campaign at Villa Park, tormenting Forest full-back Moussa Niakhaté with speed and dazzling footwork.
There’s been a maturity to Bailey’s game this season as he has linked in deeper areas and made penetrative runs further forward, while his consistent end product has been in contrast to the patchy form of his first two seasons with the club.
Bailey’s assist for the opener was outstanding as he beat two defenders, including a nutmeg, and rolled across goal for Ollie Watkins, before scoring one himself from close range to seal the win.
He’s averaged a goal or assist every 84 minutes in the Premier League this season, a record only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland can better.
That’s elite production.
Unplayable. pic.twitter.com/e9cCGqrLkE
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 25, 2024
Goal of the Week
Great first touch, even better second.
Jarrad Branthwaite took Everton’s opener at Brighton like a seasoned centre-forward, lashing a left-footed finish into the far corner.
The 21-year-old has said he wants to score more goals but the centre-back will score few better than this. A thumping finish to earn Everton a precious point at the Amex Stadium.
“Jarrad Branthwaite, that is something special!” ???? pic.twitter.com/s5yw3K5dSr
— Everton (@Everton) February 24, 2024
Save of the Week
How crucial could this stop be in the Premier League title race?
Ederson came to Manchester City’s rescue to earn his 110th league clean sheet for the club at Bournemouth, setting a new club record in the process.
How close was this?! ????
Ederson keeps out Dominic Solanke to keep Man City in front! ⛔️ #BOUMCI pic.twitter.com/JY94AbrkvA
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 24, 2024
Stat of the Week
Is Gary O’Neil a candidate for manager of the season?
Wolves are up to eighth in the Premier League table and pushing for an unlikely place in Europe.
11 – Wolves have now won as many Premier League matches (11) in 26 games this season as they did in 2022-23. This is also the quickest they’ve hit 40 goals in a top-flight campaign since 1971-72 (23rd game). Stellar. pic.twitter.com/NUs1Wd9bId
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 25, 2024
Tweet of the Week
Not one we had on our bingo cards this season.
James Tarkowski and wife Samantha maintain an active lifestyle away from their jobs… ????
???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????, streaming now on Prime Video ???? pic.twitter.com/Veta4d92lW
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) February 23, 2024
Read – Tweets of the Week: Tarkowski the charmer, disrespectful Messi, Champions League decline
See more – Ranking the most profitable Premier League academies
