Ste McGovern
Every week we reward the best – and worst – of the Premier League action, and this week’s awards ceremony features an entertaining debate between Patrice Evra and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Patrick Bamford’s incredible performance, and Edouard Mendy
Moment of the Week
“Scared is a big word.”
“It’s the truth!”
Patrice Evra and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s post-match discussion on Sky Sports was more interesting than the bore draw between Manchester United and Chelsea we had just watched.
Player of the Week
Patrick Bamford had a real coming of age performance against Aston Villa on Friday night, scoring his first Premier League hat-trick in a 3-0 win for Leeds United. The Englishman was somewhat fortunate with the first goal, but took his chances for the second and third exceptionally well.
Honourable Mentions: Danny Ings, Southampton.
The best Premier League stats of the weekend
Goal of the Week
Fulham are struggling badly at the moment, but Tom Cairney did at least put a satisfyingly clean banger top bins in injury time of their defeat to Crystal Palace. It’s the kind of consolation goal that will be sadly forgotten until it reemerges on a random episode of MOTD2 in a few years celebrating underappreciated golazos.
Honourable Mentions: Patrick Bamford, Leeds United (vs Aston Villa); Michail Antonio, West Ham United (vs Man City).
Save of the Week
Chelsea fans were reminded of what it was like to have a goalkeeper who could actually make saves on Saturday evening when Edouard Mendy made several important stops to keep a clean sheet against Manchester United. His most impressive came from a Marcus Rashford effort from outside the area late on in the game.
⛔️ ⛔️ ⛔️
Sensational stuff from Edouard Mendy tonight! 👏 #MUNCHE pic.twitter.com/hubqsuRsj4
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 24, 2020
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Miss of the Week
Raheem Sterling missed a number of good chances to score against West Ham on Saturday, but he fluffed his best chance in the second-half when one-on-one with Lukasz Fabianski. It was a good save by the Polish goalkeeper, but Sterling really should have buried it.
Dishonourable Mention: Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham (vs Crystal Palace).
Stat of the Week
This is the first time Leeds have been in the PL top three since Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came out pic.twitter.com/56RwJmOUv4
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) October 23, 2020
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Quote of the Week
A Chris Wilder classic.
Absolute belter of a quote from @SheffieldUnited boss Chris Wilder about new signing Rhian Brewster in today's @IndoSport
"Toilet-bag footballers"#LIVSHU #PremierLeague https://t.co/fz2LP7dG61 pic.twitter.com/c9Hl1lPW2d— Eric Haughan (@Honcho68) October 24, 2020
Howler of the Week
Sheffield United deserve lots of praise for their performance against Liverpool, frustrating the Premier League champions for much of the game, but conceded goals from the only two mistakes they made on the night.
Firstly, Aaron Ramsdale parried Sadio Mané’s header straight back into the worst place possible, allowing Roberto Firmino to tap home inside the six-yard box. Then in the second-half Enda Stevens lost track of Diogo Jota in the box for the winner. Not the worst howlers you will ever see, but they cost the Blades dearly.
Donkey of the Week
“He didn’t get a win in parliament, but he did get the winner in Paris, and whether you agree with Marcus Rashford’s causes or not, there is surely only admiration for his continued commitment to it.”
Given that the Manchester United striker’s biggest cause is putting an end to child hunger in the UK, this was a very strange line from Match of the Day commentator Guy Mowbray. This might not have been his intention, but it’s just thrown out there as if those who believe it’s fine for children to starve is a completely valid opinion to hold.
It sounds as if it was written by a BBC impartiality generator. The fact this isn’t a live broadcast and there are many opportunities to edit it doesn’t reflect well on anyone related to the production of the programme.
“Whether you agree with his causes or not”…? #MOTD pic.twitter.com/mVm6DTMxEy
— Crumbly Lesbian 🏳️🌈 ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻 🇸🇩 🌹 😷 (@MRadclyffe) October 24, 2020
Read: Marcus Rashford is winning hearts and minds with his free meals campaign