Our weekly Premier League awards honour the best – and worst – of the football action from the weekend.
Moment of the Week
Wow, where to start?
Liverpool and Arsenal were involved in a classic contest that might just have blown the title race wide open. Arsenal were brilliant across the opening exchanges to open up a two-goal lead, as Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus put the league leaders in control.
Back came Liverpool, who got back into the game as Mohamed Salah scrambled home. What followed was an enthralling second half, with half-time controversy (more to come on that later), a missed Salah penalty and end-to-end action.
And BREATHE…
A DRAMATIC game at Anfield, what does this mean for the title race? ???? pic.twitter.com/rnmOaiEroy
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 9, 2023
Roberto Firmino’s header levelled the game and Arsenal withstood a late siege thanks to Aaron Ramsdale’s heroics, before the full-time whistle blew and allowed a captivated crowd to take breath.
A brilliant, brilliant advert for Premier League football.
Player of the Week
Crystal Palace produced arguably the performance of the weekend as a second-half blitz saw the Eagles thrash Leeds 5-1 at Elland Road.
Michael Olise orchestrated a big win for the visitors, as he cut apart Leeds with direct dribbles forward and passes of perfect weight. The Frenchman recorded a hat-trick of assists in the second half, building on a brilliant performance against Leicester last weekend with an even better one this time around.
Olise led the game for duels won (13), chances created (6), crosses (3) and assists (3), while only three Premier League players have now provided more assists than the 21-year-old (8) this season.
3 – Aged 21 years and 118 days, Michael Olise is the youngest player in Premier League history to assist three goals from open play in a single game. Electric. pic.twitter.com/mm03M7uiCe
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 9, 2023
Roy Hodgson’s return to Crystal Palace might have been viewed with scepticism, but back-to-back wins have provided Palace with a six-point cushion from the bottom three. Building around talents such as Olise will be crucial to Palace’s survival bid and long-term future.
Goal of the Week
No shortage of contenders for our Goal of the Week gong, with Erling Haaland’s acrobatic effort against Southampton and Son Heung-min’s stunner for Spurs unfortunate to miss out.
Matheus Nunes earns our award after his wonderful winner for Wolves, with the midfielder scoring his first Premier League goal with a thunderous strike against Chelsea.
Nunes’ match-winning moment was the highlight of an outstanding all-action performance from the Portugal international, who won ten duels and drove forward dangerously from a role off the right-hand side.
STOP SCROLLING and watch Matheus Nunes' incredible strike from all angles ???? pic.twitter.com/v2KPLN4uIL
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 9, 2023
Miss of the Week
Ivan Toney’s perfect penalty record is over!
The Brentford forward failed from the spot for the first time since signing for the Bees, ending a flawless run of 22 consecutive penalties scored and 10/10 in the Premier League.
The 27-year-old’s casual run up has worked wonders in recent seasons, but looked rather foolish as Newcastle’s Nick Pope got down to save Toney’s tame effort. It was his first miss from the spot since 2018.
???? IVAN TONEY HAS MISSED A PENALTY ????
He'd scored his previous 22. The perfect record is over. pic.twitter.com/IQh17P3xKc
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) April 8, 2023
Normal service was resumed shortly after however, as Toney took on the responsibility of a second spot-kick and converted confidently past Pope.
Save of the Week
Good goalkeepers can help decide Premier League titles and Aaron Ramsdale came up trumps when his side needed him this weekend.
Arsenal were forced to withstand significant pressure from Liverpool in the closing stages, with Ramsdale required to save his side. The 24-year-old got fingertips to a Mohamed Salah strike destined for the top corner, before somehow scrambling away Ibrahima Konate’s effort from point-blank range.
Aaron Ramsdale. WOW. pic.twitter.com/AAgUpQ3I7X
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 9, 2023
Stat of the Week
Ridiculous output from Erling Haaland.
No player has ever scored more goals across all competitions as a Premier League player than Haaland, who scored his 43rd and 44th goals of the season this weekend to level the record shared by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah.
Expect the Norwegian to break the 50-goal barrier before the end of what has been the most extraordinary of seasons.
10 – Erling Haaland has scored 10 goals across his last three games in all competitions, averaging a goal every 20 minutes during this period.
5 goals in 63 minutes vs RB Leipzig
3 goals in 63 minutes vs Burnley
2 goals in 69 minutes vs SouthamptonDumbstruck. pic.twitter.com/y4iomykNor
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 9, 2023
Quote of the Week
Is Erling Haaland on the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi? In terms of scoring goals, Pep Guardiola thinks so.
“We have lived two incredible decades with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but he is on that level.”
– Pep Guardiola on Erling Haaland (BBC Sport)
Donkey of the Week
What was Constantine Hatzidakis thinking?
In a clash packed full of incident and excitement, the sour note will be the half-time behaviour of the linesman.
Hatzidakis will find himself in hot water after appearing to strike Liverpool’s Andy Robertson with an elbow, after being approached by the Scotland captain. It was a staggering incident, with Robertson clearly enraged following the altercation which added a strange sub-topic to an enthralling encounter.
Did the assistant referee elbow Andy Robertson?!" ???? pic.twitter.com/CZQbDDDX0I
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 9, 2023
At a time when player conduct towards officials is under the spotlight, the coming days will now see the discussion flipped.
Bizarre behaviour.
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