Our weekly Premier League awards honour the best – and worst – of the football action from the past seven days.
Moment of the Week
Getting your first win in 12 Premier League games is a relief, but doing it at Goodison, where your club has never won in the league ever, is a special moment.
What makes it even better is, Josh Maja scored a brace on his first Premier League start to give his new team Fulham a massive 2-0 win over Everton.
✅ First start for Fulham
✅ First Premier League goalIt doesn't get much better than that for Josh Maja! ???? pic.twitter.com/aoKjJzbFG5
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 14, 2021
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Player of the Week
The man of the moment, Ilkay Gundogan is in the form of his life. The German midfielder’s brace against Tottenham Hotspur brought him to 11 league goals for the season, the first time he has reached double digits in a single campaign.
Gundogan is the top scorer in the league since the beginning of December and in Europe’s top five leagues since the beginning of 2021. Most impressively, he didn’t score his first goal of the season until 15 December.
???? @edersonmoraes93 with the homing missile assist! ????
⚽️ @Sure
???? #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klUGiM pic.twitter.com/33bYypZq3l— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 13, 2021
He’s swiftly moving into Player of the Year territory.
Runner-up: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal.
Ilkay Gundogan: The unlikely spearhead of Man City’s title charge
Goal of the Week
Matt Lowton might have just scored the Goal of the Season for Burnley – and it’s his first goal in 119 Premier League appearances for the Clarets.
Take a bow, Matthew Lowton ????pic.twitter.com/GxEIUupRCp
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) February 13, 2021
Honourable Mention: Danny Ings, Southampton (vs Wolves); Bruno Fernandes, Man United (vs West Brom).
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Assist of the Week
Every now and again Roberto Firmino pulls out an absolutely magic piece of skill like this.
Roberto Firmino with a contender for assist of the season ????
Mo Salah's finish was top class too, what a beautiful goal for Liverpool! pic.twitter.com/wj0tLvFMH6
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 13, 2021
Honourable Mentions: Ederson, Man City (vs Spurs); Jay Rodriguez, Burnley (vs Crystal Palace).
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Save of the Week
On 15 December West Brom’s Sam Johnstone stretches to make a magnificent save to his left late in the game to keep it 1-1 against Manchester City.
On 14 February West Brom’s Sam Johnstone stretches to make a magnificent save to his left late in the game to keep it 1-1 against Manchester United.
???? What. A. Save. ????
???? @samjohnstone50 ????#WBAMUN pic.twitter.com/Sg1VPKMwKz
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 14, 2021
Where would the Baggies be without him?
Honourable Mention: Alisson’s diving effort to stop Jamie Vardy’s shot.
Yves Bissouma: The all-action midfielder to turn Man United into legitimate title challengers
Stat of the Week
Make that 16 for Manchester City.
Man City have won 15 games in a row since Cyberpunk 2077 was removed from the Playstation Store. Some bug that.
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) February 12, 2021
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Howler of the Week
Goalkeepers are fundamentally broken right now. That can be the only explanation for the recent spate of howlers by so many alleged shot stoppers.
Alisson Becker committed yet another wojous error to go with his two last week against Man City. The defender Ozan Kabak doesn’t deal with the situation well either, but an experienced goalie like Alisson should take command of the situation.
Dishonourable Mention: Illan Meslier, Leeds United (vs Arsenal)
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Donkey of the Week
It’s becoming a weekly ritual at this point. Black footballer plays poorly, racist bigots abuse said player online. Rinse and repeat.
The victim on this occasion? Anthony Martial, who was on the receiving end of such abuse only last month. On this occasion the Frenchman was targeted following a listless display against West Brom.
“After the game, Martial was subjected to abuse on his Instagram account, with a number of users posting racist messages and symbols on his photos, and using the N-word,” Sky Sports reported on Sunday.
It’s beyond unacceptable and tiresome at this point. Instagram announced harsher penalties for accounts found to be partaking in such behaviour, but we’ll hold our breath on that one.
Read: Why Leicester’s Izzet-and-Heskey-inspired cup specialists are so beloved
See Also: Tweets of the Week: Cool Carlo, Insta-Keano, Dermot Gallagher’s secret accent
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