It was a week of shocks in the Premier League this weekend, with Arsenal slipping up against a rejuvenated Everton seemingly handing Manchester City the perfect opportunity to jump back into the title race.
However, a tepid performance against Tottenham saw them remain five points behind the gunners courtesy of a record-breaking goal by Harry Kane, and cut their lead over Manchester United to just three points as the Red Devils edged out Crystal Palace.
Chelsea and Liverpool’s poor seasons continued, with neither side managing a goal, much less a win, while Leeds have since parted ways with Jesse Marsch following a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Here are who we thought stood out over the Weekend’s action.
GK: Keylor Navas (Nottingham Forest)
Anyone else a little confused at how a three time Champions League winner ended up at Nottingham Forest? The moves has similarities with Julio Cesar to QPR, shades of Valdes to Middlesbrough. One of those moves that you could never even dream up in videogames.
Nonetheless, Navas arrived, and quickly made a strong impression on the Premier League despite his advancing years, helping his side keep a valuable clean sheet against a Leeds side that dominated the game, but came away with nothing to show for it.
CB: Nayef Aguerd (West Ham)
West Ham clung on for a valuable point against Newcastle United at St James Park, but could have found themselves walking away with nothing just as easily. The difference? Defender Nayef Aguerd. A top all-round performance was capped off with an inch-perfect sliding tackle 17 minutes from full-time, which would otherwise have seen a certain goal.
CB: James Tarkowski (Everton)
It seems fitting that Sean Dyche’s first win back in charge was a 1-0 victory against a side top of the Premier League earned off the back of one of his former players at Burnley. The man in question, James Tarkowski, was imperious in the air in both boxes, with four-headed clearances and all three of his aerial duels won.
Should the Toffees be able to keep up the form and commitment shown against the Gunners, they will be out of their sticky patch sooner rather than later.
CB: Ben Mee (Brentford)
From one former Burnley defender to another, Ben Mee also enjoyed a strong showing for Brentford as they continued their European push with a comprehensive 3-0 win over struggling Southampton.
The centre-back came up with the opening goal just before half time to crack the resolute Saints, and helped keep a clean sheet to move the Bees up to seventh in the Premier League.
RM: Emerson Royal (Tottenham)
The arrival of Pedro Porro is suddenly far less necessary than it was on Saturday after the performance from Emerson Royal. The Brazilian defender had his best outing in a Tottenham shirt against Jack Grealish, and was imperious in helping his side keep a clean sheet and forcing City to continue to wait for their first goal at the new Tottenham Stadium.
CM: Amadou Onana (Everton)
Having chosen to stay at Everton in January despite interest from Chelsea and Arsenal, Onana put in his best performance in a toffees shirt as he helped them beat Arsenal 1-0 at Goodison Park.
The Belgian midfielder, who picked up his customary yellow card, nonetheless created two chances and made 4 tackles and interceptions in an all-round excellent performance in the centre of the park. Though the entire midfield trio for the Toffees were great, Onana stood out.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham)
No one gave out-of-sorts Tottenham much of a chance welcoming Manchester City to north London, but the Lilywhites put in a top performance to come away with a 1-0 win despite Antonio Conte’s absence from the sidelines.
Central to that was Pierre Emile Hojbjerg. The Dane pounced on a loose pass to set up Harry Kane for the first goal, and he was constantly making runs behind the Manchester City defence to create space for teammates, while he was no slouch defensively either. Though others may steal the headlines, Hojbjerg had an excellent outing.
CM: Ruben Neves (Wolves)
Neves grabbing the third goal to put Liverpool to the sword was the icing on the cake, both for an impressive Wolves win and for himself, with the midfield maestro having dominated the Liverpool trio from start to finish.
Making two tackles and winning six duels, the Wolves captain was excellent, while Liverpool continue to flounder in midtable with serious concerns about just how the rectify that situation. Conceding three goals to the lowest scoring side in the Premier League will not have helped.
LM: Tete (Leicester City)
Described as “the winger we’ve been looking for” by Brendan Rodgers after Leicester City’s 4-2 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, Tete enjoyed a dream Foxes debut.
The Brazilian, who arrived in January from Lyon, grabbed a goal but was also involved in almost everything good that Leicester City did, and really did look like a missing piece of the Foxes jigsaw.
ST: Harry Kane (Tottenham)
While Harry Kane’s impressive achievement, breaking Tottenham’s all-time goalscoring record put his side 1-0 up against the run of play, there must have been concerns that a repeat of a fortnight ago would happen, with City storming back to take all three points, and leave his accolade in the shade.
Against all odds, however, Spurs held on, meaning that Kane’s moment, as so often is the case, was the difference. Now up to 200 Premier League goals, he is sixty away from the all-time Premier League record, and even if his time at Tottenham comes to an end without a trophy, that will be a record he holds onto for some time should he reach it.
ST: Bryan Mbuemo (Brentford)
Always the more underrated of the pair in his partnership with Ivan Toney, Mbuemo has continued to impress this season and grabbed a well deserved goal and assists in their mauling of Southampton, leaving Nathan Jones teetering closer than ever to the exit.
With the future of Toney still up in the air amid his betting charges, the Bees will be relieved that Mbuemo is stepping up when they need him most.
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