Following a Premier League weekend that featured two derby matches for the ages, Tom Williams runs the rule over the weekend’s biggest storylines.
Moment of the weekend
Anfield. Merseyside derby. Ninety-five minutes on the clock and the score 0-0. Liverpool attacking the Kop end. Trent Alexander-Arnold hoists a hopeful ball into the Everton box and it’s headed clear. Virgil van Dijk horribly slices his attempt at a volley, sending the ball looping harmlessly towards Jordan Pickford’s goal.
But what’s this? Gripped by some kind of ball/crossbar confusion, Pickford ends up palming the ball into the air and it bounces off the bar before rebounding back into play. Divock Origi, who has been on the pitch for all of 12 minutes, bundles it into the net.
Anfield erupts. A delirious Jurgen Klopp sprints onto the middle of the pitch and bearhugs a bemused-looking Alisson. His brain scrambled by having scored his first Liverpool goal since May 2017, Origi grabs the ball from the net as if his side still have a deficit to overturn. Pickford looks like he might cry.
There will never be a better finish to a Merseyside derby. Ever.
Goal of the weekend
Martin Keown once opined that when Andros Townsend gets the ball on his left foot in certain areas, “there isn’t a better player in Europe”. There are a few players who might have something to say about that – not least, y’know, Lionel Messi – but Townsend is unquestionably adept at cutting in from the right flank and letting fly.
He scored one such goal on Saturday to seal Crystal Palace’s 2-0 victory over Burnley, arrowing a glorious shot into the top-left corner from just outside the box.
Septuagenarian of the weekend (a recurring theme)
Neil Warnock was left snarling at Nuno Espirito Santo after Wolves beat Cardiff in the Championship in April, but his side came out on top in their Premier League reunion courtesy of Junior Hoilett’s superb 77th-minute curler.
The result lifted Cardiff out of the relegation zone — a perfect birthday present for Warnock, who turned 70 on Saturday. “I’m not getting any younger,” he said. “Moments like this you’ve got to treasure.”
Dribble of the weekend
When the fixtures come out at the start of each season, Raheem Sterling could be forgiven for making a mental note of when his side will be facing Bournemouth. He has scored for Manchester City on each of the six occasions that he has played against the south coast side, with his latest effort helping to secure a 3-1 win that kept Pep Guardiola’s men two points clear of Liverpool at the summit.
Prior to scoring, Sterling had come close to netting a sensational goal, picking the ball up wide on the right and spearing past five visiting defenders before dispatching a shot that was deflected onto the post.
Ill-advised celebration of the weekend
As derby goal celebrations go, putting your finger to your lips and “shushing” the opposition fans must feel immensely satisfying (particularly when you’re playing away from home), so you can hardly blame Eric Dier for having done just that after equalising for Tottenham in Sunday’s North London derby.
Four minutes later, a Harry Kane penalty put Spurs 2-1 up, but unfortunately for Dier, that was as good as it got. After Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang levelled, Alexandre Lacazette’s shot deflected in off Dier to put Arsenal 3-2 ahead and Lucas Torreira added another as Unai Emery’s side leapfrogged their rivals into the Champions League places.
Luckily for Dier, Arsenal’s fans are a famously forgiving bunch who wouldn’t dream of reminding him about the shushing incident for the rest of his career.
Understudy of the weekend
A combination of hamstring injuries and the fine form of Glenn Murray meant Florin Andone had to wait until the first weekend of December to make his first start for Brighton. With Murray rested for the trip to Huddersfield, the 25-year-old Romanian striker seized his chance by scoring with a flashing header to give Brighton a 2-1 win.
First touch of the weekend
James Maddison’s goal in Leicester’s 2-0 win over Watford was a thing of beauty that moved manager Claude Puel to compare the 22-year-old to his former Monaco teammate Glenn Hoddle.
Maddison deftly plucked Marc Albrighton’s pass out of the air with his right foot, rode Adrian Mariappa’s challenge and then, with the ball having still not touched the ground, bludgeoned a volley past Ben Foster.
Small vegetable of the weekend
Manuel Pellegrini’s preference for single-striker systems has left Javier Hernandez kicking his heels on the bench for much of the season so far, but he wasted little time after being drafted into West Ham’s starting XI at Newcastle. The “Little Pea” scored twice in a 3-0 win, first sweeping home Robert Snodgrass’s cross and then running through to finish coolly from Marko Arnautovic’s flick-on.
Mad dog of the weekend
Jose Mourinho’s Big Random Excuse Generator spat out a new one this weekend, namely the lack of “mad dogs” in his squad.
Goals from Stuart Armstrong and Cedric Soares had United staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat at struggling Southampton before Marcus Rashford inspired a fightback, setting up goals for Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera as the visitors hit back to salvage a 2-2 draw. For once, the England striker was spared criticism.
“With all due respect, we don’t have many mad dogs that bite the ball and press all the time. We don’t have many people with that spirit,” Mourinho complained.
“I would say Marcus Rashford was a mad dog.”
Stat of the weekend
N’Golo Kante found himself in the very unfamiliar position of being criticised by his own manager last week after Maurizio Sarri accused him of having tried to “solve the match” on his own in Chelsea’s 3-1 loss to Tottenham.
He provided the perfect riposte by setting up the opener in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over neighbours Fulham, picking Jean Michael Seri’s pocket on the halfway line before driving upfield and teeing up Pedro to score. The Frenchman now has two assists for the season, which is as many as he contributed in his first two Chelsea campaigns put together.
Team of the weekend
(4-1-3-2) Alisson; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Joe Gomez, Shane Duffy, Aaron Cresswell; Lucas Torreira; Raheem Sterling, Aaron Ramsey, Felipe Anderson; Javier Hernandez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang