MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United reasserted their top-four credentials with a battling 4-2 victory at Leeds on Sunday.
Tottenham’s stunning 3-2 defeat of leaders Manchester City breathed new life into the Premier League title race, while Liverpool’s comeback win against Norwich means the Reds are now within striking distance of the Citizens.
Elsewhere, Watford and Burnley both picked up three points to ensure the fight for survival remains a wide-open affair.
Here are LiveScore’s five stars of the Premier League weekend.
Bruno Fernandes
While consistency has been hard to come by at United this season, Bruno Fernandes’ recent fine form showed no signs of stopping in West Yorkshire.
The Portuguese midfielder, 27, made it seven direct goal involvements (four goals, three assists) in his last seven Premier League appearances, proving too hot for the Red Devils’ old foes to handle.
Calmly planting home a Jadon Sancho cross to double the visitors’ lead in the first half, Fernandes then turned provider late on to help Anthony Elanga secure the win.
It was the ingenious flick over Pascal Struijk’s head, making space for Elanga to rush beyond the home defence and stroke home, which perfectly summarised Fernandes’ performance.
Playing with the confidence he showed so frequently last term, the No18 is back terrorising Premier League defences on a weekly basis.
Mohamed Salah
City’s slip-up was a costly one given Liverpool had been able to recover from going a goal down to Norwich at Anfield earlier in the day.
Trailing early in the second half, Sadio Mane acrobatically drew the Reds level before a familiar face put Jurgen Klopp’s troops ahead in Mohamed Salah.
Expertly controlling a long punt from Alisson, the 29-year-old Egyptian coolly sat down onrushing Canaries keeper Angus Gunn before seamlessly slotting home from the edge of the area.
As he so often does, Salah made a potentially difficult finish look easy by picking the one part of the goal that two covering Norwich defenders could not reach.
Now on 17 goals for the campaign, he looks poised to add a third Golden Boot to his collection — and perhaps a second Premier League winners’ medal.
Harry Kane
If there was one man who was going to throw a spanner in the works of City’s cruise to the title, it just had to be Harry Kane.
Set to join Pep Guardiola’s side last summer before a deal very publicly collapsed, the England skipper has had a somewhat underwhelming campaign to date but fittingly delivered a virtuoso performance at the Etihad.
An incisive first-time pass set Heung-Min Son away to tee up Dejan Kulusevski for Tottenham’s opener before Kane’s nerveless first-time finish and a towering injury-time header sealed an outstanding victory.
The 28-year-old now has seven Premier League strikes this term and will hope to continue his rich vein of form as Spurs hunt a precious top-four finish.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said of Kane’s Etihad showing: “That was one of the best performances I’ve seen this season, it really was. It was a privilege to watch.”
Wout Weghorst
One win from 21 Premier League outings prior to Saturday shows how much Burnley have lacked a spark in attack this term — but Wout Weghorst may just be the answer to their prayers.
Arriving from Wolfsburg on deadline day, the giant Dutchman had caught the eye in his first three Premier League appearances and was near unplayable in their huge 3-0 weekend win at Brighton.
Caressing a Connor Roberts cross into the top corner for the Clarets’ opener — his first in English football — his emotional reaction upon scoring spoke volumes about his desire to succeed.
Not content with simply getting on the scoresheet, the 29-year-old bullied Brighton’s backline for the remainder of the afternoon and even laid in Josh Brownhill for his side’s second goal.
A regular member of Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands squad, Burnley may have pulled off a masterstroke in finding Chris Wood’s replacement.
Daniel Podence
Wolves’ unlikely tilt for fourth spot continued apace on Sunday afternoon with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Leicester at Molineux.
Goals from Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence made sure of the three points, with the high octane performance of the latter coming in for particular acclaim from pundits.
Former Wolves forward Robbie Keane waxed lyrical about Podence, saying: “I’m a massive, massive fan of his. He can go both ways — left foot, right foot. I honestly think there’s another gear in this lad.
“He has a bit of [Eden] Hazard about him, the way he plays. He’s certainly got the ability on the ball and he’s great to watch.”
A regular starter for his side this term despite only just netting his first league goal of the campaign, Podence clearly has the faith of his manager and will hope to make more telling contributions in the vital months ahead.
