MY ACCOUNT
With the Premier League’s top three all in FA Cup action, the fight for fourth and relegation battle took centre stage on Easter weekend.
Arsenal and Tottenham both slipped up with Manchester United taking full advantage, while at the other end of the table managerless Burnley were denied a crucial win.
We pick out the five players who shone the brightest on Matchday 32.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo turned 37 in February but shows no signs of trading his boots for a pair of slippers just yet.
The Portuguese icon was captured rallying his team-mates in the tunnel ahead of a must-win game against struggling Norwich before letting his feet do the talking on the pitch.
Ronaldo tucked home one of his easier finishes seven minutes in thanks to Anthony Elanga capitalising on a dithering Canaries defence and rose like a rabbit to double United’s lead before the break.
Goals either side of half-time from the visitors looked to have ruined his good work but the Red Devils’ main man secured the points 14 minutes from time by completing his 60h career hat-trick.
Fraser Forster
Arsenal dominated possession and had 23 shots at the Southampton goal yet somehow left St Mary’s with a 1-0 defeat.
Jan Bednarek will take deserved credit for his work at both ends of the field with a goal capping a brilliant defensive performance.
But it is Fraser Forster who stole the headlines with six saves, including an incredible stop from Bukayo Saka when Gunners star Martin Odegaard was already wheeling away celebrating.
The England international, 34, is out of contract at the end of the season and will have earned plenty of admirers with this performance.
Bruno Guimaraes
Newcastle’s January spending saw Eddie Howe target Premier League veterans who could make an immediate impact but he allowed himself one Football Manager-style splurge.
Bruno Guimaraes was given time to settle after being brought in from Lyon to sprinkle some creativity into Toon’s engine room and he burst into life yesterday with a game-winning double.
After Leicester took the lead through Ademola Lookman, the Brazilian took control in a superb all-round display with four tackles and three successful dribbles.
But it was in the opposition penalty area that he really came alive, scoring the equaliser before getting the St James’ Park faithful hopping on Easter Sunday with a diving header deep into stoppage time.
Nick Pope
Burnley could not hold on to the lead against West Ham as Tomas Soucek bundled home an equaliser with 16 minutes left to play.
The Clarets will be gutted not to take all three points but would have left the London Stadium empty-handed were it not for their keeper.
Nick Pope performed miracles to keep out Jarrod Bowen’s first-half strike and Issa Diop’s late header, making five saves in total.
Whoever takes over from Sean Dyche will face a huge challenge to keep hold of the 29-year-old even if Burnley can reach safety.
Christian Eriksen
Christian Eriksen’s fairytale return to the field continued with another influential display against Watford.
The Dane controlled the midfield alongside international team-mate Christian Norgaard, with the latter bagging the Bees’ opener.
Hornets ace Emmanuel Dennis made things interesting with an equaliser but Eriksen stepped up to provide the sting in the tail late on, whipping in a trademark free-kick for Pontus Jansson to score a last-gasp winner.
His Premier League return has drawn plenty of admirers and it looks like a race for the playmaker’s signature is on the cards this summer.
