MY ACCOUNT
Goals were on the menu on across the Premier League weekend as Manchester City and Arsenal continued to impress.
Tottenham smashed six past Leicester, Fulham won at Nottingham Forest and Everton finally tasted victory as they beat West Ham on Sunday.
Despite three games being postponed, there was action aplenty and we have picked out the best performances from the seven matches played.
Joao Palhinha
Midfielder Joao Palhinha has been one of the stars of Fulham’s bright start to the season.
Marco Silva’s side have surprised many after securing promotion last term, with their summer recruitment looking smarter than that of the Nottingham Forest side they beat 3-2 on Friday night.
Palhinha curled in a beauty from the edge of the box to put the Cottagers 2-1 up, just three minutes after team-mate Tosin Adarabioyo had equalised.
But his performance was particularly noticeable for the ugly side of the game — winning tackles, cutting out attacks and generally relishing the physical battles.
Two weeks ago, Palhinha, 27, said: “You can actually make tackles here and I love that.”
As his display against Forest highlighted, he clearly relishes rolling up his sleeves and getting stuck in.
Jack Grealish
On the scoresheet after 55 seconds, Jack Grealish enjoyed his return to the Midlands in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off.
Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Wolves was comfortable and it was Grealish’s prerformance that pleased Pep Guardiola the most.
Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne catch the eye every week but the England international has had a stuttering start to the campaign.
Yet with 94% of his passes completed, all of his dribbles successful and the stats showing he also contributed defensively, Guardiola was thrilled with his record signing.
The City boss said: “He played really good and strong, a good goal arriving there. He doesn’t lose the ball and a good performance for me.
“Hopefully he can continue in the national team and come back fit.”
Heung-Min Son
There is unlikely to be a better hat-trick scored in the English top flight this season than the one Tottenham substitute Heung-Min Son netted against Leicester.
The striker has had a difficult start to the campaign — not that you would have known that in Saturday’s 6-2 victory.
His first goal was bent over keeper Danny Ward from outside the box with his right foot, the second was curled around Ward from outside the box with his left and the third was a smart finish when through on goal.
Son, 30, said: “Obviously it was a tough first few games but this is the lesson.
“In the bad periods you learn so much. I’m doing it right now.
“It wasn’t that bad, but in these tough moments I had some lessons and really good people around me to help.”
William Saliba
William Saliba is fast establishing himself as one of the league’s best defenders.
Up against in-form Ivan Toney, just three days after the Brentford striker’s England call-up, the Frenchman did not give him a sniff.
Alongside Gabriel, he was dominant at all times as Arsenal made light work of a difficult trip to the Gtech Community Stadium and walked away with a 3-0 win.
On top of his defensive display, it was Saliba’s looping header that broke the deadlock in the first half.
Bees boss Thomas Frank said: “Saliba… oooof! He’s going to be a full international player for France, I’m sure. He will be in the starting line-up soon and that’s a strong national team.”
Neal Maupay
The only real moment of quality in a drab game with the Hammers saw former Brighton star Neal Maupay net his first Everton goal.
A smart finish on the half-volley from the edge of the box handed Toffees boss Frank Lampard a much-needed first win of the season.
Lampard said: “We brought him in for that reason. He’s a proven Premier League scorer.
“We played some games early season with false nines, trying to find solutions.
“There were times in games [where] with that bit of clinical finishing, we would have got more points. How close he kept that first touch and how quickly he shot is why he scored.”
