Like most other gameweeks so far this season, Premier League gameweek 11 was dominated by VAR controversies.
VAR once again took centre stage on Saturday, with the decision to award a goal to Newcastle United against Arsenal leading to Mikel Arteta’s head essentially exploding post-match.
But we’re not here to discuss that, we’re here to discuss the best individual performances we bore witness to over the weekend. Here’s 90min‘s team of the week.
GK: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace)
Crystal Palace forking out £20m for Dean Henderson and then never playing him really tells you all you need to know about Sam Johnstone’s performance this season.
The 30-year-old has been in great form and impressed once again in the weekend win over Burnley, making five saves and keeping a clean sheet.
RB: Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest)
Having been without a win since September 2, it’s fair to say that Nottingham Forest were in dire need of three points on Sunday.
And they got them thanks to Ola Aina.
The full-back scored a brilliant goal to set his side on the way to a crucial 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Nice one.
CB: Nathan Collins (Brentford)
The most expensive Irish footballer ever (until Evan Ferguson goes for £100m+), Nathan Collins showed Brentford fans why their club forked out £23m for his services in the summer.
The centre-back made 13 clearances, won four duels and bagged a winning goal in what was probably the best performance of his career to date.
CB: Fabian Schar (Newcastle United)
Fabian Schar earned an 8/10 in the 90min player ratings for his performance in the win over Arsenal.
And judging by the clean sheet, five clearances, four won duels and four ball recoveries, you can see why. A top class performance from a top class centre-back.
LB: Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton)
The Ukrainian earned his first team of the week nod of the season thanks to an all-action outing against Brighton.
Mykolenko’s goal was fortunate, sure, but it helped Everton on their way to a surprisingly positive result against one of the league’s better teams.
CM: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
When you’re compared to Lionel Messi after game, you know you’ve played quite well.
And that’s exactly what Bernardo Silva did on Saturday. The dynamic midfielder bagged a brace in the thumping 6-1 win over Bournemouth, with his second goal being particularly Messi-esque.
CM: Oliver Norwood (Sheffield United)
Sheffield United finally won a Premier League game at the weekend, and they can thank Oliver Norwood for the victory.
The 32-year-old put in a real captain’s performance on Saturday by keeping his calm under immense pressure to score a 100th minute (yes, 100th minute) penalty to secure all three points. Ice in his veins.
CM: Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest)
Is Orel Mangala the only midfielder to get the better of Douglas Luiz this season? Quite possibly.
The 25-year-old was fantastic on Sunday, winning 100% of his tackles, completing 95% of his passes and scoring a (rather fortunate) goal in a big win for Forest.
RW: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United)
The scorer of the most controversial, and most important, goal of the weekend.
Anthony Gordon has developed into a genuine match-winner for Newcastle United in the early weeks of the 2023/24 campaign.
ST: Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
Nicolas Jackson could’ve broken Alan Shearer’s Premier League top goalscorer record on Monday night.
Instead of the 260 goals he could’ve scored, Jackson ended up with three. Which is still very good to be fair.
LW: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)
Four assists and a goal.
That’s right, five goal contributions in one game.
Jeremy Doku put in arguably the best individual performance we’ve seen all season in the weekend win over Bournemouth, becoming the youngest player in Premier League history with five goal involvements in a single game in the process.
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