It was another enthralling weekend of Premier League football, with some results that shocked the league. We take a look at the winners and losers of the weekend’s action.
Winners
Watford
Watford cemented third place in the Premier League table following their victory over Tottenham. Spurs were on cloud nine after their big win against Manchester United last week, but Javi Garcia’s team had other ideas in mind as they have been sensational these last few weeks. Watford are one of only three teams to keep a perfect record this new season, alongside Liverpool and Chelsea. The last time the Hornets won their first four league games was in 1989. The new season looks very promising for Watford.
Alexandre Lacazette
Since the arrival of Unai Emery as a coach at Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette seems to have been relegated to the background. The French striker started for the first time this season in their match against Cardiff and he did not disappoint. The Gunners owe their 3-2 win to an assist and the decisive goal of Lacazette. He was highly rated when he joined the club last season, but his name lost weight after a few disappointing games at the end of the season and his exclusion from the World Cup. With his great performance of the weekend, Lacazette sent a strong message to the new coach, as well as the fans.
José Mourinho
Manchester United have had a lot of problems over the past two weeks. The rainbow finally shone on the Red Devils this weekend with their 2-0 win against Burnley. There was some damage to the great result, the highlight being the red card Marcus Rashford picked up. The Portuguese coach found himself under the fire of the media and fans after two defeats against affordable opponents, and there was already talk of a dismissal in the future of the “Special One”. This latest win will give him a little respite to reformulate his plan.
Losers
Alvaro Morata
Chelsea have won all of their first four games in the Premier League, but Alvaro Morata is a worried man. He has scored just one goal this season for the Blues and was largely ineffective in their home win against Bournemouth. Olivier Giroud has been making a big difference from the bench and this could come as bad news for Morata who might lose his starting place to the World Cup winner. Giroud has the physicality to fight with defenders whilst Morata is better against teams that do not sit deep. Chelsea like to keep the ball under Maurizio Sarri and teams are likely to defend by sitting back, something Morata will have to think about if he is to keep his place.
Tottenham
Tottenham lost an opportunity to extend their unbeaten run to four games since the start of the season after going down 2-1 away to Watford. They just came from handing Manchester United a 3-0 defeat but seems like Watford had other ideas. Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham did not sign any new players in the transfer market but they have a fairly strong team that is expected to challenge for the title this season. As it were they are now behind Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Watford in the table.
Penalty takers
Penalty takers in the Premier League had a weekend to forget as three of them were saved. Paul Pogba would have seen Manchester United win by 3-0 in their fixture away to Burnley had he converted his spot kick. However the heroics of Joe Hart ensured that he kept the ball away from rolling into the net. Elsewhere Crystal Palace denied Charlie Austin an opportunity to score from the spot. That notwithstanding they still managed to win the match 2-0. Finally Brighton and Hove Albion were denied all three points after Pascal Gross’s penalty was saved by Fulham who surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw at the end of regular time.