Mahrez and Martial shine among Saturday’s star man displays in the Premier League


We run down the man of the match performances from this Saturday’s fixtures in the Premier League as Manchester City romped to victory and Chelsea and Manchester United played out an entertaining draw.

Chelsea 2-2 Manchester United - Anthony Martial

In and out of the side at Manchester United since Jose Mourinho’s arrival, Martial kept his place in the side having helped the team come from behind to win against Newcastle and appeared to have done the same at Stamford Bridge. The Frenchman scored both goals for the visitors to give them the lead with two excellent second half finishes, netting with his both of his attempts to earn a star man rating of 8.36.

Bournemouth 0-0 Southampton - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

In an uneventful south coast derby, the defences very much won out over the opposition attack and as far as Saints were concerned, Hojbjerg offered excellent protection to the back four. The Dane has enjoyed a strong start to the season and his impressive form continued, mustering three shots, testing Asmir Begovic twice, while winning four aerial duels and six tackles in the middle ground for a rating of 7.89.

Cardiff 4-2 Fulham - Callum Paterson

There’s certainly no such thing as a six-pointer this early in the season but when two struggling newly promoted sides meet, victory tastes extra sweet and that will certainly be the case for Cardiff, who are off the bottom after their first win of the season. Neil Warnock opted to field the versatile Paterson up front given his physical prowess and he caused Fulham’s fragile defence all sorts of problems. The 24-year-old won eight aerial duels and mustered five shots, scoring the goal that restored the hosts lead at 3-2 for a rating 8.66.

Manchester City 5-0 Burnley - Riyad Mahrez

It was a five-star display from Pep Guardiola’s side, with summer signing Riyad Mahrez the pick of the bunch as he set out to redeem himself for missing a penalty against Liverpool ahead of the break. The Algerian was the fourth of five different goalscorers, mustering four shots in total, completing two dribbles and two tackles while creating four chances for his teammates. A rating of 9.53 was the highest in the Premier League from Saturday’s matches.

Newcastle 0-1 Brighton - Shane Duffy

While Beram Kayal may have scored the match winner in the first half, it was Brighton’s superb defensive resolve that saw them cling onto all three points, and both Duffy and Lewis Dunk were superb at the back. The Ireland international won eight of his nine aerial duels and made a whopping 19 clearances to edge out his centre-back partner to the man of the match award with a rating of 8.25.

West Ham 0-1 Tottenham - Erik Lamela

Just one goal separated the sides at the London Stadium between these two capital city rivals, and it was the in form Lamela that got it as Mauricio Pochettino shuffled his pack ahead of a crucial Champions League encounter next week. The Argentine scored his fifth goal of the season in all competitions just before the break and chipped in with two tackles and four successful dribbles for a man of the match rating of 8.00.

 

 

Wolves 0-2 Watford - Etienne Capoue

After a difficult run for Watford appeared to have bought Javi Gracia’s side back down to earth, in form Wolves were very much favourites as they hosted the Hornets but it was a superb away performance from the Spaniard’s side. Capoue dominated proceedings in midfield all afternoon and opened the scoring for the visitors, completing 91 per cent of his passes and all five of his tackle attempts for a rating of 8.60.

Huddersfield 0-1 Liverpool - Mohamed Salah

It’s unsurprisingly proven difficult for Mo Salah to recreate his form from a quite remarkable debut season at Liverpool but a match winning goal will certainly boost the Egyptian’s confidence. His first half strike was his first away from home all season for the Reds, coming from one of four attempts at goal, while completing a further two dribbles and one tackle as Jurgen Klopp’s men were forced to grind out a result against a stubborn resolve from the hosts.

Mahrez and Martial shine among Saturday’s star man displays in the Premier League