Premier League Player of the Week: Cavani completes Manchester United comeback and Mahrez hat-trick downs Burnley
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Who gets your vote this week?
From 2-0 down at half-time, Manchester United completed a late comeback to beat Southampton 3-2 at St. Mary’s thanks to inspiration from half-time substitute Edinson Cavani.
Manchester City continued their streak of high-scoring wins over Burnley with yet another 5-0 demolition, their fourth against The Clarets in two years.
Elsewhere, a goalless draw against Chelsea was enough to keep Tottenham Hotspur top of the table after Brighton’s last-gasp equaliser against Liverpool
West Bromwich Albion picked up their first win of the season against Sheffield United, with Fulham winning their second against Leicester City.
We scouted the top-flight games up and down the country to pick four of the best for our Premier League Player of the Week shortlist.
Callum Wilson
After just one shot in the entire match against Chelsea last weekend, Newcastle managed seven against Crystal Palace with Callum Wilson back in the side.
It took until the 88th minute for the Magpies to break down a resilient Palace defence, but it was summer signing Wilson who opened the scoring after strike partner Joelinton split the Eagles back line.
Wilson calmly ran through on goal taking one touch with his right foot before quickly gaining composure and slotting the ball through the legs Vicente Guaita with his left.
Just two minutes later, Wilson set Joelinton away down the Newcastle right, before the Brazilian cut inside and saw his deflected shot ripple the back of the net, with the former Bournemouth striker Wilson being credited with the assist.
Have the Magpies finally found the striker that can fire them up the table? Seven goals and two assists in nine appearances suggests they could have.
Riyad Mahrez
Manchester City seem to be making a habit of putting five past Burnley at the Etihad, and this time, it was a stunning performance from Riyad Mahrez that sent them on their way.
With only six minutes on the clock, the Cityzens took advantage of a mistake by James Tarkowski, with Kevin De Bruyne slotting the ball through to Mahrez, who cut in on his left foot to bury it in the bottom left corner.
Mahrez scored his second from a similar position, but this time, it was quick thinking from Kyle Walker and individual brilliance from the Algerian to work the space to score.
Walker’s quick throw found Mahrez to the right hands side of the six-yard box. The City winger skipped past Ben Mee, feigned a shot to work some space before curling home with his left foot around Tarkowski.
Mahrez completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute, with De Bruyne playing a defence-splitting pass to find Phil Foden down the left wing, with his cross sitting up nicely for Mahrez to power his header home past a helpless Nick Pope to make it 5-0.
Edinson Cavani
Considered a panic buy by many and being placed in the same bracket as Radamel Falcao before even playing for United, Edinson Cavani is slowly starting to show his worth in the Premier League.
With the Red Devils 2-0 down at half-time thanks to goals from Jan Bednarek and James Ward-Prowse, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Mason Greenwood for Cavani during the break.
And it was a move that would soon pay off, as 15 minutes into the second half, Cavani’s cross from the right would land at the feet of Bruno Fernandes, who took one touch before slotting home on the turn.
The Uruguayan levelled the scores with just 15 minutes left to play as Fernandes’ deflected shot from the edge of the area sat up for Cavani to send a diving header into the back of the net.
But in the dying embers of the game, with the points looking set to be shared, Fernandes passed a quick free kick out to Marcus Rashford on the left, who whipped the ball in for Cavani to swoop low and slot another header past Alex McCarthy to break Saints hearts.
Jarrod Bowen
In the final match of the weekend’s fixtures, David Moyes’ West Ham United moved up to fifth as their great start to the season continued with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
It was a win that was led by Jarrod Bowen, with the former Hull City man grabbing the opening assist after just two minutes as his in-swinging corner from the right was met by Angelo Ogbonna, who headed home for his first of the season.
Despite being pegged back by Villa thanks to a deflected Jack Grealish effort, West Ham came out of the blocks for the second half lightning fast once again, but this time, provider turned to goalscorer.
Just one minute into the second half, substitute Said Benrahma dinked a delicate cross from the left into the box, where Jarrod Bowen and Sebastien Haller were waiting.
Bowen flicked the ball on with a deft header, looping the ball into the back of the net to give the Hammers the lead. It was a lead they’d hang on to with Villa’s Ollie Watkins missing a second-half penalty.
There’s just enough time to give some honourable mentions, with Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes playing huge roles in their respective team wins.
Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence shone at the Emirates as Wolves consigned Arsenal to their fifth Premier League defeat of the season, while Hugo Lloris and Edouard Mendy impressed when called upon between the sticks in the Stamford Bridge shutout.
But who gets your vote in our Player of the Week poll this week? Let us know on our Twitter poll.
