Premier League, Round Five: Abraham linkin' Chelsea, Mane cuts down Newcastle
The league title's already over, then.
Liverpool moved five points clear of Manchester City after coming from behind to turn over Newcastle, with the Reds' front three proving their brilliance once again. Will City be back? Probably. Elsewhere Auba must wonder what he's got to do to score a winning goal with that defence, Son returns to form for Tottenham, and Tammy Abraham gives Chelsea a centre-forward they've been craving for years.
The doubters, silenced. Pundits were quick to question Frank Lampard's decision to start the young star as the focal point of Chelsea's attack this season, but it's now seven goals in three games and his hat-trick against Wolves was sublime; a penalty box finish, a header which displayed excellent movement and the highlight, a wonderful slip past Conor Coady, leaving the defender in another universe before whipping into the corner.
Son had, by his standards, been enduring something of a barren run in 2019 but that was quickly buried by his skewering of Crystal Palace. Skipping inside to slam home and open the scoring, he doubled down with a precise volley at the back post to all but confirm the victory. Spurs have started slowly but with Son back to his best, their season could begin from here.
The only word for Deulofeu is mercurial. We remember the scintillating displays and tend to forget the games where he goes missing. Happily, this was the former. In the second half against Arsenal he dragged his team back from 2-0 down and looked a million quid in the process. His quick pressing on Arsenal's playing out set up Tom Cleverley, while completing seven dribbles and touching the ball in the box an astonishing 15 times. More of these please, Gerard.
Mane may well still be the most underrated of the much-heralded Liverpool front three. Salah earns the accolades and Firmino's link-up play is beloved but Mane has been a battering ram in front of goal, and his fifth and sixth goals of the season turned what could have been a tricky situation against Newcastle into a rather straightforward victory.
Poor Pierre. He's doing everything in his power to win points for Arsenal, but it seems as if his own defenders are conspiring against him. As his back line capitulated he has done his part, scoring a brilliantly instinctive finish to open the scoring, then was in the right place at the back post to double the lead. It should have been an easy win for there. Alas, Sokratis and David Luiz felt otherwise.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Roberto Firmino (8.5) came off the bench and flicked and tricked his way through Newcastle, including providing perhaps the finest assist of the season already. Kenny McLean's (8.4) display against champions Manchester City was heroic to lead his side to a stunning 3-2 win, while Moussa Djenepo (8.0) struck a thoroughly eye-catching goal for Southampton, dribbling through the back line to seal a win over Sheffield United.
WEEKEND TO FORGET
Sokratis (4.8) and David Luiz (5.4) were utterly abysmal as Arsenal fell apart away to Watford, the former offering up a gift of a goal while Luiz gave away another nonsensical penalty.
In the absence of the injured Aymeric Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi (5.8) failed to look behind him and had his pocket picked as Norwich turned over City. Vicente Guaita (5.1) and Mamadou Sakho (5.1) collectively allowed Tottenham to run riot over Crystal Palace in a 4-0 loss.