13 Sep Rezzil’s weekly digest: Five talking points from Gameweek 4 in the Premier League
As another weekend of exhilarating Premier League football unfolded right before our eyes, Rezzil takes a look at the five major talking points from all the action in the top-flight.
- Ronaldo, obviously
We couldn’t start anywhere else, could we? Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford had fully grown men acting like kids at Christmas; Manchester’s city centre swarming with red shirts donning the famous ‘Ronaldo 7’ partnership before kick-off. I must confess, even I was a little giddy with excitement about the Portuguese maestro’s return, and I’m a Southampton fan.
Most people anticipated an immediate impact from the 36-year-old world-beater and that is exactly what he provided, with two goals on his ‘second debut’ to help United to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Newcastle. The first was an easy tap-in, the second a well-taken drive through the keepers’ legs with his left peg. You quite simply never lose it, do you?
- Salah hits 100
Mo Salah’s consistency in a Liverpool shirt just continues to strengthen, season after season. The Egyptian is a goal-magnet who has already notched three in four league outings for the Reds this term, with his most recent effort coming in the 3-0 victory over Leeds on Sunday afternoon.
That strike, which opened the scoring at Elland Road, sees Salah enter the prestigious Premier League 100 Club. The most impressive thing of it all? He’s done it in just 162 games – the fifth-fastest player to complete such a feat in PL history behind Alan Shearer (124), Harry Kane (141), Sergio Aguero (147) and Thierry Henry (160). Impressive stuff.
- Gunners finally off the mark
It’s no secret that Mikel Arteta is massively under pressure in the Arsenal hot seat, and despite the Gunners getting off the mark with their first goal and victory of the campaign against basement-dwellers Norwich on Saturday, there is still plenty of work to be done on the red side of north London.
A slender 1-0 victory for the hosts against a side who are rooted to the base of the table and haven’t won a game all season is hardly confidence-filling, but it’s a start. The goal was as scrappy as they come, too, but Arteta won’t care one bit. Up next is an away game at Burnley and anything but another three points throws the pressure straight back onto the Spaniard. A team who so often bottle things simply cannot afford to now.
- Lucky number seven for Pogba
Paul Pogba is enjoying his best start to a Premier League campaign for Manchester United and registered his sixth and seventh assist for the club in the 4-1 rout over Newcastle.
While the spotlight firmly shone on Ronaldo and then Bruno Fernandes following his stunning second half strike at Old Trafford, Pogba’s contribution to the cause was again admirable and stretches the Frenchman’s lead at the top of the assist chart to four, with West Ham’s Michail Antonio and City’s Gabriel Jesus sat on four apiece. It’s frightening what he can produce when he’s on song.
- Heartbreak for Elliott
Unfortunately not all things were positive this weekend, as Liverpool youngster Harvey Elliott was stretchered off against Leeds with a horrific injury. The Reds’ prodigy has started so well this season and was playing well at Elland Road, only for an unfortunate challenge to catch him awkwardly and curtail his performance.
The teenager will now face a long period on the sidelines which is a huge blow for Liverpool, but the main thing is that he is able to recover well and as quickly as possible. Everyone here at Rezzil wishes Elliott a speedy recovery, we sincerely hope to see the exciting midfielder back gracing the Anfield turf in the not-too-distant future.