As has been no different from the first three weeks of the season, week four produced a TON of goals, plenty of which were of the highest quality. I’m going to do things a little differently. I will still do my usual top 5 goals, one honorable mention, but I am also spotlighting three other performances from around the league. I will highlight: team goal of the week, Quick Thinking goal of the week, and a hat trick hero. As always, shout out to NBC Sports for all of the highlights. Let’s jump straight into it.
Honorable Mention: Allan Saint-Maximin
Allan Saint-Maximin did everything for Newcastle to set up this wonderful strike. He receives the ball inside the center half circle and carries to the edge of the box. He chops to the left, then the right, to set up a shooting lane. He takes aim for the bottom corner of the near side post and hits it perfectly to give his side an early 1-0 lead.
#5 Raheem Sterling
Sterling gets a pass to his feet, on the left corner of the penalty area. He takes a touch inside to set up a shot, and gives a lovely fake taking three defenders out of position with the move. He takes his shot from just inside the box with no one in front of him and puts in a curler to the far post with his right footed strike.
#4 Ashley Westwood
This goal came after a Westwood corner which was defended out of the area, and subsequently swung back around to the right side of the field. Another cross comes in and is deflected out, but Westwood is waiting for the scraps. From a few yards inside the box he hits the headed out ball first time on the volley with great power, and on the ground leaving the keeper no chance to make a save.
#3 Oriol Romeu
This goal was crazy. I had to watch it ten times from multiple different angles to see how Romeu connected with this ball to send it in to the back of the net. Wow. Romeu’s first goal in 50 games for the club and it was well worth the wait. The cross comes in from the left near the end lind, and Romeu is able to run onto the cross, jump a hit it first time in the air in a very congested penalty area. Take a look for yourself:
#2 Pablo Fornals
This starts well back in West Ham’s third of the field. Cresswell takes a throw, gets it right back and immediately hits a long ball into Leicester’s side of the field. He noticed what the Foxes didn’t, Pablo Fornals taking off at full speed past the last defender. Excellent link up play by the two giving West Ham a very opportunistic chance at a run on goal, Fornals just has to bring the ball down cleanly. “No problem,” said Fornals. A remarkable first touch sets him up 10 yards behind the closest defender, only a few feet from the edge of the box. From here, the work was simple. He takes two more touches and accurately shoots near post to beat Schmeichel.
#1 Yves Bissouma
Ultimately for Brighton, this was a meaningless goal. A consolation that saw them walk away with a 4-2 defeat rather than 4-1, but that should not take away from how splendid the goal actually was. A cross gets headed out by a Toffee straight to Solly March, who heads it straight to Bissouma at the top of the box. Bissouma chests the ball down and takes a clinical half volley rip that gave Jordan Pickford absolutely no chance for a save.
Team Goal of the Week: Arsenal
Scorer: Bukayo Saka
Assister Hector Bellerin
With five tight passes in just six seconds, this was a trademark Arsenal goal. It starts with Willian on the outside looking for a cross, but Bellerin directing him to drop to Pepe. Bellerin again directs the attack, urging him to play to Elneny making a forward run. Elneny takes a touch, passes to Aubameyang, who makes a one touch pass forward to Bellerin, who then finishes the move by crossing it over yo Bukayo Saka who had lost his marker. Beautiful football.
Quick Thinking Goal of the Week: Son Heung-min
Harry Kane draws a foul in the middle third of the field, quickly gets up, places the ball, and spots Son, who had not finished his run. So gets through Bailly and Luke Shaw to find himself in front of keeper David de Gea. Son chips the ball to the far post to complete a lovely bit of quick thinking from the attacking pair.
Hat Trick Hero: Ollie Watkins
It took Ollie Watkins just three minutes and forty-five seconds to beat Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, and thirty eight and a half minutes to beat him thrice. A lovely display from the Villa man, as his three first half goals gave his side a 4-1 lead going into the half. As we already know, they went on to score three more in the second half. However, his individual effort to net three before the halftime whistle gave his side the confidence to hunt for more in the second half. So hats off to Ollie Watkins for the impressive scoring display this weekend!
Footy Foster 