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Right from Manchester United's historic win over Manchester City at the Etihad stadium to relegation candidates Everton stunning the high-flying Chelsea, Matchday 16 had it all. Brilliant goals, immense passion and some last-ditch defending summed up the weekend.
The big game of the weekend was the Manchester showdown, as City hosted United at the Etihad - only to drop three very important points against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men. That result now takes them 14 points behind Liverpool, as the Reds sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Cherries prior to the Manchester derby.
While Chelsea were hammered by Duncan Ferguson's Everton in a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park, Arsenal found themselves back on track as they registered a 3-1 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium.
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Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Burnley 5-0, which takes them just six points behind 4th-placed Chelsea. Wolves meanwhile succumbed to a draw against Brighton, and Sheffield United took all three points away from Norwich City.
So who were the best players over the weekend? Here are the top five:
#5 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
The big game player struck again. This time, Marcus Rashford opened the scoring at Etihad after winning a penalty and scoring it as well, sending Ederson the wrong way. Just minutes later, the score was doubled as Anthony Martial struck home to give them a two-goal advantage at half time.
Rashford was yet again at the heart of every move Manchester United made. The 22-year-old was energetic throughout the game, and had the likes of Kyle Walker and Fernandinho on the ropes.
With 10 goals and 4 assists in 16 league games, Rashford is among the highest goalscorers in the league, and Solskjær deserves credit for helping him rediscover his form. At the age of 22, Rashford promises to be a world-class player in the future.
Also check out: Premier League Premier League Table Champions League table
#4 Naby Keita (Liverpool)
A player who has been at the receiving end of much criticism since moving to England, Naby Keita hasn't had the best of luck with injuries. However, he marked his return to the Premier League in his first start this season with a brilliant goal and an assist against Bournemouth at Dean Court.
Keita seemed to have fallen down the pecking order for Jurgen Klopp, as his lack of fitness convinced Klopp to prefer James Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum instead. But now that the December games have commenced, Keita will have opportunities in abundance to prove his worth and get himself to the top of Klopp's preferred midfielders' list.
Keita scored the second goal of the night just seconds before half time. A sweet back-heel from Mohamed Salah was put to good use by Keita as he struck home to make it 2-0 for Liverpool.
In the second half Keita returned the favour, playing an inch-perfect through ball for Salah to pounce on, which secured the three points for Liverpool.
Keita could not have asked for a better start for him this season, and he should look to build on this. Truth be told, he is Liverpool's most talented midfielder offensively, but you certainly need more than just talent to bench the likes of Wijnaldum and Henderson.
#3 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Harry Kane made his presence felt against the Burnley defence just minutes after kick off, as he scored an absolute screamer to open the scoring. In under 10 minutes Spurs were two goals up courtesy of Lucas Moura, who passed the ball into the net as the ball fell into his path after Dele Alli's header.
Kane was Tottenham's best player by far, though his performance was overshadowed by Son Heung-min's sensational solo goal. The England international scored twice and set up Moussa Sissoko for the last goal of the game, to make it 5-0 for Spurs.
After bagging two goals and an assist, Kane is right back into the Golden Boot race as he is now the 4th highest goalscorer in the league - five goals behind Jamie Vardy. Although it would take more consistency to overtake Vardy, you can put your money on a two-time Golden Boot winner to achieve it in the next 23 games.
#2 Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal)
Nicolas Pepe came to Arsenal with a massive load on his shoulders, as he was Arsenal's record signing at £72 million. The Ivorian struggled to adapt to the Premier League in his first few weeks, and the fact that he missed out on pre-season with the squad did not help his cause either.
The pressure started mounting on Pepe, and the Arsenal fans let him know their feelings through social media as well as several memes on how he has "flopped" in England. But last night, Pepe re-discovered his form in no uncertain terms.
Arsenal went a goal down against West Ham but goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang along with a screamer from Pepe, all inside 9 minutes of football, sealed a brilliant comeback win for the Gunners. And Pepe stole the show in style.
It is not just about the number of goal contributions the 24-year-old has made; it's also about how well he has accepted his critics and outgrown them.
Pepe was dropped regularly under Unai Emery, and Freddie Ljungberg did not prefer him over Alexandre Lacazette either. But last night Ljungberg presented him with his first start in nearly 30 days, and Pepe made the best use of it by bagging a goal and an assist.
#1 Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
The likes of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen must have been relieved to see Chelsea not conceding more than three last night. The centre-back duo had one of their worst performances in the league this season, courtesy of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Duncan Ferguson has transformed this Everton team into fighters, and it seems that Calvert-Lewin will be leading the line in the upcoming games.
The fact that he was a constant threat to both the centre-backs, right from winning the aerial duels to always getting behind the defenders, has been overlooked due to the fact that he scored two brilliant goals to seal the game for Everton.
This was arguably DCL's most complete performance in an Everton shirt, and surprisingly it was against Frank Lampard's high-flying Chelsea.
Calvert-Lewin is Everton's second highest scorer in the league this season, as his two goals vs the Blues take him just one goal behind Richarlison. It looks like Ferguson has got the team back on track, with DCL leading the charge.
