Premier League MVP, matchday three: Allan Saint-Maximin dazzles as Newcastle hold Manchester City

Abraham Smith

While Arsenal clinched three wins out of three with a 3-0 win at Bournemouth and Leeds stunned Chelsea with the same result, the Premier League provided even more entertainment and surprises on Matchday 3.

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa from behind, Fulham won a five-goal London derby thriller against Brentford and Newcastle, and Manchester City have arguably produced the game of the season so far.

Spurs also won as Harry Kane became the Premier League’s leading goalscorer for a single club, while Manchester United finally took off thanks to a rousing 2-1 win over a colorless player under Erik ten Hag and injury-stricken Liverpool.

Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus won our Matchday 2 MVP award and Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams picked up the U21 award. This week we have two new faces who are getting a lot of praise.

MVP: Allan Saint Maximin

When Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan struck in the fifth minute of Sunday’s game against Newcastle, many would have expected the Premier League champions to have had an easy game for the rest of the afternoon.

Instead, the Magpies stormed back and took a 3-1 lead before the thrilling game ended 3-3 thanks to a comeback from City in the second half.

Although it was a fantastic all-around effort from Eddie Howe’s side, French winger Allan Saint-Maximin stole the show as he constantly wreaked havoc down the left flank to ensure City full-back Kyle Walker had a hot afternoon in St .James witnessed ‘ Parking.

The real fun started in the 28th minute when Saint-Maximin danced down the left flank before finding a diving Miguel Almiron inside the box to convert from six yards out. That was his first goal contribution of the new season but was quickly followed by a second as the 25-year-old sliced ​​inside to find Callum Wilson who passed Ruben Dias to give Newcastle a 2-1 lead.

In addition to those assists, Saint-Maximin was fouled from a Trippier free-kick and created four chances throughout the game – alongside Kevin De Bruyne the most of any player on the pitch – while completing five successful dribbles, the most of any player. His eight successful duels were also the second most in the match next to Rodri.

His great attacking performance saw him register three shots on target and have five touches in the opponent’s box, keeping City’s defense on their toes. He made 10 successful passes in the last third of the field, an impressive number considering he only completed 13 passes throughout the game.

U21 MVP: William Saliba

Few defenders have impressed in the early changes of the 2022/23 Premier League season like Arsenal’s William Saliba and things were even better for the young French centre-back in his side’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.

As well as playing a crucial role in the club’s third straight goal, he also scored Arsenal’s last goal of the game with a perfectly executed finish into the top-most corner of Mark Travers’ net.

That was only his second senior club goal as he continues to seriously impress the Gunners fan base.

What has shown in Saliba’s short stint in Arsenal’s first-team so far has been his controlled and steady performances. There is no panic when on the ball and no rush to take unnecessary risks during the game.

The Bournemouth game also presented a more difficult challenge than Arsenal’s earlier games this season, as Saliba – and defending partner Gabriel – had to battle 6ft 4 into Kieffer Moore, a task they ended up masterfully doing.

In addition to his goal, Saliba also made two key interceptions, gained six possession and scored three clearances to help the Gunners have their best start to the season since 2004-05.

Saliba also completed all 75 passes he attempted at Vitality Stadium. Only four times since the start of the 2018/19 Premier League season has a player completed 70 passes with 100% accuracy.

If this is just the start for Saliba in Arsenal colours, then there’s likely to be a very bright future ahead.

Past MVP winners

Gameday MVP U21 MVP
1 Aleksandar Mitrovic Moses Caicedo
2 Gabriel Jesus Neko Williams

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