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Premier League Team of the Week XXXVI feat. Southampton and West Ham stars
Karl Darlow: Newcastle United’s 25-year-old goalkeeper has not enjoyed a huge amount of action in the first team during his time at St James’ Park, but showed no shortage of big match experience in their huge encounter with Crystal Palace. Karl Darlow was fantastic under the high ball, confidently coming for crosses even when encountering the not insignificant aerial threat of the likes of Damien Delaney and Scott Dann. His solid display overall was capped off when producing the stand-out moment of the match, and potentially of Newcastle’s entire season. Darlow saved a penalty from Yohan Cabaye that could well prove to be the moment that is looked back on to be the spark that kept Newcastle’s fire burning in the Premier League. Had they conceded at that time, it is not inconceivable to think that they could have capitulated and ended up losing the match. What a day for Darlow.
Antonio Valencia: Manchester United played some of their best football in recent times against Leicester City, and in many ways, it began from the width provided by Antonio Valencia along with others. The former Wigan winger; who is actually deployed more frequently at right-back at this later stage in his footballing career, was very forward-thinking and kept Jeffrey Schlupp distinctly quiet for the most part, forcing the dangerous left-footer to focus on protecting his own goal more than threatening in the final third. Valencia beat his opponent twice down the right hand side and capitalised on the space left by Christian Fuchs – a rare commodity this season. He provided the assist for Anthony Martial early in the game and continued to threaten.
Wes Morgan: Once again, Leicester City’s captain was there when they needed him most, popping up with a goal at the perfect time to equalise the score-line after Manchester United’s early dominance threatened to materialise into a possibly unassailable lead. Aside from this foray into the United penalty area, Wes Morgan was a constant threat in the air and was also able to translate this into some good defensive work in his own 18-yard box, making two blocks, four clearances and four interceptions. When facing the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and later, Memphis Depay too, Morgan was faced with a significant pace disadvantage. However, he dealt with it admirably and when some ‘old fashioned’ defending was required, that was exactly what he produced.
Virgil Van Dijk: While Southampton’s attacking triumvirate of Tadic, Mané and Long will attract all of the headlines, Virgil Van Dijk actually did a sterling job at making most of City’s forwards look bereft of ideas, making three clearances along the way. Bar a couple of flashes of brilliance by Kelechi Iheanacho, Van Dijk had the visitor’s attackers in his back pocket, and even made a couple of crucial actions that directly resulted in goals for his side. First of all, his towering jump in the second half to meet a corner full on resulted in Sadio Mané’s opener after a save from Joe Hart forced the Dutchman’s initial effort onto the bar. Then, a strong but fair challenge in the middle of the park that won possession back for the Saints, and from which they capitalised with Mané scoring his third goal of the game.
Leighton Baines: In a move that was distinctly out of character, Leighton Baines has criticised his Spanish manager in the last month or so. However, after facing time out of the side, the England veteran has felt it necessary to come out and Leighton Baines seemed to be back to his best, putting in five tackles and clearing his lines four times. Defensive stability was what Everton built their reasonably dominant display on, and allowed Baines to maraud forwards. In doing so, he created three chances and indeed scored a goal for his side, reminding the onlookers; Roy Hodgson included, that he has not lost his best form just yet.