Premier League hotlist: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Philippe Coutinho, Eden Hazard, Raheem Sterling
Monday 10 April 2017 17:53, UK
Who were the best Premier League players from the weekend games? We take a look at the man-of-the-match performances in our hotlist.
Tottenham 4-0 Watford - Kieran Trippier
Making just his third Premier League start of the season, Kieran Trippier excelled at right-back for Spurs. After teeing up Vincent Janssen for an early opportunity, Trippier continued to provide an attacking outlet down the flank.
He set up Heung-Min Son to score the fourth with a perfectly-weighted cross before putting another ball into the middle that Harry Kane almost turned in on his return from injury.
"He has spent most of the season in the shadows, but he has great attitude and great ability," said Sky Sports co-commentator Alan Smith. "We saw that so many times today."
Man City 3-1 Hull - Raheem Sterling
The pace of Sterling and Jesus Navas was too much for Hull on Saturday and Marco Silva admitted as much after the game.
The England winger, supported by the flying Spaniard deputising once again at right-back, was a constant menace and ended the match with two assists. Navas got the other and was excellent too, but the edge goes to Sterling.
His approach work for Sergio Aguero's strike was magnificent and a neat summation of his match-winning attributes; decisive in the final third, his combination of speed and trickery was impossible to stop.
Middlesbrough 0-0 Burnley - Matt Lowton
Four points from two games for Burnley and their Premier League status is almost guaranteed for another season, but at times a result that would benefit the Clarets looked far from certain and, as the game reached its conclusion, Matt Lowton ensured it did.
He had almost set up George Boyd for the opener in the first half, but stood up in the final five minutes to ensure a clean sheet for the Clarets, first clearing away Stewart Downing's free-kick, before smashing away Daniel Ayala's shot from the resulting corner on the line.
A contribution that preserved a second consecutive clean sheet, but more importantly perhaps, all-but preserved Burnley's top-flight status for another season.
Stoke 1-2 Liverpool - Philippe Coutinho
Left out of the starting XI due to illness, it wasn't long before Philippe Coutinho was introduced to save the day for Liverpool at the Bet365 Stadium.
He came on at half-time and instantly settled Liverpool down in midfield with some short passing, moving Stoke's back line out of position to create gaps.
His goal aside - a controlled effort from just inside the area - Coutinho's first look was always ahead of him at a time when Liverpool needed to threaten a Stoke side full of fight.
In just 45 minutes, Coutinho had more shots, made more key passes and put in more successful crosses than any of his team-mates, and that's from just 30 touches of the ball. Liverpool truly are a much better outfit with the dynamic Brazilian.
West Brom 0-1 Southampton - Fraser Forster
Fraser Forster made a number of crucial saves for Southampton as West Brom pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages of the match.
The England international denied Craig Dawson from point-blank range and did enough to put Allan Nyom off from the resulting rebound.
Minutes later he punched Jonny Evans' close-range header to safety with virtually the last action of the game.
West Ham 1-0 Swansea - Cheikhou Kouyate
West Ham United's Senegal international had been waiting all season long to get his name on the scoresheet, but his first goal of the campaign against Swansea on Saturday afternoon was worth the wait.
The lanky midfielder initially played a neat one two with Robert Snodgrass, before collecting the Scot's return pass, striding forward and thumping an unstoppable 25-yard effort past a helpless Lukasz Fabianski in the visitors' goal.
And that brilliant effort just before half-time in the capital ultimately proved to be the difference between the two struggling sides as the Hammers moved eight points clear of the drop zone with just six Premier League games left this season.
Bournemouth 1-3 Chelsea - Eden Hazard
It was another sensational performance from Eden Hazard as Chelsea seemed to fly through a pressurised and possibly tricky encounter with Bournemouth after Tottenham's victory earlier on Saturday.
The Belgian international scored a sublime goal after N'Golo Kante played him through, swerving around Cherries goalkeeper Artur Boruc to slot home and was constantly involved in the Blues attacks, arguably one of the focal points of their victory.
After a poor 2015/16 season by his own high standards, Hazard is truly back to his best and looks on course to help Chelsea win their fifth Premier League title in the coming weeks.
Sunderland 0-3 Man Utd - Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The first half at the Stadium of Light just about summed the Swede up. With half an hour gone, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had barely touched the ball, but out of nothing he capitalised on some stand-off defending, turning on the edge of the box and curling into the bottom corner.
He made it look easy, as he so often does, and though he did little else in that first period, and in the game to be frank, it is those timely contributions that have made him one of United's most important players.
Niall Quinn said during his co-commentary duty on Nissan Super Sunday: "I'd travel a long way to watch him every week. Zlatan the king with a wonderful performance, everything he does in the game oozes class."
Everton 4-2 Leicester - Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley put in a timely man-of-the-match showing for Everton in their entertaining victory over Leicester on Nissan Super Sunday, just over a week after he was criticised for his performance in the Merseyside derby.
Barkley was dynamic on the ball, and showed clinical end product with a stunning delivery for Romelu Lukaku's first-half header, described by Sky Sports commentator Andy Hinchcliffe as "one of the crosses of the season".
Consistency is the key for Barkley. He did it over 90 minutes on Sunday, but can he do it over months and a season? He still shows enough to get Everton fans' mouths watering, but at 23 and with nearly 150 Premier League appearances under his belt, he is no longer the young prospect.
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