The third round of Premier League fixtures reached their conclusion on Monday night with Mikel Arteta's Arsenal at the top of the table.
The Gunners continued their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 cruise against Bournemouth and are guaranteed top spot after reigning champions Manchester City stumbled, dropping their first points of the campaign in the process. Manchester United are also finally off the mark after they blew away Liverpool at Old Trafford to secure their first victory of the Erik ten Hag era.
Elsewhere, there were also memorable victories for Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Southampton throughout the weekend. A number of players stood out over the past few days and the pundits have been debating their headline performances. Mirror Football takes a look...
Nick Pope
Despite having shipped three goals in the thrilling draw with Manchester City at St James’ Park, Nick Pope once again garnered plenty of praise. The former Burnley man produced a string of standout stops to keep Pep Guardiola ’s men at bay and earned plenty of praise from former Magpies stopper Shay Given.
Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “We spoke about it before the game and how important he is going to be this season and obviously Eddie Howe has brought him in. He’s recruited well and he’s brought him into the game.
“A lot of these saves are saves I would expect Nick to make because he’s in a good position. We talk about this set of fans, they can be demanding at times but he’s started brilliantly for these fans and straight away he’s got them on his side.”
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Kieran Trippier
Another of the standout performances from the North East was England defender Kieran Trippier. The right-back looked as though he had secured a memorable three points for Newcastle with a free-kick that was described by Sky Sports’ Andy Hinchcliffe as “unstoppable” and “magnificent”.
His afternoon could have been marred by a red card for a foul on Kevin de Bruyne but fortunately VAR came to his rescue.
William Saliba
On the theme of goalscoring defenders, William Saliba surprised most onlookers - particularly teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko - when he curled a stunning effort into the top corner against Bournemouth.
He was not given the most testing afternoon from a defensive point of view but still performed admirably well. Speaking after the game, former Gunners striker Alan Smith said: “Saliba has been welcomed into the fold by the players and the fans.
"He would have gained a lot of confidence in France and especially making his debut for national team, when really he couldn't find a place at his club. He's come back, Arteta has shifted Ben White to right-back and we will see if that continues. Fair play to Arteta."
Lisandro Martinez
Having struggled since his summer switch from Ajax, Argentine defender Martinez really stepped up to the plate on Monday evening as United edged past Liverpool. Faced with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, the defender was much-improved after his disastrous outing against Brentford.
His anticipation of danger was highly impressive, whilst he also played on the edge against a Liverpool side that was expected to go to Old Trafford and cruise to victory.
Jamie Carragher hailed Martinez for his improvement over the week. The ex-Red said: “I questioned him last week aerially. Anything on the floor tonight he’s dealt with. He’s been excellent.”
Tyrell Malacia
Making his full Red Devils debut against Liverpool on Monday evening, the Dutchman played a huge role in United chalking up their first victory of the Premier League season.
Malacia turned in a highly-impressive performance to keep Mohamed Salah at arms' length throughout the majority of the tie. Red Devils icon Gary Neville in particular praised the former Feyenoord man for his display.
Speaking during Sky Sports' live coverage of the game, he said: "He was brilliant tonight. It's very clever that he defended Salah so briefly throughout the game. That boy has something, guts and courage."
Leandro Trossard
The Belgian winger was pivotal in Brighton extending their lengthy unbeaten Premier League record against West Ham United at the London Stadium.
He rolled home the second goal of the game after Alexis Mac Allister had given the Seagulls the lead from the penalty spot. Taking a close look at the winger’s striker, Jermain Defoe said: “[It’s] a good finish by Trossard, it’s brilliant.”
Jack Harrison
One of the standout results of the weekend was Leeds’ 3-0 thumping of Chelsea at Elland Road. Key to that result was English winger Jack Harrison.
The former Manchester City man assisted Rodrigo for the second goal of the game before also getting himself on the scoresheet after the break. However, Defoe elected to hail his all-around game as opposed to just his contributions.
The ex-Spurs striker said: “He was fantastic today. You speak about energy levels and application and when you do get the ball back, can you show quality, can you play?
“He’s so direct, so sharp. He continued that all afternoon. Everything he did, it came off for him. When you put in those sorts of performances, you get rewarded. That’s what you get for the effort and the hard work.”
Martin Odegaard
After being named as Arsenal’s new captain, Norwegian playmaker Odegaard celebrated in style with a brace against Bournemouth.
His first goal was a simple tap-in, whilst his second was a brilliant left-footed finish from the edge of the area. Former Arsenal man Smith has suggested that he is now worth far more than Arsenal paid for him.
He said: “Their [Arsenal] recruitment, it’s so difficult to get these sort of players. I think it shines a great light on the recruiting system, they are so together. I mean they paid £30m for Martin Odegaard and at the time I think some fans were thinking ‘£30m for Odegaard’. But I mean you get £80m for him now easily.”
Brenden Aaronson
Whilst Harrison stole the headlines for Leeds, another that was hailed for his display was American forward Aaronson. After opening his goalscoring account against Wolves, he notched his second Premier League goal by capitalising on an Edouard Mendy gaffe.
Former Leeds man Jim Beglin said to Optus Sport after the game: “You have to give Aaronson all the praise in the world for chasing a lost cause. Never did he think about giving up. He made it happen.”
Allan Saint-Maximin
Alan Shearer was certainly left impressed with his former side as they battled to a 3-3 draw with Man City. Whilst Frenchman Allan Saint-Maximin did not manage to get himself on the scoresheet, he was a constant thorn in the side of the reigning Premier League champions.
He got himself two assists on the day and in the process gave Kyle Walker a torrid time of things.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer said: “Newcastle really caused them [Man City] problems down in forward positions, particularly down their left-hand side with Allan Saint-Maximin, who I thought was unplayable at times.”
Che Adams
1-0 down at the King Power Stadium following a James Maddison free-kick, Leicester-born Che Adams came off the bench to turn the game around for Southampton.
He scored an excellent second-half brace to end the Saints’ long wait for an away victory - a run that stretched back all the way to February. Speaking on Match of the Day, former Foxes defender Keown said: “I thought he was outstanding when he came on. Brendan [Rodgers] said his team stopped playing when they scored, but Southampton started playing.
“Southampton when Che Adams came off the bench, he really did look a powerful target man, holding the ball up, suddenly they can get the wing-backs forward and they started to pepper them.”
