Premier League: Five talking points from the weekend’s action
Give right-backs a chance
Full-backs don’t often grab the headlines, and sure enough they didn’t at Old Trafford as Rodrigo Bentancur, Rasmus Højlund and Marcus Rashford all scored classy goals. But the best player on either side, according to the WhoScored.com ratings, was the right-back.
For Spurs, Pedro Porro earned 8.1 out of 10 for a fearless attacking display that included an assist when his pinpoint corner picked out the peroxide head of Richarlison. Ange Postecoglou says he wants his players to stop thinking of themselves as defenders or attackers, and Porro is both at once.
For Manchester United, Diogo Dalot did even better with a rating of 8.2. If he was less buccaneering than Porro, he was the more polished defender, making crucial interceptions and heading off the line.
One of the two, surely, should have been player of the match – but another right-back, Gary Neville, gave the award to Bentancur. Tim de Lisle
Howe’s tactical decisions should be questioned
Kevin de Bruyne made it 2-2 by scoring a fine goal before creating Manchester City’s stoppage time winner for his fellow substitute Oscar Bobb against Newcastle.
That contribution marked the playmaker’s return to Premier League combat after five hamstrung months but it was significant that Pep Guardiola bided his time before introducing De Bruyne, subsequently explaining he is not yet ready to play 90 minutes.
Does Eddie Howe regret playing Joe Willock in the autumn after a lengthy injury induced absence? Willock swiftly broke down with the key midfielder now sidelined indefinitely. Admittedly their squad is considerably slimmer than City’s but Howe’s deployment of a single late substitute in Lewis Hall perhaps explains why a tiring side lost.
An
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