Good for Gordon and Saka; not so much for Ange, mate. David Moyes has lost the dressing room; Ange Postecoglou wants to. But Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, Elijah Adebayo, Harvey Elliott and Chelsea all impressed.
Bukayo Saka
Declan Rice was once again the difference for Arsenal – of course he was striding through midfield and into the area in the 97th minute of a game they were leading 2-0 on his 58th appearance for club or country since June – while Kai Havertz and Takehiro Tomiyasu were both excellent against Bournemouth.
But Saka deserves credit for quietly going about such impressive business. The only players younger than him with 13 league goals or more across Europe’s top five divisions this season are Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer. This, his first campaign as a Champions League player, also represents his first scoring 20 goals or more. And sure, six of those have been penalties, but when his miss in the Euros final is still used as ammunition against him by some, his consistency from the spot is to be commended.
One Arsenal teammate has “never seen a player like this and it is taken massively for granted.
Elijah Adebayo
A disappointing result for Luton, not only in the sub-optimal nature of the Everton draw but because it helped underline the impact Adebayo’s two-month injury lay-off might have had on their season.
The striker is suited perfectly to the Premier League and that goal proved it. Ashley Young was making his 650th club appearance – one of which is literally synonymous with the belief a bird defecated directly into his mouth – and has never been quite so humbled as in that equalising moment.
Luton lost eight, drew two and won just one of the 11 games Adebayo missed between mid-February to late April, before he returned with a short cameo in a 2-1 defeat to Wolves. Only two players of those with more than a couple of starts have a better rate of non-penalty goals per 90 minutes than the Hatters forward this season (0.72), and neither are in particular danger of relegation: Erling Haaland (0.75) and Diogo Jota (0.79).
Few are as effective at that side of the game. This is unlikely to be his final top-flight dance, whether with Luton or otherwise.
In their entire Premier League history, Chelsea have won 31 games by five goals or more. And only that ridiculous 2009/10 season (six times) beats this (two times) for most victories by such a margin in a single campaign.
There remain significant doubts but a rough framework is clear to see under Mauricio Pochettino, whose discovery of an effective system might yet be undermined by those summer transfer plans. Trevoh Chalobah is their best defender outside of players who turn 40 later this year and Conor Gallagher is a predictably valuable cog in this machine, yet both might be cast aside in the pursuit of pure profit.
Until then, the sight of those developing relationships in Chelsea’s attack will do. With three games remaining they have scored 70 goals. Their third-best Premier League return ever, outside of that stupid Ancelotti season (103 goals) and the champions of 2016/17 (85 goals), was the 76 goals plundered under Thomas Tuchel in 2021/22. That the target is to get back to the pre-Boehly era is pretty funny.
Anthony Gordon
One of only three Premier League players to reach double figures for both goals and assists this season. Gordon is on the precipice of something unimaginably beautiful: ten goals, ten assists and nine yellow cards means the holy grail is on with three matches remaining.
He has long since proven to be a spectacular signing when precious few saw the Eddie Howe vision. Not many players feel quite as perfectly suited to their manager and team asGordon does with Newcastle.
