The good 😀, the bad 😕 and the ugly 👹: Dazzling De Bruyne, shameful Smalling | OneFootball

Can you believe there are now just 11 more match-days to go until the end of the Premier League season? They grow up so fast.

The weekend just gone was once again packed full of great goals, shock upsets and controversy and here was the best and worst of it all…

THE GOOD ?

Best team performance: Newcastle United ?

Well, the Magpies win over Manchester United was bit of a turn up for the books, wasn’t?

Few people would have backed Rafael Benítez’s side to pick up their first Premier League home win in 113 days against the team who are currently second in the league but that’s exactly what they did, and they’re now two points clear of the relegation zone and unbeaten in their last three.

In both of their meetings with Manchester City earlier in the season, Newcastle were rightly criticised for their timid lack of adventure but it appears they learned something from those two games and were rewarded on Sunday for having a go at their opponents right from the off.

They rode their luck at times, of course, but were it not for the brilliance of David De Gea, they might have gone in front sooner than they did and once Matt Ritchie finally broke the deadlock in the second half, the result never really looked in doubt.

Oh, and speaking of brilliant goalkeeping, January signing Martin Dúbravka looks like a very shrewd acquisition indeed.

Though we suspect he was sending a message to his own players more than anything else, José Mourinho had it right when he said of Newcastle afterwards: “They fought like animals and I mean that as a compliment.

“They gave everything they had and the gods of football were with them.”

Fight like animals between now and May – starting with the relegation six-pointer against Bournemouth in a fortnight – and there’s every chance there’ll be Premier League football on Tyneside again next season.

Best player: Kevin De Bruyne ?

If it feels like Manchester City’s Belgian maestro and Mohamed Salah pretty much take it in turns to feature in this section of this column, that’s because they’ve consistently been the two best players in the division all season, and this weekend was no exception.

Unlike Salah, De Bruyne wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet on this occasion, but he notched up another three assists against Leicester on Saturday evening – taking his tally to a frankly ludicrous 14 for the season in the Premier League – and all three of them were of the highest quality.

If we had to pick a favourite, we’d probably go for the nonchalant side-footed pass across the box for his side’s second goal of the game. On first viewing, it looked like Foxes defender Harry Maguire could have done more to cut out the cross, but the more you watch it, the more you realise it was about as close to indefensible as a pass gets.

We love Mo Salah, but De Bruyne is currently the most complete footballer in the Premier League and thoroughly deserves all the accolades coming his way at the end of the season.

Here’s a reminder of what Sky Sports Soccer Saturday’s pundits made of his return to England back in 2015. Spoiler alert: They look very silly now.

Best goal: Sergio Agüero v Leicester City ⚽

There were a number of decent goals scored this weekend but for our money, Agüero’s fourth of the game on Saturday night was the pick of the bunch.

Goals are always better when they rattle in off the under-side of the crossbar, and that’s a fact.

THE BAD ☹️

Worst team performance: Arsenal ?

It looked like the Gunners had turned a corner with that 5-1 demolition of Everton last weekend but as has so often been the case with Arsène Wenger’s side in recent years, the corner was little more than a mirage, around which they were confronted by yet another bloody corner.

Tottenham Hotspur were very good in Saturday lunch-time’s north London derby, but they were made to look even better than they were by the latest in a long line of toothless Arsenal performances.

One shot on target in 90 minutes tells its own story, but the visitors were a shambles defensively and very fortunate to only lose by a solitary goal when all was said and done.

Meanwhile, Mesut Özil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were anonymous, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was starved of service and Alexandre Lacazette looked bereft of confidence in front of goal. Dismal stuff, and not the sort of display you expect from your team in a local derby.

The result leaves Arsenal seven points off fourth place and barring a minor miracle, they will surely be playing Europa League football again next season.

If the club’s board aren’t giving serious consideration to bringing in a new manager in the summer, they really, really should be.

Worst player: Chris Smalling  ?

It’s not often you see a defender get booked for simulation but this guy bucked the trend on Sunday, and duly received a double punishment when his side conceded the winning goal from the resulting free-kick. Instant karma’s gonna get you.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, United have spent close to £700 million on new recruits. That they’re still starting Premier League matches in 2018 with a centre-back partnership of Smalling and Phil Jones truly boggles the mind.

Manchester City get plenty of stick for their lavish spending on defenders but they’re currently 16 points clear at the top of the table with a better goal difference (59) than United have points (56).

A good defence is what wins you titles, and reinforcements in that department should be Ed Woodward’s first order of business come the summer.

Softest goal conceded: Sergio Agüero v Leicester City ?

Kasper Schmeichel had an absolute stinker at the Etihad on Saturday, the nadir of which was his pass straight to a lurking Agüero for City’s fourth goal of the game.

Full marks for the finish though.

AND THE UGLY ?

We thought Charlie Adam’s childish spat with Jesé Rodriguez over penalty taking duties in Stoke’s 1-1 draw with Brighton was going to be the most unedifying thing we’d see all weekend, until this happened.

WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

And though it’s actually a few years old, this footage of Roy Hodgson during his West Brom days reveals a rather ugly side of the Crystal Palace boss we never knew existed.

Don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.