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Champs and Chumps: Barkley's belter, Dzeko's delightful double and Paulinho's flinch
ROSS BARKLEY brought the roof down at Goodison Park with his stunning strike for Everton against Manchester City while West Ham shot stopper Adrian pulled off a magnificent save to preserve his clean sheet in the win over Tottenham.
It felt like another defining weekend in the Premier League especially with some matters at the bottom end of the table decided.
Express Sport as always chews the fat and names the champs and chumps.
Champs
Best goal
Take a bow Barkley! After Steven Naismith laid the ball into his path, Barkley barely looked at the goal before bending a sublime right-footed shot that arced over Joe Hart into the top corner of the net. It had shades of Wayne Rooney about it and the game exploded into life as a result. His place in the England squad for the World Cup finals shouldn't be in doubt!
Best individual performance
On the basis of his two-goal salvo, Edin Dzeko comes out on top in this category. Dzeko has been in blistering form this season, and has weighed in with 24 goals in all competitions. His bullet header for the first was a textbook finish and he showed his true predatory instincts by tapping home for his second.
Best save
Hugo Lloris made some outstanding saves, but Adrian's save to repel Danny Rose's fierce effort was magnificent. Adrian had been rarely tested throughout the afternoon, but he tipped a rasping effort from Rose over the bar in the closing stages of the game to keep a clean sheet. Marvellous stuff!
Chumps
Worst tackle
On the whole, there weren't too many full-bloodied challenges or tackles that would want to make you wince. By virtue of the fact he got a red card, the unwanted award goes to Younes Kaboul. The defender lost sight of Stewart Downing and he hauled him to the ground just outside the edge of the penalty area. Silly and needless from Kaboul and the referee made the right call to dismiss him.
Daftest decision
Bravery and courage are two traits sometimes not always associated with footballers. Paulinho and Emmanuel Adebayor were culpable of lacking bravery when Downing took his free kick. Instead of staying strong in the wall, they both leapt up and flinched as the ball crept into the bottom corner of the net. Tim Sherwood said after the game he didn't need to remind them of their mistake and it's no surprise really!