Premier League Team of the Week: Grealish silences his City critics
Neto (33) - Bournemouth
The Brazilian goalkeeper produced a string of saves to keep Newcastle's fancied attack at bay throughout the match, cruelly conceding only to an unstoppable Isak penalty. His performance provided a backbone to a resilient and stubborn Bournemouth defence, leading them to pick up a much-need point away to take on their long journey home.
John Stones (28) - Manchester City
Manchester City enjoyed a relative walk in the park at the Molineux, especially after Wolves went down to ten men after Nathan Collins (21). Their 3-0 victory proved to be little surprise, but one intriguing point was John Stones' inclusion at right back. Not his natural position (although he's played there and in midfield a few times in the past), the England international centre-back looked assured and confident in his temporary position.
William Saliba (21) - Arsenal
Towering French centre-back Saliba notched his second Premier League goal of the season, connecting with Saka's corner to give his side the lead in Arsenal's victory at Brentford. A wall at the back, he constantly took the sting out of any attack from the Bees.
Manuel Akanji (27) - Manchester City
The £15 million signing from Borussia Dortmund slotted straight into City's back line, taking his Premier League debut in his stride. His manager Pep Guardiola was certainly pleased: “More than exceptional. Win all the duels in the build-up, read perfectly when playing short or long, he is so, so clever and when he goes."
Joao Cancelo (28) - Manchester City
Cancelo was one of an intriguing number of players who trained under opposition coach Bruno Lage as a youngster (the others being Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva). Whether or not his former mentor was pleased to see such a performance against his Wolves side is up for debate as Cancelo created chances aplenty, linking up very nicely on more than one occasion with...
Kevin De Bruyne (31) - Manchester City
Another elite performance from the Belgian meastro, notching up another two assists for his league campaign to date. De Bruyne now has 92 assists in his 217 appearances in the Premier League — equalling Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, who managed the feat in more than twice as many games.
Philip Billing (26) - Bournemouth
Billing’s second goal of the campaign came at a vital time as his Bournemouth side struggled to get into the game at St James' Park. Latching on to an early cross that caught goalkeeper Nick Pope by surprise, he gave the Cherries an unlikely lead that would ultimately culminated in a well-earned point.
Jack Grealish (27) - Manchester City
After a tough week of scrutiny from the press (leading his manager to come out in support of his £100 million man), the enigmatic English attacker silenced some doubters with a goal inside the first 60 seconds, following it up with a more confident, inventive and pro-active performance that we're used to from the Birmingham native.
Bukayo Saka (21) - Arsenal
The 21-year-old provided the pass that saw Saliba find the back of the net in the opening 17 minutes, as well as assisting Vieira for their third and final goal to help see out the result. He's now on four assists for the season so far.
Gabriel Jesus (25) - Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus continued his fine start to life in North London, notching his fourth goal of the season and causing headaches every time Arsenal looked to break forward.
Heung-Min Son (30) - Tottenham
After weeks of sluggish performances and growing criticisms from the media, South Korea's favourite Son finally got off the mark with a sublime 13-minute second-half hat-trick. Keeping his celebrations somewhat muted despite a couple of early goal of the season contenders already being chalked up, Son was finally smiling after the final whistle: "I couldn't believe it (when I scored). All the frustration and what I had, disappointment and negative feeling just went. I couldn't move so I stood still. It made me really happy."
