10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (30 Sept - 1 Oct 2017)

8. 4-0

Jurgen Klopp
Nigel French/EMPICS Sport

"We always win 4-0..."

Crystal Palace were eager in the first five minutes. Unfortunately for them, they possessed all the enthusiasm of a bunny boiler; Joel Ward was equally as quick to get his pants pulled down as Glenn Close in the build-up to Juan Mata's opener. Marcus Rashford only had to drop the slightest of shoulders to create the opening goal, one born from a lethal combination of skill, positional play and execution. Crystal Palace were so hopeless that the David Moyes dream team of Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini combined for Man United's second. While that may read as facetious, Young's delivery was precision-perfect. The third goal essentially doomed Roy Hodgson's red and blue amnesty. It's one thing to fail to heed lessons from the previous week's drubbing; here, Palace failed to heed the lessons imparted by the first two goals; they conceded a free kick following more drag-back wing trickery, with Fellaini once more dispatching a rapid, direct delivery.

Romelu Lukaku added the fourth to equal Andy Cole's seven-in-seven goalscoring record - and given that his beautifully cushioned hold-up header created the opening in the first instance, the Red Devils must be purring at his more expansive contribution.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!