Weekend awards: Best win, goal, match and more

Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 1 so far.

Most impressive win - Sunderland

After an eight-year absence from the Premier League, the wait may have all felt worth it as Sunderland made a stunning start to the new season against West Ham United.

The Stadium of Light was rocking for the Black Cats’ first day back in the big time and Regis Le Bris’ side produced a performance and result befitting the occasion.

They comprehensively overcame the Hammers 3-0 to kick off their campaign with a statement win.

Watch the full-time scenes at the Stadium of Light

Le Bris has transformed his squad following promotion last season making 12 major signings. 

The scale of the overhaul invites inevitable questions about how difficult it may be to mould all of his resources into a functioning team. 

The first signs were hugely encouraging, with Le Bris handing full debuts to seven of his new signings, more than any other manager on the opening weekend so far.

But Sunderland’s win was also a reminder of the quality they already possessed as three of their promotion heroes from last season – Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor – scored their goals.

The trio made Sunderland the first team to have three players score on their Premier League debut in the same match since Reading in 2006.

Best goal – Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur)

Just 90 minutes into Spurs' Premier League campaign and the recipient of one of their end-of-season awards might be known already.

It will take a special effort to top Richarlison’s second goal in Spurs’ 3-0 win against Burnley, a brilliant scissor-kick to convert Mohammed Kudus’ cross.

The Brazilian striker’s spectacular finish alone would have been enough to earn him a 'goal of the weekend' award.

Watch Richarlison's second goal v Burnley

The fact it came following a lengthy team move started by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and in which every single Spurs player touched the ball made it even better.

Richarlison has been an early beneficiary in Spurs’ new era under Thomas Frank.

He has started both of their matches so far this season, including the UEFA Super Cup defeat against Paris Saint-Germain last week.

And, following his brace of goals against Burnley, Richarlison is already halfway towards matching his Premier League goal tally from last season.

Best match - Liverpool 4-2 AFC Bournemouth

This season’s Premier League curtain-raiser will live long in the memory for multiple reasons.

Firstly, because of the poignant tributes paid to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva as the defending champions Liverpool played their first league match since the tragic passing of the Portuguese forward and his brother.

Anfield was understandably awash with emotion – from the powerful pre-match rendition of "You’ll Never Walk Alone" to the moving sight of a tearful Mohamed Salah stood in front of the Kop as supporters sang Jota’s song after the final whistle.

Then there was the rollercoaster match in between.

Summer signing Hugo Ekitike lit it up with a goal and assist on his Premier League debut for Liverpool, becoming the first Reds player to achieve that feat since Darwin Nunez against Fulham in August 2022.

Watch Ekitike's goal and assist v Bournemouth

Antoine Semenyo’s contribution was important.

The AFC Bournemouth winger showed the depth of his mental resolve as he played on after he was allegedly racially abused and hauled his side back into the game with two goals.

Liverpool then rallied late on and scored twice in a dramatic finish to emerge victorious from a six-goal thriller.

"It was a great game to watch," Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said.

"Three parties involved that wanted to play a very nice game – us, Bournemouth and the referee. High tempo, no time wasting, no diving, just keep on playing. This is what makes football so great."

Best newcomer - Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City)

Following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne, have Manchester City found their next midfield talisman?

Those of a Man City persuasion will be forgiven for wondering excitedly about what Tijjani Reijnders could become, following his Premier League debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The summer signing from AC Milan produced a man-of-the-match display in which he was at the heart of so many of Man City's best moments, including three of their goals in their 4-0 away win at Molineux.

Reijnders' performance v Wolves

Reijnders helped skilfully create Erling Haaland’s first goal, assisted the Norwegian’s second and scored one of his own in between.

In doing so, Reijnders became just the second player to score and assist on their Premier League debut for Man City since Sergio Aguero against Swansea in August 2011.

The wide range of qualities Reijnders will add to City’s squad was there for all to see throughout his eye-catching introduction to the Premier League - ball carrying, awareness, vision, passing, close control, energy and a goal threat, to name just a few.

Indeed, the forward-thinking Dutchman was one of the match’s top performers in a whole host of categories, as highlighted in the table below.

"As far as debuts go, it wasn't far off perfect," former Premier League midfielder Jamie Redknapp said. "I thought he was magnificent."

How Reijnders ranked v Wolves

Statistic	Reijnders	Man City rank	Match rank
Mins played	90	1st	1st
Touches	82	4th	4th
Touches in opp. box	5	2nd	2nd
Goals	1	2nd	2nd
Assists	1	1st	1st
Goals/assists	2	1st	1st

Best save - David Raya (Arsenal)

It's a new season but, in some ways, it was the same old Arsenal in their 1-0 victory at Manchester United.

Riccardo Calafiori's winning goal came from a corner, a familiar source of goals for Arsenal who have scored a league high 31 via that route since the start of 2023/24.

There were also more heroics from David Raya who has now kept 30 clean sheets in the Premier League – five more than any other Premier League goalkeeper since his Arsenal debut in September 2023.

Arsenal were not at their best at Old Trafford so needed an in-form Raya.

No goalkeeper so far in Matchweek 1 has made more saves than Raya’s seven at Old Trafford.

The best of them was his first-half fingertip stop to divert Matheus Cunha’s bottom corner-bound effort away from goal.

It was so impressive even Raya admitted: "I don’t know how I saved it. It was very, very close to my feet.

Having also got his hands on the Premier League Golden Glove in each of the last two seasons (sharing it with Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels in 2024/25) this was a positive start to Raya’s bid to win the award again.

Goalkeepers' stats since 17 Sep 2023

Statistic	Clean sheets	Appearances	Starts	Mins played
David Raya	30	71	71	6390
Jordan Pickford	25	72	72	6480
Ederson	18	54	54	4659
Andre Onana	17	67	67	6030
Dean Henderson	16	57	57	5130
Alisson Becker	16	52	52	4669
Emiliano Martinez	15	67	67	5850

Best assist – Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest)

Elliot Anderson will be one to watch this season. In Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 win against Brentford, there was more evidence of why.

Two-goal striker Chris Wood and captain Morgan Gibbs-White impressed but so too did midfielder Anderson.

Anderson’s highlight was his outstanding assist to send Wood away to score his second goal of the game.

Anderson's assist for Wood's second goal

Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg misplaced a pass into midfield and Anderson wasted no time punishing the error.

Under pressure as the ball rolled his way, he instantly fired a first-time, perfectly-weighted pass through a tiny gap in Brentford’s defence to tee up Wood.

Anderson’s passing was impressive throughout at the City Ground.

His 76 attempted passes, 66 completed passes, and 26 completed passes ending in the final third were all game highs.

Equally important was his defensive contribution, pointing to his all-round qualities as a midfielder.

Among Forest’s players, he ended the game joint-first for possession wins (eight), joint-second for tackles (two), second for duels attempted (15) and duels won (seven).

Anderson may have gone a little under the radar last season with so many of Nuno Espirito Santo’s other stars attracting the headlines.

But, following his first season with Forest and key role in England’s UEFA European Under-21 Championship triumph during the summer, there may be more eyes on Anderson now.

How Anderson ranked v Brentford

Statistic	Anderson	Forest rank	Match rank
Mins played	90	1st	1st
Passes	76	1st	1st
Touches	95	1st	1st
Successful passes	66	1st	1st
Tackles	2	2nd	5th
Assists	1	1st	1st