Weekend awards: Best goal, celebration and more

Football writer David Coverdale looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 10 so far.

Best goal – Amad (Manchester United)

Amad is no stranger to scoring big goals for Man Utd.

Few fans will ever forget his strike in the last minute of extra-time to win an FA Cup quarter-final classic against Liverpool two seasons ago.

Just as memorable was his 90th-minute winner at Manchester City last year, when he rounded Ederson and finished from an acute angle.

But perhaps the best goal of Amad’s Man Utd career to date came on Saturday at Nottingham Forest.

With nine minutes remaining and his team trailing 2-1, the ball fell to him on the edge of the box after Nikola Milenkovic could only half-clear Bryan Mbeumo's corner.

And Amad unleashed first time with a sweet left-foot volley which sailed past Matz Sels and clinched a precious point for his side at the City Ground.

Watch Amad's superb strike v Nottingham Forest

It was the Ivory Coast international's first goal of the season – and it was voted the best of the weekend by fans on the Premier League WhatsApp channel.

"If you look at the technique, it is perfect," former Swansea City and Everton defender Ashley Williams told BBC Sport. "What a strike that is."

Amad himself played down the significance of his strike, mainly because it only sealed one point, not three.

"I was happy to score my first goal," he told the official Man Utd website. "It’s always nice when you score, but it’s more important when you score and you win. 

"For me, this goal means something but means nothing because we go home with [only] one point."

Amad’s goal was his 10th in the Premier League, with all of them coming in the second half of matches.

That is a competition record for the most goals by a player when all of them have come after half-time. 

Best celebration – Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Erling Haaland is a goal machine, so how fitting that he should celebrate like a robot.

The Man City striker performed the iconic dance move after scoring the first of his two goals against AFC Bournemouth, taking his tally for club and country this season to an astonishing 26.

Watch Haaland's robot celebration

"He is robotic, he is a machine," said Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury as Haaland marked his opener in surprise style.

Haaland himself later posted on Instagram, "Guess I couldn’t hide it any longer," alongside a robot emoji.

Of course, the robot celebration is synonymous with Peter Crouch, who first introduced it after scoring for England in a FIFA World Cup warm-up win over Hungary in May 2006, then repeated it four days later as he notched a hat-trick against Jamaica.

Crouch also brought the robot out of retirement after scoring his landmark 100th Premier League goal in Stoke City's draw with Everton in February 2017.

"I walked so they could run," he cheekily posted on X in reference to Haaland copying his celebration.

Watch Crouch's iconic celebration and reaction to Haaland's version

Incidentally, Haaland is now just two goals shy of joining Crouch in the Premier League 100 Club. 

His 98 goals have come in 107 matches and he is on course to become the fastest player to bring up his century, surpassing current record-holder Alan Shearer, who reached the milestone in 124 matches.

The Norwegian may even have moved another step closer to the milestone on Sunday had Pep Guardiola not taken him off with eight minutes to go against Bournemouth.

"I think there were probably a few Fantasy managers that were not so happy when I got subbed off," laughed Haaland.

Best performance – Declan Rice (Arsenal)

A complete performance from the complete midfielder. Declan Rice ran the show for table-topping Arsenal as they won for the fifth consecutive Premier League match, against Burnley.

The England midfielder set up the Gunners’ opener with his in-swinging corner, which was played back across goal by Gabriel for Viktor Gyokeres to score.

And Rice then sealed victory himself when he headed in Leandro Trossard's cross following a brilliant counter attack.

But it was not just the 26-year-old’s goal involvements which set him apart at Turf Moor.

Watch Rice's highlights v Burnley

Rice ranked first in the match for touches (94), passes (seven), crosses (six), tackles (five), interceptions (three), duels won (nine), possession won (nine), and total carry distance (275.8m).

"He stepped up," said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. "I don't know how many balls and tackles he won in total. It is the evolution of a player."

An honourable mention must also go to another central midfielder, Moises Caicedo, for his performance in Chelsea’s win at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Ecuador international’s persistent pressing forced Micky van de Ven into a mistake to set up Joao Pedro’s winning goal, while he contributed 14 defensive contributions.

"At half-time I said to him, 'I need to invite you to dinner!'" laughed Joao Pedro. "I just want to say thank you to him."

Best throw – Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace)

Brentford and Palace top the charts for the most long throws taken this season.

So it was no surprise that the meeting between those sides at Selhurst Park brought another goal via the Premier League’s most in-vogue tactic.

Michael Kayode has been the dangerman with the ball in hand for Brentford this season, with one of his deliveries leading to Brentford’s opener against Liverpool last week.

But it was Palace’s Jefferson Lerma who won the battle of the long throws on Saturday, with one of his contributions leading to the hosts’ decisive second goal, when it was inadvertently flicked in by Brentford defender Nathan Collins.

Watch Lerma's long throw and Collins' own goal

"We spoke about how it could be a set-play battle and I think we won the set-play battle," said Palace's delighted head coach, Oliver Glasner.

"We didn’t have a lot of time to train because we played on Wednesday evening at Liverpool, coming home at three in the morning.

"Thursday was just recovery and on Friday we trained 25 minutes on the pitch, then 15 minutes just defending throw-ins and attacking throw-ins because we knew it would be a topic today.

"Credit to my assistants who prepared all the clips and set up how we defended it, and also in attack so we could score from it."

Best quote – Pep Guardiola (Man City)

After Man City moved up to second in the Premier League table with victory over Bournemouth, Pep Guardiola was asked if he expected his team to compete for the title.

"Hopefully Arsenal can concede one goal one day, right?" responded the Man City boss with a smile on his face.

The Spaniard was referring to the fact that the table-topping Gunners have kept seven successive clean sheets in all competitions, conceding just three times in the Premier League this season.

Guardiola was just speaking his mind and saying what all his fellow Premier League bosses must be thinking, given Arsenal’s incredible defensive record.

But his comment could also be construed as a first bout of mind games with Arteta – a reminder that the resolute Gunners are the title favourites and that the league is theirs to lose.

"It is just 10 games, [there are] still 28 to play," added Guardiola, whose Man City side are six points behind Arsenal.

"Many, many things are going to happen. It’s important to be close and feel that the team is better and better."