Wayne Rooney rolls back the years, Renato Sanches suffers humiliation at Chelsea: Premier League winners & losers

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With the Christmas period drawing nearer, it’s that time of the year when we can celebrate extra Premier League fixtures in midweek!

There was plenty of action to savour over Tuesday and Wednesday evening, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all winning, while there was disappointment for Tottenham.

Here’s our round up of the big moments as we look at the three main winners and three biggest losers from the latest round of games.

First up, the winners…

Wayne Rooney

Fair play to the guy, he’s taken his fair share of stick in recent years after falling down the pecking order at Manchester United and for some unsavoury incidents away from the pitch, but last night was a real throwback to Rooney at his best.

The 32-year-old scored this absolute screamer from the halfway line to complete his hat-trick against West Ham:

Whatever your opinion of Rooney, nights like this must make you glad he decided to give it one more to at his boyhood club, and that he’s actually doing a decent job of it, rather than just coasting for a few years in the Chinese Super League or MLS.

Benjamin Mendy

Benjamin Mendy – what a guy.

He’s played just five games for Manchester City, but the Twitter king of banter is already a cult hero because of things like this:

Not letting an ACL injury get in his way, the left-back was determined to join in City’s celebrations as they scored a stoppage time winner against Southampton, hopping all the way to the action with his team-mates.

In an age where footballers are accused of being heartless, money-grabbing mercenaries, this really warms the hart.

Ashley Young

Level with Cristiano Ronaldo on league goals this season, and with more free-kicks than the Real Madrid man in what feels like the last five years*.

No disputing Ashley Young is a real winner this week, and indeed that he has been for much of this season with a surprise renaissance for both United and England.

*Stat may be based more on intuition than on actual data

And on to the losers…

Renato Sanches

In 2016, Renato Sanches won the Golden Boy award after shining for Portugal in their Euro 2016-winning campaign.

Now, well, he’s at Swansea City and passing the ball to advertising hoardings, with pictures via Sky Sports…

Where has it all gone wrong for the young midfielder?

Mauricio Pochettino

With defeat to Leicester City, Tottenham are now below Burnley in the Premier League table, slipping down to 7th.

That north London power shift? They’re now four points behind Arsenal with just one win in their last five.

Mauricio Pochettino has done remarkably well to top his Champions League group, but the hype surrounding the Argentine may have been a tad premature…

David Moyes

Finally, a manager about whom there certainly hasn’t been too much hype for a good few years, David Moyes is suffering a nightmarish start at West Ham.

David Moyes has got off to an awful start at West Ham

The Scot was a surprise appointment to replace Slaven Bilic, and the Hammers don’t look to be making any progress after their latest humiliation.

Back at his old club Everton, Moyes’ side suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat that brought even an ageing Wayne Rooney to life. For all the Rooney love earlier in this piece, it’s not exactly an encouraging sign for your club if he’s suddenly looking like Cristiano Ronaldo against you.

More Stories Ashley Young Benjamin Mendy David Moyes Mauricio Pochettino Renato Sanches Wayne Rooney