Weekend awards: Best goal, celebration, classiest touch and more!

Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 34.

Best celebration - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

On an afternoon full of celebrations, Salah was fittingly at the centre of the one that will go down in folklore from the day Liverpool were crowned 2024/25 champions.

After getting in on the scoring act against Tottenham Hotspur to make it 4-1, Salah celebrated by taking a commemorative selfie in front of the jubilant Kop.

Salah was desperate to have his own moment at Anfield for multiple reasons.

He had gone six Liverpool matches without a goal and not scored in open play since February. 

Though the title was all but sealed by the time Salah struck, the fairytale day needed a key contribution from the player who inspired them to the title to be complete. 

And Salah also has further, personal targets in his sights.

Salah’s 28th Premier League goal this season was his 185th in total, taking him past Sergio Aguero to become the fifth highest-scorer in the competition's history and also now the most prolific player from overseas.

With 18 assists this season too, Salah is just one goal or assist short of equalling the all-time record of 47 goal involvements in a Premier League season, jointly held by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer who set the standard in 42-game seasons.

Salah, aiming to go past them in a 38-match campaign, said: “Hopefully I will break it soon. It’s something pushing me forward to keep going and keep working hard.”

Classiest touch - Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

Man City were in FA Cup action this weekend but their manager Guardiola classily took time out to acknowledge the team who finally replaced his side as Premier League champions on Sunday, ending their record four-year grip on the trophy. 

Before answering questions in his post-match press conference following his side’s semi-final victory against Nottingham Forest, Guardiola made a point of paying tribute to Liverpool.

“Before I start, on behalf of myself and all the club, we want to congratulate Liverpool Football Club for the Premier League victory,” Guardiola said.

“Well deserved, no doubt about that. Fantastic team. Hopefully next season we can be better, to compete until the end of the season. This season it could not be possible so, Liverpool, congratulations.” 

Back at Anfield there was another gesture worthy of mention from Liverpool head coach Arne Slot. 

As Liverpool celebrated their title triumph, Slot kicked off a rendition of a chant for former boss Jurgen Klopp, repaying the German for singing the Dutchman's name following his final game in charge last season. 

“It was a nice moment to thank him,” said Slot, who was keen to acknowledge Klopp’s role in laying the foundations for Liverpool’s title success this season.

Slot's rendition for Klopp

Best match - Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 West Ham United 

Sheer bedlam broke out at Brighton after Carlos Baleba completed one of the comebacks of the season with one of the goals of the season. 

With two minutes of normal time left, Brighton were staring at another setback, having failed to win any of their previous five league matches.

West Ham responded to Yasin Asari’s also-outstanding curling strike with goals by Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek, leaving the Seagulls facing a major blow in their bid to qualify for Europe. 

But a goal off the bench for the second successive match by Kaoru Mitoma drew Brighton level in the 89th minute. 

And, there was better still to come when Baleba, filling in at centre-back, strode forward and bent a left-footed effort that initially looked to be going wide into the net in the 92nd minute, the impressiveness of the strike summed up by its Expected Goals (xG) of just 0.02.

Baleba's superb winner v West Ham

West Ham players were crestfallen in stark contrast to the wild celebrations from everyone connected with Brighton, including somersaulting scorer Baleba.

His goal - described as “special” by Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler - capped a dominant, all-round performance from the Cameroonian.

He regained possession more times - nine - than any other player in the Premier League over the weekend, completed the joint-most passes of any Brighton player against West Ham, with 63, and had the second-most tackles, with four, making him a deserved match-winner.

Best headed goal - Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)

For fans of headed goals, Matchweek 34 has been a good one. 

Seven headers were scored across the Premier League over the weekend, equalling the third-highest total in a match round so far this season, including some impressive towering ones from Newcastle United’s William Osula and Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke. 

However, the best, and perhaps the most important too, came from Fulham’s Sessegnon.

His brilliant diving header earned Fulham a 2-1 win at Southampton that maintained their hopes of securing European football for next season. 

Sessegnon’s 92nd-minute winner was his sixth goal involvement in the last eight matches, as many as he had managed in his previous 59 Premier League outings.

Sessegnon's header v Southampton

His goal was also further evidence that Sessegnon has rediscovered his knack of being in the right place at the right time to impact matches. 

Sessegnon displayed that in his first full season in the Championship in 2017/18, a campaign which truly put him on the map.

He recorded 21 goal involvements (15 goals and six assists) that season, at a rate of 0.47 involvements per 90, to help Fulham gain promotion to the Premier League via the playoffs. 

This season, Sessegnon has more than doubled that to 1.3 per 90, a record only bettered by the 1.37 of Liverpool star Salah. 

With Fulham managing Sessegnon’s minutes carefully this season after his injury-hit spell at Spurs, his sample size is admittedly a smaller one.

But his contributions during his limited time on the pitch are still noteworthy and have been important for Fulham. 

Sessegnon's stats in his seven PL seasons

*Goals / Assists / Goals + Assists per 90 - rotate your device to see table in full

Best save - Robert Sanchez (Chelsea)

The two sides to Sanchez are perfectly illustrated by him having the third-best save percentage in the Premier League, of 73.28 per cent, but also the joint-most errors leading to goals, with five.

There was a similar contrast in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Everton.

Crucially for Chelsea - and after some nervy moments earlier in the game - Sanchez’s most decisive contributions were effectively match-winning ones. 

A first save to keep out Beto’s second-half effort was impressive enough and he bettered that in the 87th minute to deny Dwight McNeil.

Sanchez was shuffling across his line in one direction, following the flight of Carlos Alcaraz’s cross from the left, but quickly had to readjust and produce an acrobatic save down to his right to turn McNeil’s volley away.

Sanchez denies McNeil v Everton

“That’s his superpower, his athleticism,” former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart said about Sanchez.

Sanchez’s stop preserved Chelsea’s lead, ensuring that they earned another narrow but vital victory in their pursuit of a top-five finish.

It was also a moment that brought to mind Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca’s defence of Sanchez following an error against Wolverhampton Wanderers in January, when he posed the question “and how many times has he saved us?”.

Top 10 PL goalkeepers by save percentage 2024/25 

*Minimum 450 minutes played - rotate your device to see table in full