Weekend awards: Best performance, result, goal and more!

Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at the standout players and moments from Matchweek 35.

Best performance: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

Cole Palmer lingered on the pitch after Chelsea's 3-1 win over Liverpool, watching highlights of his display on the big screen at Stamford Bridge.

He would not have been alone in wanting to see the standout moments of his performance again after he inspired Chelsea to three vital points in their quest for a top-five finish. 

Palmer was back to his elegant, elusive and inventive best against champions Liverpool. 

He was involved in Chelsea's first two goals, almost scored initially when he hit the post with an audacious effort following a slaloming solo run, before he eventually did seal the Blues' win with a stoppage-time penalty.

That ended Palmer's 12-match, 1,162-minute run without a Premier League goal.

Palmer's penalty v Liverpool

Post-match, Palmer spoke about his mental strength and ability to block out the social media noise and negativity that emerged during his drought. 

His confidence did not appear affected against Liverpool. 

Additionally encouraging for Chelsea was how his match-high number of shots (five), chances created (four) and joint-most touches in the box (eight) against Liverpool were even higher than his averages during a stunning start to 2024/25 when he scored 14 times in only 21 Premier League games. 

A return to form for Palmer could not be better timed for Chelsea, with the UEFA Champions League race into its final stretch and defining matches against top-five rivals Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest to come.

Palmer’s form before and during his goal drought

Best match: Brentford 4-3 Manchester United

The rollercoaster goal-fests at Brentford are back. 

After they briefly disappeared, as the Bees' previously-impressive home form suddenly deserted them during an eight-match winless streak, normal service has been resumed at the Gtech Community Stadium as the season reaches its climax.

Thomas Frank’s entertainers got back to winning ways on their own patch with a 4-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion last month.

They followed that up this weekend by edging a seven-goal thriller against Man Utd.

Brentford fell behind early on, then scored four themselves before Man Utd replied with two late efforts to set up a nervy finish. 

But Brentford managed to hold on for a vital victory in their four-team fight with AFC Bournemouth, Brighton and Fulham to finish eighth and potentially clinch European football.

There are only two points between eighth-placed Bournemouth and 11th-placed Fulham.

Meanwhile, there have now been a competition-high 70 goals in Brentford’s home matches this season (38 for, 32 against).

And with one home match remaining, against Fulham on 18 May, Brentford could match some of the highest tallies for goals seen at a ground in a single season in Premier League history. 

"We are in the entertainment business so everything [is] for the TV and the fans," Frank said.

Brentford’s matches have certainly delivered on that front this season.

Most goals in a team’s home matches in a single Premier League season

Best result: AFC Bournemouth

Bournemouth earned a brilliant 2-1 win at Arsenal that was fantastic for them, but also damaging for the Gunners’ hopes of hanging on to second place.

Arsenal, however, could not say that they were not warned, both on the day and earlier in the season.

Although they trailed 1-0 at half-time, Bournemouth had their opportunities to score in the opening period.

In the second half, the Cherries converted their chances in a manner that might have felt familiar to Arsenal, as they claimed their first-ever points at Emirates Stadium to complete a famous double over Mikel Arteta's side.

"In these close games, making the difference with set-plays was the key to take the three points," Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola said, after Dean Huijsen’s equalising header from Antoine Semenyo’s long throw and Evanilson’s winner from a corner.

Set-pieces also decided this season’s first encounter between the sides in October when Ryan Christie scored from a brilliantly-worked corner and Justin Kluivert added a penalty.

Despite being renowned for their set-piece prowess, Arsenal have conceded a league-high 38.7 per cent of their goals this way. Bournemouth have exploited their issues more than any other Premier League side.

Bournemouth are responsible for four (26.7 per cent) of the 15 set-piece goals, including penalties - the joint-sixth most in the league - that Arsenal have shipped, while the Cherries are the only team to have scored more than one set-piece goal against the Gunners this season.

In fact, they are just the second side to score four set-piece goals against the same team this season after Everton, who did the same all in one match against Wolverhampton Wanderers in December. 

Best goal: Julio Enciso (Ipswich Town)

Julio Enciso’s strike against Everton was so special, even the beaten goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to accept its brilliance and congratulate the scorer.

Enciso smashed a stunning effort from 30 yards that dipped and swerved past Pickford, clipping the underside of the bar on the way in, to kickstart Ipswich’s fightback from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Goodison Park. 

With that, Enciso added to what Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna described as "his incredible showreel for a young player."

Enciso’s first Premier League season in 2022/23 featured two spectacular, long-range efforts against Chelsea and Manchester City. The latter was voted Premier League Goal of the Season.

Given his back catalogue, the surprise is it took Enciso so long to break his Premier League duck this season.

When he scored his first league goal of 2024/25, also at Chelsea last month, it came from his 36th shot this season. No player had attempted more shots without scoring, going into the match.

But Enciso, a January loan signing from Brighton, made it two goals in nine shots with his goal at Goodison Park though the winger finding his range has come too late for already-relegated Ipswich.

No wonder McKenna was left wondering what could have been. "We would have loved to have him a bit earlier," he said.

Best dribbler: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)

"Jeremy is the best player in the world in the first five metres. He is unstoppable," Pep Guardiola said, after his Belgian winger came off the bench to set up Matheus Nunes’ crucial winner against Aston Villa last month. 

In his next Premier League performance, against Wolves, Doku produced another devastating display of exactly what Guardiola meant.

An explosive burst of acceleration took him past Matt Doherty in a blur before he set up Kevin De Bruyne’s decisive, first-half goal in Man City’s 1-0 win against Wolves on Friday night.

It was the standout moment of a performance in which Doku was Champions League-chasing Man City’s major threat. 

With Man City doing the majority of their attacking down Doku’s left flank, he made good use of all the possession he received.

Doku created three chances, the joint-most in the match, which also equalled his season’s best total in one outing. 

His nine dribbles attempted and 17 touches in the opposition box were the highest by any Premier League player in Matchweek 35 so far.

Doku also became the first player to complete 100 dribbles this season, finishing the match with his running total on 101.

"I’m in those positions [like he was for De Bruyne’s goal] a lot," said Doku. "I’m critical of myself and I have to do more in those situations."

If Doku does this, more plaudits from Guardiola will surely follow.