Football
Tom Williams, ESPN.com writer 5y

Man City show why Manchester is blue; Leicester honour chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

After a weekend when the match officials unwittingly made themselves the centre of attention, Tom Williams picks over the Premier League's major talking points.

Colour of the weekend

Blue beat red in the Manchester derby, but if there was a colour that summed up Manchester City's 3-1 win over Manchester United, it was silver.

Two Silvas combined for City's 12th-minute opener -- Bernardo crossing for David to score from close range -- before Sergio Aguero, sporting a new silver dye job, rifled a shot high into the roof of David De Gea's net.

Jose Mourinho, the visitors' own silver fox, saw Anthony Martial reduce the arrears from the penalty spot, but there was to be no repeat of United's recent comebacks against Bournemouth and Juventus as Bernardo Silva set up Ilkay Gundogan to add a late third following a fine 42-pass move.

Rapid turnaround of the weekend

Five minutes before half-time at Liverpool on Sunday, Fulham were celebrating an apparent opener by Aleksandar Mitrovic. Just 14 seconds later, they were 1-0 down.

Mitrovic's header was ruled out for offside -- wrongly, as replays would show -- and to add insult to injury, the ball was still in motion when Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson played a quick free kick to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who freed Mohamed Salah to run through and score. Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic, whose side lost 2-0, accused the officials of "disrespect".

Goal of the weekend

A useful barometer for the general well-being of Newcastle United is the form of the player in the number nine shirt.

Salomon Rondon's brace in Newcastle's 2-1 win over Bournemouth made him the first Magpies number nine to score a top-flight double at St James' Park since Papiss Cisse did so against Chelsea in December 2014. His second goal, which proved to be the match-winner, was an archetypal number nine goal, the burly Venezuelan meeting Kenedy's gorgeous left-wing cross with a thumping header that almost ripped the net from the goal frame.

"He showed what he can do and has given us something different," said Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez. "I was happy with Joselu, Ayoze [Perez] and [Yoshinori] Muto, but he's a different kind of striker."

Avoidance of the weekend

Juan Foyth atoned for conceding two penalties in Tottenham's 3-2 win at Wolves by scoring the only goal in their 1-0 success at Crystal Palace. Had Jordan Ayew been in possession of a little more mettle, the Argentinian youngster would never have had the opportunity.

After Harry Kane's header struck Luka Milivojevic following a corner from the Tottenham left, the ball looped into the air. Ayew, stationed at the near post, had the simple task of heading it clear, but he remained rooted to the spot, allowing Foyth to crash the ball home with his head. You didn't need a lip-reader to decipher Milivojevic's reaction.

Rant of the weekend

We all know the drill with post-match player interviews. "Pleased/disappointed with the result? 'Yeah, obviously, mumble mumble. Tough test, lads worked hard, mumble mumble. The important thing is we go again/bounce back next week."

Step forward Charlie Austin. Furious (and justifiably so) after seeing a goal wrongly disallowed for offside against Maya Yoshida in Southampton's 1-1 draw with Watford, he let rip at the match officials after the game, the effect of his outburst only exacerbated by the fact that one of his eyes appeared to be bleeding.

"We scored a perfectly good goal," Austin raged, his voice growing squeakier with each breath. "The officials cost us two points today. It's a joke."

Misdirected cross of the weekend

Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches in all competitions, but their 1-1 draw with Wolves was owed to a large slice of luck. With four minutes remaining and Arsenal trailing 1-0, substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan curled in a cross from the left that eluded all of his teammates before creeping inside the far post.

Inexplicable leniency of the weekend

For the sake of his nearest and dearest, you would hope that referee Kevin Friend is more forthcoming with his cards at Christmastime than he was during Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Jorginho caught Gylfi Sigurdsson with an awful challenge in the first half and Marcos Alonso was guilty of planting his studs into Theo Walcott's ankle. Jorginho could have seen red, but only got a yellow. Alonso escaped a booking altogether.

Little white lie of the weekend

Sol Bamba celebrated scoring Cardiff's 90th-minute winner against Brighton by tearing off his shirt, meaning he should have been booked, but referee Martin Atkinson somehow failed to spot the infringement and Bamba wasn't about to own up to it.

"The ref said to me, 'Did you take your shirt off?'" Bamba explained. "I said, 'No, I didn't.'"

Stat of the weekend

Alex Pritchard's goal in Huddersfield's 1-1 draw with West Ham made him the first Terriers player to score a goal at the John Smith's Stadium in 726 minutes of top-flight action.

Tribute of the weekend

Football stadiums across Britain fell silent over the weekend as the country marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Nowhere was the silence more poignant than at the King Power Stadium, where Leicester played their first home game since the death of chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people in a tragic helicopter crash on Oct. 27.

Leicester's 0-0 draw with Burnley was preceded by an emotional video tribute to the much-loved chairman, while fans held aloft white scarves bearing the words "FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS" during the two minutes of silence prior to kick-off. Players, staff and former Leicester managers including Claudio Ranieri and Nigel Pearson gathered on the pitch at the final whistle. Vichai's son, Aiyawatt, known as Top, could be seen wiping away tears as he walked around the pitch with his brother, Apichet.

It has been a heartbreaking two weeks for Leicester and the wounds from that fateful night may take forever to heal. If there is anything to be taken from it, it is that the club advances forward more united than ever.

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