{"id":7076,"date":"2026-02-24T13:22:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/2026\/02\/24\/gameweek-27-standouts-saves-midfield-control-and-match-deciding-finishes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:22:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T11:22:05","slug":"gameweek-27-standouts-saves-midfield-control-and-match-deciding-finishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/2026\/02\/24\/gameweek-27-standouts-saves-midfield-control-and-match-deciding-finishes\/","title":{"rendered":"Gameweek 27 Standouts: Saves, Midfield Control and Match-Deciding Finishes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gameweek 27 offered a mix of goalkeeping interventions, midfield control and clinical attacking moments that decided a number of fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>Brighton secured a much-needed 2-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday with Bart Verbruggen prominent in goal. Verbruggen has again been linked with a blockbuster exit from Brighton &#038; Hove Albion, and his performance underlined why. He made four saves and 11 recoveries as Brighton repelled sustained pressure en route to three points.<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United\u2019s summer recruit Senne Lammens provided a similar defensive platform in Monday\u2019s 1-0 win over Everton. Tasked with providing a steady presence, Lammens matched Verbruggen\u2019s totals of four saves and 11 recoveries. He came to life late on and a stunning reach to prevent Michael Keane\u2019s long-range thunderbolt from nestling into his top corner was one of the key moments.<\/p>\n<p>Manchester City\u2019s control in the middle was driven by Rodri in a 2-1 win over Newcastle United. He registered the most touches (95) and completed the most passes (67) in the match. His influence also showed defensively with six recoveries, four clearances and a game-high five tackles.<\/p>\n<p>Nico O\u2019Reilly stole some of the spotlight with a two-goal haul from a more advanced role on the left wing. The 20-year-old\u2019s versatility was evident and the performance has ignited calls for a spot in England\u2019s World Cup squad.<\/p>\n<p>Fulham recorded a 3-1 victory over Sunderland with several strong contributions. Calvin Bassey and Harry Wilson narrowly missed out on a place in this round-up, while Alex Iwobi stood out. His excellent corner set up Fulham\u2019s opening goal and he wrapped up the win with a composed finish from a narrow angle.<\/p>\n<p>Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez led the line for Fulham against Sunderland with two goals. He rose highest to head home Iwobi\u2019s corner and converted from the penalty spot as Sunderland\u2019s pressure built, also enjoying physical battles with Omar Alderete and Dan Ballard.<\/p>\n<p>Cherries goalkeeper \u0110or\u0111e Petrovi\u0107 was key in Bournemouth\u2019s 0-0 draw with West Ham United. Just three of West Ham\u2019s 20 shots were on target and Petrovi\u0107 produced several reaction saves to keep the match goalless.<\/p>\n<p>Eberechi Eze just loves playing Tottenham Hotspur. Restored to attacking midfield, he scored twice and created two chances in a 4-1 win that helped reignite Arsenal\u2019s title charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gameweek 27 recap: saves, midfield control and attacking returns shaped key results across fixtures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[713,1480,172],"tags":[1162],"class_list":["post-7076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fulham","category-gameweek-27","category-epl","tag-analytics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}