Jack Harrison was the deserved recipient of much of the praise in the aftermath of Leeds United’s 3-2 victory against West Ham at the London stadium.
The 25-year-old scored a brilliant hat-trick in arguably the Whites’ best performance of the season so far to see off David Moyes’ Champions League-chasing side.
Goals from Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals brought the Hammers back on level terms twice but they were unable to keep out the electric Harrison.
The former New York City FC winger latched onto Raphinha’s inch-perfect through ball to net his third of the match and ensure the points would be going back to West Yorkshire.
The Brazil international was once again at his dazzling best in the capital and, alongside his teammate on the opposite flank, he was identified as one of the stand-out Premier League performers of the weekend.
In Garth Crooks’ often infamous Team of the Week with BBC Sport, he included both Leeds widemen with glowing justifications for the pair.
Upon including Harrison, he said: “What a match between West Ham and Leeds. It might have been littered with mistakes but, as far as entertainment, it was an amazing contest.
“Leeds needed these points and Harrison provided the finishing touches to a Leeds win with a hat-trick and performance that was without question their best of the season.
“This is a Leeds side who have suffered from injuries, and lost another two players against West Ham. They have had Covid-19 issues and, on occasions, been down to the bare bones but have played on regardless. Well done Leeds, you're a credit to the Premier League.”
Meanwhile, he compared Raphinha to a couple of Brazilian legends gone by.
“There aren't many footballers I enjoy watching as much as I do Raphinha,” he claimed. “He's a throwback to the Rivaldos and Ronaldinhos of yesteryear.
“The Brazilian's game is so elegant and delightful to watch. Like so many Brazilian players, he treats the ball with the utmost respect, almost as if it were a friend.
“Without Raphinha, Leeds would not have won at West Ham. Jack Harrison will get all the headlines but there is only one star in Leeds United's show and it's Raphinha.”
The two were equally represented in WhoScored.com’s Team of the Week which is based on ratings from each Premier League match calculated by their algorithm.
Josh Wright wrote: “Raphinha was in the thick of all things positive for Leeds, as Marcelo Bielsa's side stunned West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium on Sunday.
“Raphinha's perfectly weighted pass led to Jack Harrison scoring the winner but the Brazilian was actually involved in all three goals even if he was given one assist.
“His cut-back led to their opener and it was from his corner that Leeds scored their second. He was denied a stunning free-kick by the frame of the goal and had another assist chalked off for offside. He registered seven key passes in total.”
Harrison, on the other hand, understandably scooped the statistics website’s Player of the Week accolade, Wright added: “Hat-trick hero Jack Harrison is our Premier League player of the week from Leeds' 3-2 win over West Ham.
“Harrison only scored his first league goal of the season earlier this month and followed that up with a treble in his next outing in the Premier League. Harrison scored his three goals from four attempts and also registered two key passes.”
Unsurprisingly, former West Ham player and manager Harry Redknapp also included the pair of wingers in his Team of the Week with BetVictor.
Like in the WhoScored XI, the 74-year-old outlined Harrison as the stand-out player of the weekend, he said: “Jack Harrison is this week’s Star Man. What an afternoon it was for him. It was just one of those days where everything he touched turned to gold.
“He’s always been a player with bags of potential, so let’s hope he keeps this sort of form going into the business end.”
He was equally complimentary of Raphinha’s performance at the London Stadium: “That was more like it from Leeds. They’ve got a bit of a maestro on their hands in Raphinha. He’s got such a great touch and he reads the game so well.
“That ball for Harrison’s winner was sublime. Some of the stuff he does is straight out of the Brazilian playbook, I just love to watch him play.”
