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OOver an average weekend, The Guardian receives approximately 12,000 Premier League match photos through its staff, collaborating photographers and staff. It's close to half a million images per season. Some capture extraordinary joy and despair; some testify to defining moments in the title race; some owe a lot to the creativity of the men and women behind the lenses; and some, like the one in August, offer the rare but still amusing sight of a referee who is almost hit by a bullet.
August
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September
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The most nauseating picture of the season was shown at Wembley in September when Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham) inadvertently caught the eye of Roberto Firmino (Liverpool). As an image editor, we can get used to violence and physical injuries on shots, but there was something particularly shocking in this shot. Fortunately, the Brazilian escaped without serious injury and celebrated a few days later his winner against Paris Saint-Germain in the group stage of the Champions League. Elsewhere in September, Sir Alex Ferguson was cheered on Old Trafford after returning to the club after an emergency brain operation in May. United finished the month in 10th place with 10 points on his first seven games – nine points behind speed creators Manchester City and Liverpool.
October
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The first meeting between the top two teams in the league was a tight affair in which Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City missed a last-minute penalty. He propelled his effort above the bar – his fifth failure in eight innings. The month of October was also marked by the death of Leicester City President Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, whose helicopter crashed as he was leaving King Power Stadium after the Leicester-West Ham match, killing all five people on board. The floral tributes in the stadium reflected the deep affection of Leicester supporters for the man who had allowed them to win the title in 2016. My favorite picture of the month came to Stamford Bridge, where the coach of Manchester United, José Mourinho, had to be retained. It's launched at a member of the Chelsea Back Room as a result of a noisy celebration of goals. It's not so much the Mourinho aggression that I love; it's rather the panicked type in the foreground on the radio. I do not know who he is or what he says, but in my mind he calls by radio.
November
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In November, Tottenham spanked Chelsea at Wembley and Manchester City won the first Manchester derby of the season. He also witnessed a miracle at John Smith's Stadium where Huddersfield beat Fulham for his first win and first home goal of the season. However, the best picture taken that day is, in my opinion, the one below – the silhouette of a lonely man, cigarette in hand, wandering in front of a distant spotlight. The old-school spotlight bank seems to give the photo a touch of nostalgia – it reminds me of returning home after a winter's day in my youth.
December
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December was a month marked by abuse. First, a Tottenham fan threw a banana on the field after Arsenal's Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored against the Spurs in the North London derby. Then, later in the same week, Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was subjected to a torrent of insults by a group of Chelsea fans after winning a corner. Sterling, to his credit, reacted nonchalantly and the incident triggered an indispensable debate on how to combat the abusive behavior and racism within football. The best action shots of the month came to Anfield amid the pandemonium of Liverpool's victorious victory over Everton. Substitute Divock Origi scored in the 96th minute after Jordan Pickford's mistake, and Liverpool's relief was perfectly reflected in the shot below (featuring Virgil Van Dijk) with their vast swirling bodies creating a dynamic image . Normally, you would like to see "clean air" around a subject to make it stand out, but not in this case.
January
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January: a month when the millimeters counted and where the title race has tipped in favor of Manchester City. John Stones' attack on the touchdown after a shootout against Liverpool helped City to become the first and only team to defeat Jürgen Klopp's men all season. Elsewhere, the game of the month – if not the game of the season – took place in Molineux, where Diogo Jota's 93rd-minute attack gave Wolves a 4-3 win over Leicester. The image of the crazy Wolf fans is covered with beautiful facial expressions and juxtaposes perfectly to the image of Claude Puel, the director of Leicester discouraged, his head in his hands; both extremes encapsulate the agonies and universal ecstasies of football.
February
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I am not sure if the shot dropped on the Manchester City fan was set up or by chance (presumably the first one); Anyway, he's a cracker. City won their match with Arsenal 3-1 on that day thanks to a hat trick by Sergio Aguero, his 14th for the club. Still, City stays behind Liverpool by two points after playing an extra match. At the end of the month, the gap was reduced to one point after both teams had played 28 games. It is also worth mentioning the shot of Miguel Almirón of Newcastle United, who was overthrown by Tommy Smith of Huddersfield. Needless to say, Smith had a red card.
March
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With Huddersfield and Fulham put away long before spring, Cardiff was the only one of the last three teams to hope to stay in shape. As one would expect, Neil Warnock dropped when Chelsea was wrongly assigned a late goal, while he was clearly offside, as he came back from behind to beat the Bluebirds 2-1. Warnock stormed the ground at the final whistle and looked at the officials before aiming his anger against poor David Luiz. Forget the goals, Warnock's ballistics was decisive that day.
April
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Can
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The unexpected howitzer of Vincent Kompany against Leicester was a vital goal in the title race. Yet the strike was so unexpected that almost no photographer was ready to do it. To be fair to them, nor the defenders of Leicester. Kompany had not tried to shoot off the pitch since 2013 and even his manager and teammates begged him not to do it. The resulting image, seen from the opposite end of the field, captures the bulge of the net. Of course, we would much rather receive better images of the strike itself, but in one way or another, one of the consequences – a moment when no one in the stadium fully understood the success of Kompany within 25 meters – seems quite appropriate. It's a moment that Liverpool fans watching on TV hope never to come.
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