Eden Hazard and the EPL Players of the Week: Week 2

Week 2 of the English Premier League served up more exciting football for casual fans and die-hard fanatics alike. 

Chelsea and Swansea continued their dominance over Premier League opposition, while Manchester City continued the disappointing start to their title-defending season with a fortuitous 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

Manchester United got back to their winning ways with a 3-2 win over Fulham, while Everton continued to impress. Southampton got a reality check after losing 2-0 to Wigan and Arsenal still hasn't scored a goal. 

There were some great performances over the weekend, so let's take a look at the EPL players of Week 2. 

Michu, Swansea City

Michu makes this list for the second week in a row after another great performance for his new club. 

Michu scored his third goal in two games for Swansea en route to a 3-0 win over West Ham, although this goal was gifted to him by James Collins a la Martin Skrtel. 

Regardless, Michu's composure on the ball and his fantastic midfield play were huge components of Swansea's continuation of their ascendancy in the Premier League.   

Marouane Fellaini, Everton

Everton compounded Aston Villa's miserable start to the season with a convincing 3-1 win, largely due to Marouane Fellaini's dominating performance in midfield. 

Fellaini continued to impress from midfield, bossing possession from the middle of the park and capping off a great afternoon with his second goal in two games in the 31st minute. 

Everton is quickly looking to be one of the surprise teams of the year. 

Shinji Kagawa, Manchester United

Manchester United returned to winning form with a 3-2 win over Fulham, with Robin van Persie scoring his first Man U goal in front of the Old Trafford faithful. 

However, it was Shinji Kagawa who facilitated Manchester United's attack and possession. The United attack flowed through him all afternoon and the Japanese international impressed in his Old Trafford debut.

Kagawa scored his first Premier League goal with the simplest of tap-ins from the closest of ranges after Tom Cleverly's screamer wasn't handled by Mark Schwarzer. 

Great start for the young Japanese. 

Anthony Pilkington, Norwich City and Ji-Sung Park, QPR

This one is a toss-up.

Anthony Pilkington had a great night on the wing, making decent runs up the flank and supplying the cross for Simeon Jackson to head home.

Ji-Sung Park had a dominant evening in midfield and if he had been part of a better attacking force, several of his passes could have led to goals. 

Ali Al-Habsi, Wigan

Ali Al-Habsi proved that he is the most underrated keeper in the Premier League after producing several world-class saves against Premier League newcomers Southampton. Despite goals from Franco di Santo and Arouna Kone, Al-Habsi was the hero on the night. 

Al-Habsi's heroics kept Wigan in the game and reaffirmed his status as one of the world's most underrated keepers. 

Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Tottenham

Benoit Assou-Ekotto had another great game despite another disappointing team performance. 

His goal in the 74th minute looked to win it for Spurs, and were it not for awful team defending allowing a last-minute winner for West Brom, it would have been the game-winner.

In addition to his goal, Assou-Ekotto made purposeful runs forward and covered well in defense.

Another bright performance from the Cameroonian defender in an otherwise disappointing Spurs showing. 

Eden Hazard, Chelsea...twice over

How influential has Eden Hazard been so far?

Man of the match performances in both the Reading and Newcastle games have impressed fans and critics alike. 

Hazard looks to be the player of the season already, and having scored his first Premier League goal over the weekend, looks to continue his dominance over the course of the season. 

His passes are crisp, his vision is sharp and his backheel to set up Fernando Torres' goal against Newcastle was pure class. 

Lukas Podolski, Arsenal

Lukas Podolski looks to have found his feet out on the wing for Arsenal. The German international made powerful runs off the wing up the middle, something that Arsenal has lacked for a while.

He looked comfortable hooking up with Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud and came close to scoring several times himself. 

The triumvirate of Podolski, Cazorla and Giroud looks like it could be quite potent; they just need some time to work together. 

Joe Allen, Liverpool

May I be so bold as to suggest that Liverpool have finally found their replacement for Xabi Alonso in Joe Allen?

Allen has shown that he is up to the task of controlling Liverpool's midfield from the holding position. He rarely put a foot wrong against the reigning champs and even refused to let himself get bossed around by the much bigger Yaya Toure. 

If this kid keeps up the same performances, Liverpool will be alright this season.