What every club needs is someone to come up and score an important goal during the dying minutes of the game. A substitute does have a bit of an advantage if he comes on late and he could become an instant hero if he scores that all-important goal.
Javier Hernandez was one player who made it a habit of coming off the bench and scoring goals for Manchester United and truth be told, there aren’t many players who can boast the kind of impact he brought onto the field.
This season though there have been a few players who have done a lot of good things in the Premier League and we list out the top five players who have been incredible when coming off the bench as a substitute.
The Argentine produced a sublime pass to give Tottenham the second goal against Manchester City. Lamela hasn’t played every game for Spurs but when he comes onto the pitch, especially off the bench he does have an impact on tiring defences. He has three goals and four assists to his name this season as he plays an important role in Tottenham’s title charge.
2. Gerard Deulofeu
The former Barcelona youth product certainly has nailed a place in England but some of his best performances have come off the bench. The Spaniard whips in some delightful crosses and has eight assists to his name this season. Gerard also has two goals to his name but his crosses are incredible and Romelu Lukaku will attest to that.
3. Rudy Gestede
The Aston Villa striker hasn’t had the greatest season this season and well neither have Villa but at least the tall forward can claim four goals from 10 substitute appearances this season. Gestede was signed as a replacement for Christian Benteke and while he hasn’t scored as many goals as he would have liked but that is what he can do when he doesn’t get a lot of chances.
4. Dieumerci Mbokani
The Norwich forward might be remembered for his incredible back heel goal against Liverpool and the striker has done well for Norwich with four goals from just eight appearances this season. Mbokani will have to do more of that is Norwich are to avoid the drop but at least the Canaries know that they can count on him from the bench.
5. Arouna Kone
Another Everton player who makes it to the list is Arouna Kone, the striker doesn’t start enough games for the Toffees but he does have an impact. Kone has nine substitute appearances for Everton this season and has banged in five goals but also has four assists to his name. He might not be a Lukaku but he does have the ability to get or create many goals.
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