The Premier League has finally started and the first match day brought quite a few unexpected results. Arsenal were unable to get past Sunderland at home in the opening match of the new season, Liverpool got beaten quite heavily at West Brom while Manchester United wrapped up the proceedings with a defeat at the hands of Everton. Robin van Persie made his debut for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team but failed to impress, as did Podolski for the Gunners.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened during the first Premier League weekend:
Arsenal 0 — 0 Sunderland
Arsenal had 70% ball possession but just three shots on target and I guess that pretty much sums up their game. New signing Lukas Podolski was unable to do much upfront while fellow new striker Olivier Giroud came off the bench to waste the biggest chance of the match in the closing 10 minutes.
Man of the Match: Santiago Cazorla — the Spaniard was the only Arsenal player that constantly created threats in attack. He had two efforts on goal in the first half and a few more interesting actions after the break, he will surely be a man to watch this season.
Fulham 5 — 0 Norwich City
Goal scorers: D. Duff 27′, M. Petrić 42′, M. Petrić 54′, A. Kacaniklic 66′, S. Sidwell (PG) 87′
A great start to the season for Fulham who left no room for doubt in their match against Norwich. Chris Hughton’s Premier League debut as Norwich manager was a total disaster but they still have time to turn things around. Not too much time though.
Man of the Match: Mladen Petric — he had a dream debut, with two goals scored plus an assist on the fourth goal.
Queens Park Rangers 0 — 5 Swansea City
Goal scorers: Michu 8′, Michu 53′, N. Dyer 63′, N. Dyer 71′, S. Sinclair 81′
The Swans gave new manager Michael Laudrup a great debut win. However, QPR goalie Robert Green gave them a big helping hand, at least on the first goal.
Man of the Match: Michu — the Spaniard had a wonderful debut, capitalising on a goalkeeper error on the first goal before scoring a real beauty before the hour mark.
Reading 1 — 1 Stoke City
Goal scorers: M. Kightly 34′, A. Le Fondre (PG) 90′
Reading needed a late goal to snatch a point there at the end of an even and not very spectacular match. New signing Pavel Pogrebnyak was a disappointment for the home side, the Russian striker will have to do a lot more in the future if Reading want to remain in the top flight.
Man of the Match: Robert Huth — he was on the pitch after an incredible recovery from viral meningitis and he even played a very good game, solid at the back and always ready to start off the attacks.
West Bromwich Albion 3 — 0 Liverpool
Goal scorers: Z. Gera 43′, P. Odemwingie (PG) 64′, R. Lukaku 77′
Liverpool got just two shots on target and that says about everything there is to say about this game. The only good thing for the Reds was that Joe Allen played a pretty good debut game, but that’s about all.
Man of the Match: Youssuf Mulumbu — he bossed the middle of the park, forcing Liverpool to direct their attacks on the flanks where Stewart Downing misplaced most of his crosses while new signing Fabio Borini often got robbed of the ball.
West Ham United 1 — 0 Aston Villa
Goal scorer: K. Nolan 40′
Aston Villa probably deserved a draw here, even though they were unable to create clear cut chances. The visitors dominated possession but they were punished on a dead ball situation.
Man of the Match: James Collins — the centre back played a very good game against his former team, always safe at the back and threatening on attacking set pieces.
Newcastle United 2 — 1 Tottenham Hotspur
Goal scorers: D. Ba 55′, J. Defoe 76′, H. Ben Arfa (PG) 80′
A great strike from Demba Ba paved the way for a losing start for Andre Villas-Boas as Spurs boss. Newcastle proved that they are a strong team that can probably defeat any team in the league but whether they have what it takes on the long run remains to be seen.
Man of the Match: Hatem Ben Arfa — the Frenchman had a very good second half that culminated with around 10 minutes left on the clock when he drew the foul for the decisive penalty kick that he also converted.
Wigan Athletic 0 — 2 Chelsea
Goal scorers: B. Ivanović 2′, F. Lampard (PG) 7′
Chelsea were impressive for just 10 minutes but that was enough to secure the three points. The Blues had just one corner kick during the whole 90 minutes while Wigan certainly deserved at least a consolation goal.
Man of the Match: Eden Hazard — the Belgian wonderkid had an excellent debut as he set up the first goal before producing the penalty that was converted by Lampard. He probably is the best signing of the summer in the Premier League.
Manchester City 3 — 2 Southampton
Goal scorers: C. Tévez 40′, R. Lambert 59′, S. Davis 68′, E. Džeko 72′, S. Nasri 80′
The Saints came very close to a huge upset as they converted their only two shots on target to take the lead against the run of play with a bit more than 20 minutes left on the clock. The defending champions fought back just in time to avoid a catastrophic debut but there are question marks all over the defence after conceding those two goals.
Man of the Match: Samir Nasri — the Frenchman provided the assist for Tevez on the opening goal and then netted the decisive strike with 10 minutes left, a way better display than David Silva who seemed totally out of the match.
Everton 1 — 0 Manchester United
Goal scorer: M. Fellaini 57′
A sensational season opener for Everton who played a great game against title favourites Manchester United. David De Gea kept the visitors in the game with a string of fantastic saves in the first half but then Fellaini broke the deadlock and the Red Devils were then unable to break through the compact Toffees defence. Robin van Persie came in as a substitute but failed to produce plays worthy of his transfer fee.
Man of the Match: Marouane Fellaini — the Belgian giant played his heart out and surely deserved to score the only goal of the match. He will probably be Everton’s next big sale.
You can find the Premier League table and results here, while the live scores will be shown here.
That’s about all I had to say but I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.
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