Manchester United did not fire on all cylinders on Monday, but still did more than enough to show Newcastle United just how tough life in the Premier League can be with a 3–0 win.
Despite starting brightly, Newcastle lost the ball when attempting to counterattack just after the half hour mark, and were swiftly punished. Paul Scholes expertly threaded the ball through to Dimitar Berbatov, who finished emphatically.
Less than 10 minutes later, the lead had doubled. Excellent work by Nani on the right wing found Patrice Evra arriving in the penalty area with speed, and his low drive found Darren Fletcher, who hooked the ball into the net.
A Ryan Giggs volley five minutes from the end sealed a satisfactory opening night for last seasons runners up, without ever reaching the heights of Chelsea’s opening display against West Brom.
Newcastle started with passion and confidence, determined to announce their return to the Premiership, and could have scored early on when Andy Carrol made great space in the penalty area, only to head wastefully wide.
But the Magpies spent most of the game chasing the ball, and when finally gaining possession were generally too exhausted to make decent use of it.
Rooney had another subdued night. Although as usual working very hard, he rarely looked like scoring, and more worryingly there were one or two signs that he is lacking confidence in front of goal.
Although his replacement by new signing Javier Hernandez just after the hour will be put down to lack of match fitness, Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping that last season’s top scorer gets off the mark soon.
Reina Giftwraps Draw for Gunners
The home side was outplayed in the first half and went down to 10 men at the end of the half when Joe Cole was shown a straight red card for a clumsy tackle on new Arsenal center back Laurent Koscielny.
But the Reds took the lead shortly after the break when striker David Ngog fired a shot top shelf on bewildered Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia. From here, the Reds gained strength and looked like they’d take the three points.
“It was an outstanding shot in the short corner. Give credit to Ngog on that,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
But in extra time, new Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh, who had been fairly quiet, managed to interfere with Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina’s attempt at catching a cross. The ball bounced off the post and then off Reina and into the net, giving Arsenal a share of the points.
“We can’t accuse him [Reina] of hindering our chances of getting a result,” said new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson after the game.
Chelsea Top, Blackpool Rock, Man City Flops
Chelsea have shaken off their pre-season blues and started their campaign exactly where they left off last year—banging in a shed load of goals on Saturday.
Six goals without reply delighted the home fans at Stamford Bridge, and in truth, it could have been many more. Didier Drogba in particular was outstanding, last season’s top scorer notched up a hat trick on Saturday’s opening day.
This was a firm statement of intent from the reigning champions, and anyone hoping for signs of weakness in last season’s double winners will be sorely disappointed.
Chelsea’s first three free-kicks went straight through the wall. Two led to goals, the first from Florent Malouda on the rebound, the second straight from the Drogba strike.
The third goal too was from a set piece, a classic John Terry header from the corner allowing Drogba to crack in the rebound.
Excellent build up play from Chelsea allowed Frank Lampard to get off the mark, and a huge deflection provided Drogba with his hat-trick. A great day for “the Blues” was rounded off by a superb finish from Malouda, his second and Chelsea’s sixth.
Blackpool’s fairytale shows no sign of coming to and end just yet, as the rank outsiders followed up last seasons amazing rise to the top flight with a comprehensive victory away at Wigan.
A score line of 0–4 in no way flattered the Premiership minnows, who also had one clear goal disallowed for offside.
Blackpool had not played in the top league for 39 years, but showed no signs of being intimidated, as goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Alex Baptiste, and two from Marlon Harewood sealed an impressive victory.
It must also be said that Wigan’s display was atrocious, marking very poorly and allowing their opponents far too much space, but nothing should detract from “the Tangerines” fine display. Ian Holloway takes his buoyant side to Arsenal next week.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini could learn a thing or two from Holloway about how to put a team together on a shoe string, and force the disparate parts to gel together. His Manchester City side was awful in the first half against a rampant Tottenham Hotspur side, and only the heroics of Joe Hart in goal saved the Premier League’s biggest spenders from an embarrassing heavy defeat.
It ended scoreless, after Hart saved expertly from Jermaine Defoe (twice), Tom Huddlestone, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, and also stopped well from Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Gareth Bale did beat Joe Hart, only to see the ball then go on to hit the post, and in the second half the Welshman scuffed a clear chance wide.
Tottenham showed excellent width, with Bale on the left and Aaron Lennon on the right, and were direct, inventive, and fluid. If they keep up this form they will have a great season.
Man City on the other hand, have it all to do. In the 101 days since losing to Spurs at Eastlands and missing out on the hallowed Champions League place, they have spent 106 million pounds on players, which works out at over 1 million pounds a day. And yet there was little sign of improvement.
Other Scores
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Aston Villa showed that there is life after Martin O’Neil, with a fine 3–0 victory at home to West Ham United. England international James Milner scored a great goal in what is most likely his final game for the East Midlands club before switching to Man City, and was warmly applauded by the fans when he left the pitch, a testament to his valuable contribution over the years.
Birmingham City came back from two goals down to draw level with a ten-man Sunderland team in Teesside; Everton went down 1–0 to Blackburn at Ewood Park; Fulham kept Bolton to a 0–0 draw at the Reebok Stadium, and Wolves started the season brightly with a 2–1 home victory over Stoke.
