The Premier League season got underway in England with champions Chelsea only managing a 2-2 home draw with Swansea City, Arsenal were stunned by Westham while Liverpool eased past Stoke City and more.
Arsenal 0 Westham 2
GOALS:-Cheikhou Koyate 43rd, Mauro Zarate 57th
Arsenal’s start to the Premier League was less impressive in a loss to London rivals West Ham.
The Gunners were stunned as West Ham got away with a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. Cheikhou Koyate’s header before halftime and a low finish from Mauro Zarate in the 57th minute gave the Hammers’ new coach Slaven Bilic the perfect start.
Petr Cech, acquired by Arsenal from Chelsea in a somewhat surprising summer transfer, was at least partly to blame for both goals. The Czech stopper raced out to try and punch a Dimitri Payet free kick in the 43rd minute, only to miss as Kouyate headed into an empty net.
The second goal saw Zarate stole the ball easily from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in Arsenal’s defensive third, and took a few touches before curling a shot into the bottom corner with Cech being left flatfooted.
EVERTON 2 WATFORD 2
GOALS:- EVERTON: BARKLEY 76th; KONE 86th. WATFORD: LAYUN 14th; IGHALO 83rd.
Arouna Kone struck late on to secure a vital point on Watford’s return to the Barclays Premier League. Mexican Miguel Layun put Watford ahead in the first half before Ross Barkley equalized for Everton. Odion Ighalo’s goal put Watford ahead as the clock was ticking down but substitute Kone pulled one back for Everton which ensured the matter was settled with a draw.
AFC BOURNEMOUTH 0 ASTON VILLA 1
GOAL:- VILLA: GESTEDE 72nd
Bournemouth was given a warm welcome to the Barclays Premier League by Aston Villa substitute Rudy Gestede and debutant who scored the winner for his new team.
Bournemouth, last season’s championship winners, wasted so many chances and were at least good enough to have picked a point in the game.
CHELSEA 2 SWANSEA CITY 2
GOALS:- CHELSEA: OSCAR 23rd; FERNANDEZ OG 30th. SWANSEA: AYEW 29th; GOMIS PEN 55th.
Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea suffered a setback in the defence of their title when they had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sent off and dropped two valuable home points. Oscar gave Chelsea the lead with an early free kick only for debutant AndrÈ Ayew to level for the Welshmen. Federico Fernandez converted William’s cross beyond his own keeper to hand Chelsea the lead before Courtois was sent off and replacement Asmir Begovic was unable to stop Bafetimbi Gomis’ spot kick.
LECIESTER CITY 4 SUNDERLAND 2
GOALS:- VARDY 11th; MAHREZ 18th, PEN 25th; ALBRIGHTON 66th. SUNDERLAND: DEFOE 60th; FLETCHER 71st.
Former Chelsea and new Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri began his reign at Leicester City by taking the club to the summit of the Barclays Premier league by beating up his counterpart Dick Advocaate.
Leicester scored from Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Albrighton while Sunderland got their goals from Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher.
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0
GOAL:- WALKER OG 22nd.
Manchester United needed a Kyle Walker own goal to secure an unconvincing 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Walker made history with his own goal became the first opening goal of the Premier League season to be an own goal.
United, whose manager Louis van Gaal was celebrating his 64th birthday, took the points after Walker, attempting to tackle Wayne Rooney, put through his own net.
NORWICH CITY 1 CRYSTAL PALACE 3
GOALS:- PALACE: ZAHA 39th; DELANEY 49th; CABAYE 90th. NORWICH: REDMOND 69TH.
Crystal Palace played out an entertaining game against promoted side Norwich though the result dominated by a goal which was controversially ruled out. Cameron Jerome’s hooked effort was wrongly ruled out by rookie ref Simon Hooper when it should have given the home side an equaliser. Wilfried Zaha and Damien Delaney had put Palace two goals up and after Nathan Redmond pulled one back for City, Jerome’s effort was ruled out and Eagles debutant Yohan Cabaye sealed the win.
Stoke City 0 liverpool 1
GOALS:- Philippe Coutinho 86th
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho scored a stunning late winner to seal a 1-0 victory at Stoke City.
This was a big game for Liverpool after the humiliation in the final game of last season — inflicting a 6-1 defeat on Brendan Rodgers’ team.
There was no repeat on Sunday with Coutinho’s moment of magic ensuring Liverpool walks away with all the three points.
Newcastle 2 Southampton 2
GOALS:- Graziano Pelle 24th, Papiss Cisse 42nd, Gini Wijnaldum 48th,Shane Long79th
New Newcastle manager Steve McClaren had to settle for a point in a game where both sides had the lead for a while.
Goals from Papiss Cisse and new signing Gini Wijnaldum put Newcastle in command after Graziano Pelle’s 24th-minute opener for the visitors.
But substitute Shane Long rose to power home a cross from the Dusan Tadic with 11 minutes to go to secure a point.
The first round of matches concludes tonight when Manchester City travels to West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Vs Manchester City preview
Unbeaten in their last five league games at the Hawthorns, Manuel Pellegrini’s men go into tonight’s encounter in high spirits and full of confidence.
Man City defender Gael Clichy and summer signing Fabian Delph will miss the game while England’s most expensive player Raheem Sterling, is set to be handed his first competitive start for the club.David Silva, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero are all available for selection.Meanwhile West Bromwich Albion summer signings Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), James McClean (Wigan Athletic) and James Chester (Hull City) are set to make their debuts for the club, although Serge Gnabry’s (Arsenal) loan move was completed too late for him to feature.
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