MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) -The English Premier League kicked off this week and there have been no shortage of exciting matches so far. With a new season, fans are eagerly awaiting to see their team’s new signings and fight for the top spot.
In Manchester, Louis Van Gaal suffered a loss on his managerial Premier league debut, as Gylfi Sigurdsson was able to propel Swansea City past United with a goal and an assist. In the first half, Sigurdsson made a stellar attack into to the Red’s area, setting up Ki Sung-Yueng with a pass to score from outside the box. After the break, Rooney responded with a well-executed overhead kick after Juan Mata whipped in a corner which was struck on by Roy Jones. A few minutes later Rooney was denied by the post in what should have been the goal to secure them the game. At 72 minutes, the substitute Jefferson Montero attacked down the left wing and sent a high cross to the other side of the box, where Wayne Routledge tried to one time it, only to slip and see him knock the ball into the middle of the penalty area right to Sigurdsson, who deftly put the ball in the back of the net with an easy left footed strike. United was not able to recover and ended their first match of the season with a loss. United is strung with a series of injuries right now, with Robin van Persie, Michael Carrick, Luke Shaw, Antonio Valancia and Jonny Evans all out at the moment.
Arsenal picked up their first win this weekend, hosting Crystal Palace. The away side went up first in the 35th minute when Brede Hangeland was able to slip his defender and head in Jason Puncheon’s corner to the back far post for a goal on his debut. Arsenal were not ones to sit back and let the early goal affect them, as Laurent Koscielny caught Palace sleeping seconds before halftime, when he knocked Alexis Sanchez’s free kick into the back of the net. Going into extra time, it looked as if Palace was going to be able to hold onto a point, however Ramsey received a headed pass from Koscielny at close range and smashed it passed the keeper. The victory sends Arsenal to the top of the leaderboard where they hope to stay for the rest of the season.
Elsewhere in London, Queens Park Rangers met Hull city in their opener at Loftus Road. QPR unfortunately was not able to capitalize on their home side advantage, missing several chances to score in the first half. After the break, it was Hull who catapulted themselves into the top half of the league table after James Chester ducked under Rio Ferdinand and slotted in a headed strike from just outside of the six yard box. QPR made several more attempts to score, trying and escape with just a point, however, luck was not on their side for the day. Their grasp at the draw was given hope after Chester handled in the ball inside the box in the 83rd minute; however, James Austin squandered his chance to equalize with a half-hearted attempt saved superbly by keeper Allan McGregor. Manager Harry Redknapp barely escaped relegation last season and after today’s showing, he has a lot of work ahead for the coming season.
Travelling north to Stoke, Aston Villa came out with the win after a drawn out battle. Stoke had hopes that their new striker Bojan would make impact on opening day, however, his showing was poor and he could not produce on his debut. It was Villa who scored the only goal in the match. Andreas Weimann, after fighting hard for the ball, delivered a low strike to secure the win. Stoke showed no signs of a fight after the goal and Villa cruised to victory.
Sunderland and West Brom met this week in what turned out to be a thriller. Sunderland took an early lead after Lee Cattermole picked up a poorly cleared ball and rocketed in a long range screamer. While Sunderland started off well, they gave up two goals to Saido Berahino over the course of the next hour. The first goal happened after West Brom was given a dubious penalty when Victor Anichebe fell from what appeared to be little contact. Berahino’s second goal came after he met a high cross from Craig Gardner that left Sunderland’s keeper on the wrong side of the posts. West Brom appeared to have the game in hand, however, in the 85th minute, their defense left Sebastian Larsson unmarked and he scored at the near post.
Elsewhere, at the King Power Stadium, Leicester City welcomed Everton for their EPL kick-off. Everton took the lead early after keeper Kasper Schmeichel was caught out of position by Aiden Mcgeady, punishing him with an absolute beauty of a curling goal into the far right post. The former Spartak Moscow winger showed his skill in what has to be the best goal of the season so far. Leicester struck back only 2 minutes later, with Leonardo Ulloa preventing clearance and then striking the ball after it fell into the middle of the penalty box. At the end of the half, Steven Naismith, who had been grasping at a few chances throughout game, finally was delivered a lucky pass from Steven Pienaar and he deftly hit it to put Everton up at the half. After the half, Everton tried to hold on and secure its first win of the season, however late in the half, Mahrez made an amazing run into Everton’s third, having his shot blocked, only to land with David Nugent, who faked a shot and passed it out to the left flank where Chris Wood was unmarked and was able to score easily, snatching the win away from Everton in the 85th minute.
Lastly, Tottenham Hotspurs barely edged out a win with 10 men at West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground. Things went sour for Spurs in the middle of the first half when Kyle Naughton was sent off for a intentionally handling Kevin Nolan’s shot inside the penalty area. It was the first red card of the season. It was all to waste for West Ham, as Mark Noble was able to send the keeper in the wrong direction of the shot, but then saw his shot go just inches wide of the net to his disbelief. For the next hour, West Ham tried to punish Spurs for their mistake, but the missed penalty had set the tone of their finishing for the rest of the game. When James Collins received his second yellow for a questionable tackle, Spurs were able to fight back on equal terms. Both teams snatched at chances, but it was in the third minute of extra time that Eric Dier charged forward to gather a pass from Harry Kane and slip past the goalkeeper to ease the ball into the net.
English Premier League fans must have enjoyed the quality of play from the games so far and they have a lot to look forward to this weekend, as Liverpool faces Southampton and as last year’s champions, Man City, take on Newcastle tonight. On Monday, Chelsea will kick off its season against newly promoted Burnley.
