EPL FIRST DAY
clash with West Ham, Louis van Gaal gets off
to a bad start and resilient Leicester open with
a point.
Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham debut ended
in dramatic victory as Eric Dier grabbed an
injury-time winner against West Ham at Upton
Park.
England Under-21 defender Dier, on his debut
after a summer move from Sporting Lisbon,
scored three minutes into injury time as a
game full of controversy ended 1-0 to the
visitors.
Earlier, Spurs had Kyle Naughton harshly sent
off for handball on 30 minutes, but Mark Noble
missed the resulting penalty, and the game
ended 10-apiece with West Ham defender
James Collins also dismissed for a second
bookable offence.
Leicester's return to the top flight started with
a thrilling 2-2 draw against Everton.
Aidan McGeady gave last season's Europa
League qualifiers Everton the lead at the King
Power Stadium with a superb 20th minute
goal, only to see Nigel Pearson's side
equalise moments later through debut boy Leo
Ulloa.
Steven Naismith popped up to give Everton
the lead again seconds before half-time but
Chris Wood grabbed a late equaliser for the
resilient Foxes.
It proved to be a good day for the away sides,
started off by Swansea City who claimed a
surprise 2-1 win over Manchester United at
Old Trafford to spoil Louis van Gaal's league
bow.
Ki Sung-yueng gave Swansea the lead on 28
minutes but Wayne Rooney responded eight
minutes after half-time with a sensational
overhead kick.
However, a goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson 18
minutes from time ensured United tasted
defeat at home on the opening day of the
season for the first time since 1972.
Aston Villa also won on their travels, with
Andi Weimann's 50th minute goal the
difference as they took three points at Stoke ,
who got off to a disappointing start
considering their positive summer transfer
business.
And Hull City picked up where they left off last
season with a 1-0 win over playoff winners
QPR .
The Tigers grabbed the only goal on 52 when
defender James Chester brushed off Rio
Ferdinand to head home but they were
indebted to keeper Allan McGregor, who made
a late penalty save from Charlie Austin, for
their victory.
West Brom and Sunderland played out an
exciting 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns, where
Lee Cattermole got the visitors off to a quick
start with a fifth minute goal.
Saido Berahino levelled from the penalty spot
three minutes before half-time and put the
home side in front on 74, but Sebastian
Larsson earned Gus Poyet's side a point five
minutes before the final whistle.
There was more drama in the late game with
Crystal Palace enduring a horrible end to a
horrible week against Arsenal at the Emirates,
where Keith Millen was again in caretaker
charge of the Eagles after Tony Pulis' shock
departure on Thursday.
Palace debutant Brede Hangeland gave Palace
the lead on 35 minutes but Laurent Koscielny
equalised on the verge of half-time and,
seconds after Jason Puncheon was shown a
red card, Aaron Ramsey earned the Gunners
three points in the first minute of stoppage
time.
Comments
Post a Comment