Premier League Results for First Weekend
Chelsea Win for Scolari,Manchester United Draw and Villa Defeat City
The final games of the opening weekend of the Premier League were played on Sunday afternoon with Chelsea and Aston Villa achieving impressive wins while Manchester United drew at Old Trafford with Newcastle United.
Chelsea 4 Portsmouth 0
Chelsea enjoyed an emphatic win over FA Cup winners, Portsmouth, in their Premier League game at Stamford Bridge. Luiz Felipe Scolari got his managerial career at Chelsea off to the perfect start as Chelsea maintained their incredible undefeated home record which stretches back to February, 2004.
Three first half goals ensured Chelsea had a comfortable win. Joe Cole scored the first after twelve minutes and then Nicolas Anelka added a second with a header on twenty five minutes. The third came from a Frank Lampard penalty just before the interval. In the second half Deco scored on his debut with a 25 yard shot in the final minute. This win has set a clear marker for Chelsea’s intentions for the season under their new manager – to reclaim the league title from Manchester United and to play with flair and style.
Aston Villa 4 Manchester City 2
Aston Villa and Manchester City had mixed fortunes in the mid-week UEFA Cup games, Villa having set themselves up for the next round with an impressive away win while City were unconvincing in a home defeat against a side from Denmark. Much has been made of Gareth Barry’s summer long desire to leave Villa Park for Liverpool but he took his place in the Villa team alongside new signings Brad Friedel and Luke Young. City have had their recent problems as new manager Mark Hughes establishes control over the buying and selling of players. Richard Dunne was suspended but Vedran Corluka started while Stephen Ireland was a substitute.
After a first half in which Villa had a number of chances they took the lead just after half time when John Carew scored with a header. City then pressed for an equaliser and scored from a penalty after Young fouled Michael Johnson, Elano scoring from the penalty spot. However, Villa regained the lead five minutes later when Gabriel Agbonlahor scored from a corner and went further ahead four minutes later when he headed in his second. Two minutes later Villa took complete control with a fourth goal as Agbonlahor completed his hat-trick in seven minutes. City managed a second goal through Corluka with minutes remaining.
Manchester United 1 Newcastle United 1
Manchester United’s season started with striker problems – Cristiano Ronaldo is recovering from an operation and Carlos Tevez has returned home after a family bereavement. Wayne Rooney recovered from a virus and partnered young Fraizer-Campbell. Newcastle introduced their new signings and took an unexpected lead when Obefami Martins headed in across after twenty four minutes only for Darren Fletcher to equalise two minutes later.
Newcastle’s defence played soundly to contain United with Shay Given in goal outstanding. United who have struggled to score goals in pre-season found it difficult to break through the Newcastle defence and had to settle for a draw. Sir Alex Ferguson who will continue to search for a striker through the final two weeks of the transfer window will be upset to have dropped two early points and allowed Chelsea to take an early advantage in the title race.
At the end of the first weekend of Premier League fixtures, Chelsea sit at the top of the league ahead of Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers while Portsmouth find themselves at the bottom with Stoke City and Manchester City.
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