The Premier League is back and there was no shortage of goals on the opening weekend of the new campaign.
Manchester City began their title defense by thrashing West Ham United while Manchester United inflicted a heavy defeat on Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.
Newly promoted Sheffield United picked up a draw away at Bournemouth but there were defeats for Norwich City and Aston Villa on their returns to the top-fight.
Six of the ten fixtures in Round 1 produced three or more goals while just two of the matches were goalless.
Liverpool 4 – 1 Norwich City
West Ham United 0 – 5 Manchester City
Crystal Palace 0 – 0 Everton
Burnley 3 – 0 Southampton
Watford 0 – 3 Brighton & Hove Albion
Bournemouth 1 – 1 Sheffield United
Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 1 Aston Villa
Leicester City 0 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Newcastle United 0 – 1 Arsenal
Manchester United 4 – 0 Chelsea
Liverpool kicked off the new campaign as they ended the last with a dominant 4-1 victory over newly promoted Norwich City.
A Grant Hanley own goal after just 7 minutes was followed by goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Divock Origi, all before half-time.
Last season’s Championship top-scorer Teemu Pukki pulled one back for the Canaries just after the hour mark but the game was already over.
Liverpool didn’t have it all their own way and looked disjointed in defense at times. Norwich showed enough quality to suggest that they can compete this season.
A Raheem Sterling hat-trick cemented a convincing 5-0 win for Manchester City against West Ham in the early kick-off.
Strikers Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero completed the scoring for the reigning champions.
Tottenham Hotspur left it late to claim all three points against Aston Villa.
John McGinn gave Villa the lead on 9 minutes before debutant Tanguy Ndombele draw the game level in the 73rd minute.
Two Harry Kane goals in the final 5 minutes sealed the victory for Spurs and ensured his team got off to a winning start.
Fantastic win to start the new season. Congrats Tanguy on the debut goal. #COYS pic.twitter.com/qR9P8jXzBU— Harry Kane (@HKane) August 10, 2019
Fantastic win to start the new season. Congrats Tanguy on the debut goal. #COYS pic.twitter.com/qR9P8jXzBU
Burnley and Brighton both registered 3-0 opening-day wins and will be extremely happy with their efforts.
The Seagulls smashed Watford at Vicarage Road to get off to a flier under new manager Graham Potter.
Burnley made light work of Southampton with three second-half goals; two from Ashley Barnes and one from Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Billy Sharp rescued a point for Sheffield United in the 88th minute against Bournemouth after the Cherries took the lead through Chris Mepham.
Morgan Schneiderlin was sent off in Everton’s goalless draw with Crystal Palace as Wilfried Zaha started on the bench for the Eagles.
Manchester United embarrassed Frank Lampard in his first competitive match as manager of Chelsea.
A Marcus Rashford brace along with goals from Anthony Martial and debutant Daniel James secured a resounding win for the Red Devils at Old Trafford.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s strike was enough to see Arsenal claim a 1-0 win against Newcastle United.
Leicester vs. Wolves finished goalless, although Wolves did have a goal ruled out by VAR.