Premier League
Talking points from the opening weekend of the 2022-23 Premier League season
Here are five key talking points from the weekend’s English Premier League games:
New season, same story for United
Was it really such a surprise that the Manchester United of this season performed just like the team that struggled so much under Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last term?
The 2-1 home defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday (Aug 7) still registers as an upset but, given Graham Potter’s side came ninth last term and continue to produce an enterprising, collective style of football, it was hardly a shock.
In the close season, United needed more work and a bigger turnover of players than any of the five teams that finished above them last term yet they have done less significant recruitment than any of them.
Erik ten Hag began his first game in charge with the central midfield pairing of Scott McTominay and Fred, which has never looked capable of being top class.
With Cristiano Ronaldo’s future uncertain and Anthony Martial injured, ten Hag had to play without a recognised centre-forward and, despite long-standing concerns over the right-back position, Diogo Dalot was given another chance to convince.
United’s approach to recruitment has been panned by critics over recent years and the past few months have only served to show that little has changed.
City show no trouble ‘adapting’ to Haaland
One of the questions raised during the close-season transfer activities was could champions Manchester City adapt to playing with a classic ‘No. 9’ in Norwegian Erling Haaland?
After their new signing from Borussia Dortmund scored twice on his Premier League debut in a 2-0 win at West Ham United, the answer is blatantly clear: City not only adapted but clearly now have an additional weapon in their arsenal.
Haaland is a traditional striker in the sense that he is tall and powerful in the air but, as he showed with his superb finish for the second goal, he has pace and excellent technique too.
His ratio of a goal-a-game in the Bundesliga may be a tough challenge to maintain in England but who would really bet against him maintaining that prolific rate?
Nunez ready to evolve into Liverpool’s attacking threat
Perhaps the only silver lining for Liverpool as they limped to a 2-2 draw at Fulham on Saturday was the performance of Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez, who provided a creative spark from the bench – scoring one goal and creating another.
The introduction of the 23-year-old caused chaos in the Fulham defence as he combined well with Mohamed Salah after a toothless first half from last season’s runners-up.
If Nunez can continue to deliver on the promise he showed on Saturday, Sadio Mane’s move to Bayern Munich will soon be forgotten, as will this stuttering start to the season at Craven Cottage.
Villa have work to do after disappointing show
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard was left frustrated by their performance at Bournemouth after the Birmingham club dominated possession but lacked quality in the final third, suffering a 2-0 defeat.
Villa’s expensively assembled team looked sluggish throughout, registering only two shots on target from their total of 15.
Playmaker Philippe Coutinho could do very little, while striker Danny Ings also failed to make an impact.
“We didn’t look like creating, which is on me and on us and it’s a big area that we need to improve upon,” Gerrard said.
“When I watch it back, I’ll see a lot of possession, a lot of control and us moving up the pitch into the right areas but that last pass, that last cross and the inventive spark was miles off.”
Comeback kings Brentford show heart again
Only Liverpool (20) earned more points than Brentford (15) from losing positions last season as the Bees had a happy knack of turning games on their head.
They did it again on Sunday as they rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Leicester City, the first time the Foxes have given up a two-goal home advantage in the Premier League since 2003.
But while Brentford manager Thomas Frank may look at that as a positive, he will be worried by the fact that his side gave up the first goal on 25 occasions last season, and did so again at the King Power Stadium.
It is one thing to show heart and desire to snatch points from losing positions, but they would not be in the position to have to do so if they made a better start to games.
-Reuters
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side’s defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday was “an accident waiting to happen” after William Saliba was sent off in the first half.
Bournemouth won 2-0 thanks to goals from Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert after Saliba was shown a red card for a challenge on Evanilson after 30 minutes as Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the campaign.
It is the third time this season Arsenal have been forced to finish a match with 10 players, leaving Arteta frustrated that his side’s lack of discipline cost them points.
“We are obviously very disappointed with the result and gutted because we have to play again in that context,” he said. “This time was even more difficult than the previous two we faced this season.
“Playing for 65 or 68 minutes with 10 men at this level is just an impossible task. It’s an accident waiting to happen, not to get the points.
“I cannot fault the team for their effort, their commitment, how intelligent they are to play in the way that we have to do it.”
Declan Rice was sent off in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at home to Brighton earlier in the season, while Leandro Trossard was also shown red in the 2-2 draw against title rivals Manchester City.
Arsenal host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday.
-ESPN
Joe Aribo scored a goal for Southampton on Saturday,but it was not enough to curb the club’s miserable run as they succumbed to a last-minute defeat by Leicester who snatched victory by 3-2.
Leicester scored three second-half goals to come from behind and stun 10-player Southampton, denying them a first Premier League win of the season.
The result means Saints have set a club record for the longest winless run in their entire top-flight history, having failed to emerge victorious from any of their last 21 Premier League encounters.
Inside five minutes, Joe Aribo had crashed a header onto the crossbar and inside seven minutes, the hosts had taken the lead. Kyle Walker-Peters led the charge after a quick free-kick and dropped the ball off to Ryan Manning, who squared for Cameron Archer to coolly slot in and send a wave of both relief and belief around St Mary’s.
Jordan Ayew scored in the 98th minute as Leicester staged a second-half comeback to earn a 3-2 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, with the 10-man hosts setting a club record of 21 matches without victory in the English top-flight.
Leicester moved up to 13th in the standings with nine points from eight matches, while Southampton fell to 20th – level on points with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who face champions Manchester City on Sunday
“It’s just unbelievable, that’s why we play football. We didn’t have a good first half,” Ayew told Sky Sports.
“Second half we got ourselves back together and attacked the game properly. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.
“It’s a good step forward to move up the table. We’re going to continue fighting and it’s not going to be easy so well done the lads and everyone.”
Having failed to win in their last 13 matches in the 2022-23 season when they were relegated, Southampton are without a win in the Premier League since they beat Leicester in the same fixture in March 2023.
Southampton shot out of the blocks and took the lead in the eighth minute when Ryan Manning squared for Cameron Archer to finish a sweeping counter-attack, before midfielder Joe Aribo added to their tally with a side-footed effort.
Leicester defender Wout Faes nearly scored a spectacular own-goal five minutes into the second half by sending a diving header straight at his own keeper Mads Hermansen, who spared the Belgian’s blushes with a deft save.
The visitors grew into the contest in the second half and created some half-chances before pulling one back in the 64th minute.
Buonanotte turned in a cross after a driving run from substitute Abdul Fatawu and the goal signalled the beginning of Southampton’s unravelling.
Minutes later, Vardy was denied on the line by an excellent Aaron Ramsdale save, but Leicester were awarded a penalty after a VAR review found that the forward was held back by Ryan Fraser.
Fraser was sent off and Vardy stepped up, blasting his effort past Ramsdale to equalise.
Leicester smelled blood and pushed forward in their quest for a winner, which came deep into stoppage time when Ayew’s low shot went through a sea of bodies and crept into the bottom corner, breaking the hearts of home fans at St Mary’s Stadium.
-Reuters
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