EPL: Arsenal kicks off post-Wenger era with loss to Man City
LONDON— All that’s changed for Arsenal fans is that they can no longer blame Arsene Wenger.
And Unai Emery will be relieved he doesn’t have to come up against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City every week.
City rarely looked troubled by Arsenal as the champions opened their Premier League title defence with a 2-0 victory on Sunday. Raheem Sterling cut through the defence with ease before putting City ahead in the 14th minute, and Bernardo Silva curled in the second in the 64th at the Emirates Stadium.
It was the first time since 1996 that Arsenal has opened a season without Wenger in charge. The “Merci Arsene” banner was the only indication that it has been a summer of transition at the north London club since Wenger was pushed toward resigning after 22 years in charge.
Catching City isn’t the immediate target for the Gunners, who last won the title in 2004. It’s just about returning to the top four — to qualify for the Champions League — after slumping to sixth in Wenger’s final campaign.
“Manchester City’s performance is showing us we need to continue in our process, improving,” Emery said. “They deserved this, the result. But we were improving (across) the 90 minutes. I think we need (that) for the next week.”
That is a challenging trip across London to Chelsea, which opened the season under new manager Maurizio Sarri with a 3-0 victory at Huddersfield on Saturday. Liverpool 4, West Ham 0: Liverpool signalled its determination to challenge for the title by spending more than $200 million on players, more than any other Premier League team in the summer transfer window.
With debuts for Alisson in goal and Naby Keita in midfield, Liverpool opened with a strong victory over West Ham.
Mohamed Salah, who scored 44 times in his first season at Liverpool, took only 19 minutes to get off the mark at Anfield by meeting Andrew Robertson’s cross with a tap-in.
Another cross from Robertson opened up West Ham for Liverpool’s second in first-half stoppage time. James Milner’s cutback was turned into the net by Sadio Mane, who added a third eight minutes after the break.
Even after Salah was taken off, the Egyptian’s replacement, Daniel Sturridge, found the net late. Southampton 0, Burnley 0: Southampton manager Mark Hughes booted a water bottle in frustration as his club opened the with a draw. “It was a little bit of frustration,” he said. “I don’t think we were brave enough early on.”
Former Southampton midfielder Jack Cork went closest to breaking the deadlock, scoring early only to be judged offside on a contentious call.