Burnley stun Chelsea in opener
Chelsea had two players sent off and lost to Burnley 3-2 in the first match of their English Premier League title defence yesterday, intensifying the concerns surrounding the champions after their frustrating offseason in the transfer market.
Captain Gary Cahill was shown a straight red card for a studs-first lunge in the 13th minute, then the champions conceded three goals in a 20-minute period before halftime.
Striker Sam Vokes scored two of them by converting crosses, sandwiching a stunning volley by left back Stephen Ward.
Chelsea improved after halftime. Alvaro Morata, on as a second-half substitute, reduced the deficit in his first league start since a club-record move from Real Madrid for £58 million (NZ$103 million).
Any hopes of an unlikely comeback looked to have disappeared when midfielder Cesc Fabregas was red-carded in the 81st after receiving his second booking. However, David Luiz ensured a tense finish when he volleyed home in the 88th after being teed up by the influential Morata.
The result will not improve the mood of Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who hasn’t hidden his frustration at failing to significantly bolster his squad in the off-season.
A clinical Sergio Aguero strike and a Lewis Dunk own goal condemned Brighton to a losing return to the top flight as they went down 2-0 to Manchester City.
City’s Gabriel Jesus had two goals ruled out and Pep Guardiola’s team struggled to break a stubborn Brighton side down until Aguero fired home a pass from David Silva to open the scoring in the 70th minute.
Five minutes later, Brighton defender Dunk slammed a header into his own net as he tried to clear a cross under pressure from Jesus.
Liverpool conceded in second-half injury time to draw 3-3 at Watford as the team’s defensive frailties flared in their first game
Scoring goals wasn’t a problem for Liverpool at Vicarage Road despite the absence of unsettled playmaker Philippe Coutinho but the visitors couldn’t keep them out either, showing lessons haven’t been learnt from last season.
Having already conceded two soft goals in the first half, Liverpool failed to deal with a near-post corner in the fourth minute of injury time. Richarlison fired in a shot from an acute angle that goalkeeper Simon Mignolet parried on to the crossbar, and Miguel Britos headed the loose ball over the line from less than a metre out.
Striker Steve Mounie scored twice as promoted Huddersfield stunned Crystal Palace with a 3-0 victory at Selhurst Park, spoiling Frank de Boer’s debut as a Premier League manager.
Huddersfield took the lead after 23 minutes when Aaron Mooy’s corner was turned goalwards by Chris Schindler’s glancing header and the ball went in off Palace defender Joel Ward in a melee.
The visitors, who outmuscled Palace in midfield in the opening 45 minutes, went two up three minutes later, their new signing Mounie heading Mooy’s cross emphatically past Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
Mounie scored his second goal 12 minutes from time in a counter-attack.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney marked his first Premier League game back at boyhood club Everton by scoring in a 1-0 win over Stoke.
Rooney headed home a rightwing cross in first-half injury time to score 4869 days after his last goal for Everton before joining Manchester United.
In other matches, West Brom beat Bournemouth 1-0 and Southampton drew 0-0 with Swansea City. Arsenal edged Leicester City 4-3 in the opening match on Saturday morning.