New manager, same result
Arsenal supporters boo their team off the pitch
MANCHESTER United manager David Moyes yesterday picked up where Alex Ferguson left off as the Premier League champions began their title defence by winning 4-1 at Swansea City.
It was United’s first league game with a new manager in the dug-out since Ferguson took his side to Oxford United on November 8, 1986, but braces from Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck banished any first-day nerves.
Moyes recalled Wayne Rooney to his squad, but it was last season’s hero who provided the breakthrough, with Van Persie hooking a superb volley past goalkeeper Michel Vorm in the 34th minute.
Swansea were hit with a suckerpunch two minutes later when Welbeck tapped in United’s second.
Rooney came on with half-an-hour left to make his first club appearance since May 5, before Van Persie made it 3-0 by lashing a glorious long-range shot into Vorm’s top-right corner.
Sloppy play by Welbeck allowed home debutant Wilfried Bony to pull a goal back for Swansea, but the England man atoned in injury time by racing onto Rooney’s pass and beating Vorm with an exquisite chip.
Arsenal were booed off by their fans at the Emirates Stadium after conceding two penalties and seeing Laurent Koscielny sent off in a calamitous 3-1 defeat by Aston Villa.
Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal a sixthminute lead, but Christian Benteke equalised in the 22nd minute, following up with a header after his penalty was parried by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Koscielny conceded the penalty from which Benteke put the visitors ahead and after the France centreback was sent off for a second booking, Villa new boy Antonio Luna ran clear and coolly wrong-footed Szczesny.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger apologised to the club’s supporters for his side’s performance. “What hurts me is to disappoint people who love the club,” said the Frenchman, who also saw fullbacks Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna go off due to injury. “All the rest I have to live with, but I’m here to make people happy and when I do not I can only say sorry.”
New recruit Simon Mignolet saved an 89th-minute penalty to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win over Stoke City at Anfield. Daniel Sturridge scored for Liverpool in the 37th minute.
Norwich City’s £8.5-million record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored a 71st-minute header to earn his side a 2-2 draw at Carrow Road and prevent Roberto Martinez from tasting victory in his first game as Everton manager.
Rickie Lambert, who scored the winner against Scotland on his England debut in midweek, completed a memorable few days by snatching a 1-0 win for Southampton with a last-minute penalty at West Bromwich Albion.
Cardiff City made a disappointing return to the top flight after a 51-year absence after goals from Joe Cole and Kevin Nolan saw them beaten 2-0 at West Ham United. A 52nd-minute header by Pajtim Kasami gave Fulham a 1-0 win at Sunderland.
Yesterday also witnessed history, with Hawk-Eye used to determine that shots in the games at Anfield and the Emirates had not crossed the line in the first uses of goal-line technology in a domestic league. — Sapa-AFP
I’m here to make people happy and when I do not I can only say sorry — Arsene Wenger