John Mcginn earns EPL Spurs but not the points
Glasgow-born John Mcginn scored Aston Villa’s first goal on their return to the English top flight, but it only delayed the inevitable as Tottenham fought back to win 3-1.
Harr y Kane finally broke his duck at Spurs’ new stadium as his late double earned a win – after Tanguy Ndombele’s stunning opener had drawn the Londoners level – that looked in doubt for a long time. “To score the two goals, he is very sharp,” Pochettino said of Kane. “I hope this season, please, that he starts to score and doesn’t stop until the end.”
Sean Dyche praised “older and wiser” Ashley Barnes after he began the season with two goals in Burnley’s 3-0 win against Southampton.
Barnes exploited a mi s t a k e by Ja n n i k Vestergaard to take the ball down and finish smartly in the 6 3 rd minute, doubling the lead seven minutes later. Johann Berg Gu d m u n d s s o n’s solo effort made it three goals in 12 minutes for the hosts and they stayed strong at the back to secure a 3-0 victory. On Barnes, Dyche said: “He hadn’t scored in preseason, but you saw by his performance he didn’t look like a striker that hadn’t scored, he wasn’t snatching at things.
“His finishing is excellent and I think that kind of mental resilience grows year on year.”
Ja v i G ra c i a insists there are “no excuses” for Watford after their 3-0 defeat to Brighton. In Graham Potter’s first competitive game in charge of Albion, his side took a 29th- minute lead after Pascal Gross’s cross was turned into his own net by Abdoulaye Doucoure. Brighton then struck twice in the second half through Florin Andone and Neal Maupay. Hornets boss Gracia said: “We need to improve. Maybe it is a good wake-up call for the rest of the season.
“They played better than us, they deserved three points.” Opposite number Potter said: “I thought the players were fantastic.” Chris Wilder hailed Billy Sharp as “Mr Sheffield United” after the striker stepped off the bench to grab a late leveller at Bournemouth.
Un i t e d ’ s Premier League return looked set to end in disappointment following Chris Mepham’s first goal for the Cherries.
But boyhood Blades fan Sharp scrambled an 88th- minute equaliser following a free- kick to force a deserved 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium.
“You’re thinking, ‘ Who do you want floating about in that area?’, it’s Mr Sheffield United and I’m delighted for him,” said Wilder. Morgan Schneiderlin saw red as Everton drew 0- 0 at Crystal Palace, while Eagles boss Roy Hodgson thanked fans for backing wantaway star Wilfried Zaha.
“He handled it very we l l , but the c rowd helped didn’t they? It was such a great reception,” Hodgson said.