Cardiff victory shocks Man City
Tottenham beats Swansea to stay perfect
LONDON Cardiff produced a memorable first top-flight victory in more than 50 years on Sunday by stunning Manchester City, while Welsh rival Swansea lost at Tottenham.
Fraizer Campbell scored twice to give Premier League debutant Cardiff a 3-2 victory over the 2012 champions, who have spent heavily during the off-season to win the title again
“We’ll be the underdogs for a lot of the games this season but, as we showed, we’ve got great determination and hopefully that’ll see us through,” Campbell said.
Signed for just 600,000 pounds ($930,000) in January from Sunderland, Campbell helped Cardiff gain promotion and is now showing he can cut it in the Premier League again.
Cardiff is in the top division of English football for the first time since the 196162 season, gaining promotion in May to ensure there are two Welsh clubs in the Premier League for the first time.
As Cardiff was winning at home, Swansea lost 1-0 at Tottenham.
The blow of Gareth Bale’s impending departure to Real Madrid has been softened for manager Andre Villas-Boas by opening the season with back-to-back wins.
Roberto Soldado scored the winner from the penalty spot, just as he did in Tottenham’s league opener at Crystal Palace last Sunday.
The weekend’s blockbuster game doesn’t come until Monday night when champion Manchester United hosts Chelsea.
City has already experienced an early setback despite spending more than $140 million and replacing manager Roberto Mancini with Manuel Pellegrini after finishing without a trophy last season. The scintillating 4-0 rout of Newcastle on Monday already seems to be a distant memory.
Although Edin Dzeko put City in front with a fierce strike seven minutes into the second half, Aron Gunnarsson slotted in Cardiff ’s equalizer on the hour. Then Campbell, a former United striker, made his impact.
Peter Whittingham’s inswinging corner was misjudged by City goalkeeper Joe Hart, and Campbell pounced at the far post, netting from close range in the 79th.
Campbell’s second also came from a corner eight minutes later, evading City defender Pablo Zabaleta to head home.
In action Saturday, Liverpool continued its perfect start to the season as Daniel Sturridge scored a superb goal to give the Reds a 1-0 win at Aston Villa, while Arsenal brushed off talk of crisis with a 3-1 win at London rivals Fulham.
In Saturday’s other matches, Stoke came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 while newly promoted Hull claimed its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Norwich. Everton was held to a 0-0 draw by West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle and West Ham also finished scoreless and Southampton drew 1-1 with Sunderland.