Sterling seals dramatic City win
United subs Rashford, Fellaini sink Leicester
MANCHESTER City earned a tumultuous 2-1 victory at Bournemouth with Raheem Sterling grabbing a stoppage-time winner, then getting sent off as Pep Guardiola’s side narrowly avoided a second Premier League draw in a week yesterday.
Huddersfield Town’s dream return to the top flight of English football continued as a 0-0 draw at home to Southampton.
Fellow promoted team Newcastle United earned their first points of the season with a 3-0 victory over West Ham United that left the Hammers pointless at the foot of the standings.
Crystal Palace are also without a point after losing 2-0 at home to Swansea City but Brighton and Hove Albion are off the mark following a 0-0 draw at 10-man Watford.
City were stunned on the south coast when Charlie Daniels gave Bournemouth the lead with an unstoppable leftfoot drive from an improbable angle and they were fortunate not to fall 2-0 down when Jermain Defoe failed to convert a good chance.
The visitors, who left Sergio Aguero on the bench and gave a debut to £52 million signing Benjamin Mendy and a first start to Bernardo Silva, equalised midway through the opening half when Gabriel Jesus poked home from David Silva’s fine pass.
It looked like being a frustrating afternoon for City, however, before, in the seventh minute of stoppage time, Sterling’s deflected shot floated LATE SHOW: Raheem Sterling scores Manchester City’s second goal during yesterday’s Premier League match against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth. past keeper Asmir Begovic.
Sterling celebrated in front of the ecstatic City fans and was engulfed as several spilled on to the edge of the pitch, forcing stewards and police to intervene and leading to referee Mike Dean showing a second yellow card to Sterling.
It was later reported that a steward had made a police statement accusing substitute Aguero of striking him during the chaotic scenes.
“Maybe someone can explain to me because I would like to know,” Guardiola told Sky Sports of the Sterling sending-off.
“He ran to celebrate. If you can’t celebrate with the fans maybe we should play without fans.”
At Old Trafford substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini were on target as Manchester United maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over Leicester Cit.
It had threatened to be a frustrating afternoon for United, who dominated throughout but found clear-cut chances hard to come by. They also failed to convert a penalty when Romelu Lukaku’s 52nd minute spot-kick was superbly saved by Kasper Schmeichel.
Huddersfield remain unbeaten after dominating against Southampton and David Wagner’s side are yet to concede a league goal this season.
Newcastle finally got their campaign rolling against a poor West Ham side.
Spain striker Joselu scored their first league goal of the campaign before halftime and Ciaran Clark and Aleksandar Mitrovic wrapped up the points in the second half.
West Ham have lost their first three games for the first time since the 2010-2011 season when they were relegated.
Swansea shrugged off the departure of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton with a 2-0 victory at Frank de Boer’s Palace – teenager Tammy Abraham scored his first Premier League goal.
Watford remain unbeaten after grinding out a 0-0 draw with Brighton despite having Uruguayan defender Miguel Britos sent off midway through the first half for a reckless tackle.
Champions Chelsea play Everton on Sunday when Liverpool host Arsenal, last season’s runners-up Tottenham Hotspur face Burnley and West Bromwich Albion take on Stoke City. – Reuters ROBYN Johannes is 31 years old, but readily admits that at this late stage of his career he is playing the best football of his life.
The Cape Town City central defender will anchor the side’s backline when they face Wits in an MTN8 first leg semifinal at Cape Town Stadium today (3.30pm kick-off) and he believes their perseverance and never-say-die spirit will again be crucial if they are to come away with a victory.
Originally from Strandfontein, Johannes left the Mother City at the age of 16 to seek his football fortune up north.
After spending time as a junior with Parkhurst, Strandfontein FC, Wolverhampton FC, Hellenic and Rygersdal, he joined the youth academy at the University of Pretoria.
From there he graduated to play professionally for Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Golden Arrows, Maritzburg United and Amazulu.
Last year, he signed for new club City to have his first-ever spell with a top-flight club in the Cape.
“Coming back home was the best thing I could have done,” said Johannes. “I’m in a good place, my mind is at ease, and I have friends and family around me. And, yes, I am currently probably playing the best football of my career.”
Even so, Johannes is fully aware that City face a really tough task against Wits, who stormed to the PSL title last season.
Not only that, the Clever Boys also defeated the Cape side in last season’s Cup semifinals.
“Wits are a difficult team to play against,” admitted the defender. “They have strong attacking players and, with Gavin Hunt as coach, their style is to go wide and get the crosses in. In fact, you just have to look at their bench to see how strong their squad is.”