Kickoff chronicles

Manchester United vs Fulham

The curtain opener for the 32nd edition of the Premier league was contested at Old Trafford where the Red Devils, Manchester United, took on the Cottagers, Fulham. Marco Silva’s Fulham came close to opening the season when Kenny Tete found himself in an unlikely scoring position. The Dutch full back had taken the ball all the way from his half and progressed into a dangerous area. Tete then turned and fired a shot, watching his curling effort punched over the crossbar by Manchester United keeper Andre Onana. United then turned their attention to the Fulham goal and started to create multiple chances. Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro found himself in the right place on a couple of occasions, missing a few headers from set pieces in the next 15 minutes. Cottager’s keeper Bernd Leno then denied United twice inside 5 minutes with two efforts that were very much alike. The first came after Leno made an error clearing it straight into the path of Casemiro. The South American played the ball to Bruno Fernandes who saw his shot saved by Leno, quick to make amends for his mistake. The next United chance involved some nice intricate passes around the Fulham penalty area before Casemiro played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Fernades. The skipper once again had to watch as his effort along the turf was beaten away by Leno who was quick to come off his line again. The first half finished with the fans inside Old Trafford frustrated that their team couldn’t find an opener against Fulham.

Leno made another spectacular save inside the opening 10 minutes of the second period when Marcus Rashford found Mason Mount inside the 6 yard box. Mount didn’t make a solid connection with the ball but the German keeper was still there to halt Mount’s effort with his outstretched boot. After another half an hour, United finally found the back of the net. It came through their new signing from Bologna, Joshua Zirkzee, who had been substituted on in the 60th minute. Casemiro received the ball from Zirkzee just outside the penalty area where he played the ball down the right wing to Alejandro Garnacho. Garnacho whipped the ball in first time. Garnacho’s cross was met by the outstretched left boot of Zirkzee who watched his shot find the bottom left corner, becoming a hero in Manchester instantly. United saw out the final few minutes of the game with the score ending 1-0 as the whistle blew. It was a solid start to the season for Erik ten Hag’s team, keeping a clean sheet and beating a resilient Fulham side.

Ipswich Town vs Liverpool

After a 23 year absence from the English top flight, Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town were hopeful to make a good start to the season against Liverpool with their new manager Arne Slot. Ipswich defended well in the opening 20 minutes as well as looking like a threat on the counter. Their best chance of the half came in the 20th minute when centre half Jacob Greaves rose up well to head Sam Morsy’s cross at the Liverpool goal. Unfortunately for the Tractor Boys, Greaves’ effort was quite tame and Allison was easily able to claim it. Overall it was a positive first half for the promoted side who asked multiple questions of Arne Slot’s side. The teams went into the break level at 0-0.

Liverpool found an early lead in the second half due to Ipswich using up lots of energy in the first period and unfortunately not having anything to show for it. Trent Alexander-Arnold played a beautiful defensive splitting pass through to Mohamed Salah who was inside the Ipswich penalty area. Salah then played it across to Diogo Jota who had the easy task of tapping the ball in from close range. 5 minutes later in the 65th, Liverpool doubled their advantage through their Egyptian king, Mohamed Salah. Salah received the ball down the left wing before he cut inside playing a tidy 1-2 pass with Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian’s pass was almost cut out by Ipswich defender Leif Davis who stretched out to intercept it, but the timing of the pass was too good as Salah ran around Davis to poke the ball into the far corner. Liverpool then turned to defend and see out their 2-0 lead. They did so successfully with the scoreline remaining at 0-2 as referee Tim Robinson blew the final whistle. It was a perfect start for Arne Slot and his Liverpool, keeping a clean sheet and holding off a tricky Ipswich Town. Ipswich won’t be too bothered about the result as they had a solid first half performance against a top Premier League side, although they do have a challenge ahead of themselves next weekend as they travel to the Etihad Stadium to play champions, Manchester City.

Arsenal vs Wolves

The third game of the 24/25 season saw Mikel Arteta’s title contending Arsenal side take on Gary O’Neil’s Wolves. The Gunners started off strongly with Buyako Saka looking like their most dangerous asset. Arsenal finally found the lead in the 25th minute when Saka’s beautiful ball in from the right wing was met by a perfect bullet header from their German striker Kai Havertz. It was an ideal start for the hosts as they hoped to put out an early title statement. Just before halftime, Wolves summer signing ,Jorgan Strand Larsen, came so close to scoring. He managed to get on the end of a Hwang-Hee Chan’s cross, watching his headed effort parried away by David Raya, the 23/24 Premier League Golden Glove winner. Thanks to that brilliant Raya save, Arsenal led at the break 1-0.

The Gunners dominated most of the early exchanges in the second period, hoping to find an all important second goal. After 30 anxious minutes in the second half, Arsenal finally found their greatly desired goal in spectacular fashion. The hosts won a free kick in the middle of the pitch where Thomas Partey played the ball quickly to Havertz. Havertz then found Saka who looked to cut in on his favoured left foot. The English winger did so successfully, unleashing a shot and watching it ripple the back of the Wolves net. The Gunners seemed happy with the 2 goals and sat a little deeper with only 15 minutes left to play. Mikel Arteta’s side successfully held out for a 2-0 opening weekend win. Wolves will be disappointed not to have scored but will put that down to loss of players, with club captain Maximilian Kilman transferring to West Ham and Pedro Neto moving to Chelsea.

Everton vs Brighton

The 3rd game to kick off on Saturday afternoon took place at Goodison Park with Sean Dyche’s Everton hosting Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton. Hurzeler also happens to be the youngest ever Premier League manager, replacing Robert De Zerbi at the age of just 31. Everton dominated the opening 10 minutes with their best chance coming through Dwight McNeil after he hit the post from point blank range. Abdoulaye Doucore had squared the ball to him with acres of space but McNeil was still unable to find the back of the net. To the disappointment of the Everton fans, it was Brighton that would take the lead in the 25th minute through their Japanese star, Karou Mitoma. Yankuba Minteh dribbled down the right wing before progressing into the Toffee’s penalty area. He then played a perfect ball across the 6-yard box for Mitoma to stick his boot onto. After spending much of last season on the sidelines injured, it was a perfect start to the season for Mitoma as he looked to get back to his best. Brighton saw out the rest of the first 45 minutes and the teams went into the interval with Brghton leading by 1.

Everton thought they had made the perfect start to the second period when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was brought down by Lewis Dunk inside the penalty area. Referee Simon Hooper’s initial call was a spot kick but VAR recommended he have a second viewing before he eventually overturned the call. Brighton then found an all important 2nd goal through one of their senior players in Danny Welbeck. Welbeck drove through the Everton midfield before progressing into the penalty area with no challenges incoming. The ex Arsenal and Manchester United star looked to shoot from just inside the 18 yard box, watching as his effort found the bottom left corner. Everton’s afternoon went from bad to worse in the 66th minute when full back Ashley Young was shown a red card for stopping a clear goal scoring opportunity. A long ball was played over almost everyone and it looked like Young had it all under control. Unfortunately for the Toffees, Mitoma was quick to pick his pocket, through on goal as Young grabbed his arm and pulled him to the ground resulting in a sending off. 2 became 3 for Brighton in the 86th minute when Simon Adingra found the back of the net as well. The substitute cut in from the right wing into a central position before drilling the ball into the bottom left corner. Swedish sub Yasin Ayari then thought he had poked in the Seagulls’ 4th of the tie when he lunged to get on the end of an Adingra cross but VAR found him to be offside and the score remained 0-3. The full whistle couldn’t have come quick enough for Everton as things were going down hill for them quickly. It is an ideal start to the season for young manager Hurzeler’s Brighton side as they will look to challenge for European football this campaign. Sean Dyche will feel quite the opposite and know that his boys will need to put in a much better performance next weekend against Tottenham away.

Newcastle vs Southampton

The following game of Premier League matchweek 1 would see Eddie Howe’s Newcastle play Russell Martin’s newly promoted Southampton at St James’ Park. Southampton could have easily gone up inside just 10 minutes when Joe Aribo danced down the right wing before finding Will Smallbone in the Magpies penalty area. Smallbone hit it first time, almost passing the ball to the bottom corner. Unfortunately, on its way, Jack Stephens lunged in to claim the goal. Stephens was punished for his selfish act as he made contact with the goal-bound ball from an offside position with the score remaining 0-0. 15 minutes later, Newcastle found themselves down to 10 men after Fabain Schar was sent off after engaging in an embarrassing act of aggression with Ben Brereton Diaz. After referee Craig Pawson blew his whistle to halt play, Diaz continued to pressure Schar and shove him over before getting in his face. Schar then stood back up and very gently headbutted Diaz’s chin before Diaz went down alerting Pawson. Schar was then shown red. Despite being limited to 10 players, it was the hosts that found a lead just before half time. Southampton keeper, Alex McCarthy, gave the ball away to Alexander Isak inside his own penalty area. Isak looked up and played the ball across to Joelinton who set himself up with his first touch. The Brazilian then quickly unleashed a shot, watching the ball roll down the side netting with McCarthy out of the picture. The half ended with Newcastle leading 1-0 at the break regardless of being reduced to 10 men.

Southampton came out a different side in the start of the 2nd period, creating two huge chances in the first 5 minutes. Aribo cut the ball back from the left side of the penalty area where Diaz smartly stepped over the ball leaving it for Adam Armstrong. Armstrong’s first time effort was cleared off the line by Lewis Hall and Diaz’s follow up effort was deflected wide by a crucial block from ex-Saint Tino Livramento. Southampton continued to dominate the rest of the half, making the most of their 1 man advantage. Nick Pope was having the game of his life between the sticks for Newcastle, saving everything that came his way. The Magpies were able to hold on, with St James’ park finally able to breathe a sigh of relief after Craig Pawson blew his full time whistle. It was a brilliant start to the season for Newcastle, who managed to keep a clean sheet against an attacking Southampton side despite losing one of their centre-halves, Fabian Schar. The Saints will feel they have missed out on a huge opportunity to pick up some crucial points away, but Russell Martin will take away some positives on how his side played in their first game back in the top flight.

Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth

Nottingham Forest kicked off their 24/25 campaign at home to Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth side. The game started off in tragic fashion with Forest’s Danilo going up for an aerial challenge with Antoine Semenyo. Unfortunately, the Brazilian midfielder came off second best, landing horribly on his left leg, breaking it on his awkward fall. He was stretchered off with applause coming from both sets of fans inside the City Ground. Forest found an opener in the 23rd minute after substitute Ryan Yates saw his shot parried back into play by Cherries keeper, Neto. Quick to pounce on the scraps was Forest poacher Chris Wood who tucked the ball away into the bottom right corner, giving the hosts an early advantage. Bournemouth then thought they had equalised the game just 9 minutes later when a nicely worked set piece caused all sorts of problems in the Forest defence. Eventually, Dango Outtara smashed the ball into the roof of the net but it was later discovered by VAR that the Burkina Faso international was in an offside position. The last 15 minutes of the first half was played out evenly with Forest having chances to double their advantage before the interval and Bournemouth missing chances to level the tie. After 11 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, the teams eventually went into the break with the hosts leading by 1.

Bournemouth came out strongly for the second period, desperately trying to find the goal that would level this game. Finally in the 86th minute, Bournemouth’s Ghanaian star Antoine Semenyo found the Cherries an equaliser. Ryan Christie drilled a ball across the Forest 6-yard box where Harry Toffolo cleared the ball into the face of his teammate Murillo. Unfortunately for the Brazilian centre back, it fell kindly to the feet of Smenyo who made no mistake with his finish, volleying the ball past Matz Sels. Bournemouth had a perfect chance to grab all 3 points with just 30 seconds left to play. Phillip played a perfect ball across the Forest penalty area from the left wing, hoping to find Daniel Jebbison. He would have succeeded if not for a crucial intervention from Murillo, throwing himself in the way of the Canadian to make amends for his error earlier. The points were shared at the end, with the score 1-1 as the final whistle was blown. It was a fair result with both teams happy to take a point to start their campaign. 

West Ham vs Aston Villa

The final game played on Saturday afternoon saw two of the most prolific sides in the summer transfer market play; West Ham United and Aston Villa. Villa made the perfect start to the game and their season when their most expensive signing, Amadou Onana, headed them into a 0-1 lead. It came from a Youri Tielemans corner in the 4th minute which the 6ft 5 Belgian international rose high to head into the back of the Hammer’s net. Julen Lopetegui’s side were slow to react, letting Villa attack at them and failing to create many chances themselves. West Ham were awarded a lifeline in the 37th minute when Matty Cash brought down Tomas Soucek in the Villa penalty area where referee Tony Harrington pointed to the spot. Lucas Paqueta stepped up to take the penalty for the Hammer’s and dispatched it perfectly, watching the ball roll down the side netting. The half finished 1-1 with Villa manager Unai Emery left infuriated that his side had not gone into the break up by 2 or 3 but instead pegged back level.
Once again, West Ham were slow to fire up in the 2nd period and Villa were coming closer and closer to finding their 2nd goal. Eventually in the 77th minute, they scored a much deserved goal to put them into a much deserved lead. The man to put them in front was a player who had been rumoured to sign for the Hammer’s in recent weeks in Jhon Duran. Ian Maatsen was released down the left wing after a perfect ball over the top of the West Ham midfield from Pau Torres. Maatsen met the ball with a deft touch into the path of Jacob Ramsey who had made a darting run into the penalty area. Ramsey cut it back with his first touch where Duran drilled it at the West Ham goal and through the legs of Hammer’s keeper, Alphonse Areola to send the away end into celebration. West Ham maybe should have equalised with the last kick of the game after Tomas Soucek managed to get on the end of a Mohammed Kudus cross. His initial effort was cleared off the line by Ezri Konsa but the ball fell perfectly for him again from only a yard or two out. Soucek panicked and sliced the ball over the bar, missing a glorious chance to earn the Hammer’s a point with just seconds left to play. The full time score ended 1-2 with Unai Emery’s side making a solid start to the season. West Ham will put their unsettled performance down to a new manager and many new players but fans will expect their side to beat Crystal Palace next week at Selhurst Park.

Brentford vs Crystal Palace

The first game to be kicked off on Sunday afternoon starred Thomas Frank’s Brentford side taking on Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace. Palace came so close to opening the scoring twice in the space of 5 minutes through their star boy Eberichi Eze. Both chances came from free kicks and Eze’s first came from about 20 yards out where he fired the ball low and hard at the bottom right corner, missing by just a few millimetres. Eze found the back of the net with his second effort but it was controversially disallowed by referee Sam Barret as there was some wrestling and shirt tugging going on outside the penalty area. If it were to have stood, it would have been a goal of the season contender, Eze shooting from 30 plus yards out. He caught out Bees’ keeper Mark Flekken who, like the rest of the Gtech Stadium, thought he was going to cross it. Unfortunately for Palace it remained 0-0 after 25 minutes. Just 4 minutes later, Brentford found the lead through a brilliant team goal. They played it around the pitch beautifully eventually finding Yoanne Wissa who played a perfect through ball to Bryan Mbuemo down the right wing.  Mbeumo dribbled at Palace defender Marc Guehi and cut back before firing a shot at goal. His shot was unstoppable as he wheeled away in celebration after watching it find the bottom left arch of the net. Brentford were able to hang onto their lead going into halftime but Palace were not out of the picture just yet.

Oliver Glasner’s side made the perfect start to the 2nd period when they found a leveller in the 57th minute. The two Palace full backs combined for the goal when Tyrick Mitchell played a brilliant switch ball deep into the hosts’ penalty area. Daniel Munoz was charging in and managed to head the ball back across the face of goal. On the end of the header back across goal was the unfortunate Ethan Pinnock who got caught in two minds and ended up lunging towards the ball and poking it into his own goal. Just 2 minutes later Odsonne Edouard thought he had completed the comeback and gave the Eagles the lead when he got on the end of Eze’s ball across the penalty area and placed it past Flekken. The assistant referee had his flag up straight away and VAR quickly justified his call, confirming the score line remained 1-1. Just under 20 minutes later, Brentford’s other African star, Wissa, scored to give them a late lead. Mikkel Damsgaard, who had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes, whipped in a ball from the right wing. It flew over Wissa but landed kindly for Collins who managed to get a shot away. It looked like an easy save for Palace shot stopper Henderson, but as he dived to parry the ball away, Wissa came charging in. The ball fired off Henderson’s fist and onto the foot of Wissa, giving the hosts a priceless lead. Brentford just managed to hold on for the remaining 14 minutes, winning 2-1 and picking up a valuable 3 points in matchday 1, notably without Ivan Toney in their squad. After a very strong end to their last campaign, Palace fans will be underwhelmed at their team’s performance and will hope they do much better against West Ham next week.

Chelsea vs Manchester City

Manchester City and Pep Guardiola’s title defence started at Stamford bridge with Pep facing a familiar face in Enzo Maresca. Maresca was his old assistant at City who is now the man in charge of Chelsea after winning the Championship with Leicester last campaign. Manchester City got off to a champions start when they found the opener inside 20 minutes. After playing down the right side of the pitch for the first part of the fixture, Pep Guardiola decided to swap his 2 wingers, Jeremy Doku and new signing Savinho. Chelsea left back, Marc Cucurella, was getting the best of Doku, shutting him down with multiple tackles and interceptions. Pep’s decision to switch the wingers paid off instantly with Doku playing a big part in the goal. He dribbled down the left wing before passing the ball into the penalty area to Bernardo Silva. The ball was slightly behind Silva but he was still able to lunge backwards and touch the ball into the path of Erling Haaland. The Golden Boot winner took it in his stride, held off Marc Cucurella, and chipped it over Davison Sanchez in goals to give the Citizens the lead. Chelsea thought they had equalised right before the break when Cole Palmer’s long range effort was fumbled by Ederson. Quick to pounce on the rebound was Nicholas Jackson who tapped it by the Brazilian goalkeeper but as he wheeled away in celebration, he was met with the assistant referee’s flag, ruling the goal out. At half time the champions were up 0-1 but Chelsea were still in the tie.

Chelsea came back out for the 2nd half looking like a different side, coming close to scoring on two occasions but denied by brilliant defending from Rico Lewis and a brilliant save by Ederson. Lewis then thought he had doubled City’s advantage down the other end when Chelsea defender Levi Collwill’s weak clearance fell to the young Englishman who smashed it into the back of the net. Unfortunately for Lewis, it was disallowed as Haaland had slid in and fouled Collwill before he attempted to clear the ball. City sealed all 3 points in the 84th minute when Mateo Kovacic, who was playing Rodri’s role in the Spanish midfielders absence, scored to make it 0-2. The Croatian won the ball in the middle of the park before progressing with the ball and taking on the Chelsea defenders. Just as the ex-Chelsea man was about to dribble into the penalty area, he cracked a shot, watching as it found the left side of the goal perfectly. The champions held on as the game finished 0-2 in City’s favour. It is a perfect start to the season for Pep’s men, especially after other sides such as Arsenal and Liverpool had already put out potential title statements. Chelsea will be disappointed that they weren’t able to find the back of the net with some good chances at the start of the second period and will know they need to come out strongly against Wolves next week.

Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

The closing game of matchweek 21 saw the newly promoted Leicester City take on Ange Postucoglu’s Spurs at the King Power Stadium. Tottenham dominated most of the first half so it was only fair when they found the opener just before the half hour mark. Ex Foxes player James Maddison received the ball outside the penalty area before whipping a cross in. Making a darting run into the penalty area was right back Pedro Porro who has developed a knack of scoring goals under Ange. He perfectly glanced his header at the Leicester goal, watching it trickle into the bottom right corner. Spurs continued to dominate for the rest of the half but failed to find an all important 2nd. At the interval Tottenham led 0-1 but felt they should have been up by at least 2 or 3.

Spurs came out for the second half much like the first, creating many chances in the first 15 minutes. Their best chance fell to summer signing Dominic Solanke who found himself with enough time and space to shoot inside the 18 yard box. The Englishman opted for power over precision so Leicester shot stopper Mads Hermansen was able to claim his effort with ease. To the shock of the King Power Stadium, Leicester then went on to equalise in the 57th minute with just their second attempt on target. Abdul Fatawu crossed in a ball from the right wing where Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy was unmarked in the 6 yard box. Vardy then proceeded to head the ball past Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicarrio and tie the Foxes level. This gave Steve Cooper’s side some life as they started to get back into the game. Leicester dominated the rest of the fixture but were unable to find the back of the net once again, with the score 1-1 as the final whistle was blown. It was a fair result in the end but Ange would have felt that his team should have put the game to bed before halftime. It is a positive start to the season for Leicester, picking up a point against a strong Premier League team.

Written by Ollie Wade