Haaland Era begins at Manchester City, Manchester United starts with a defeat, and more…
The 2022/23 season of Premier League has started in grand fashion, boasting of all of its natural ingredients – late twists, incredible goals and surprising giant killings. Defending champions Manchester City started their campaign with a victory, while all of the top three clubs from London – Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur were victorious in their first match.
However, things were not as pleasing for the two most iconic clubs in this league – Manchester United and Liverpool. The Red Devils lost 2-1 against Brighton & Hove Albion, while Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw against Fulham.
Check out what happened on the opening matchday of the 2022/23 Premier League season:
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
Arsenal came into the new Premier League season with high hopes, given that they played brilliantly in their pre-season campaign. They were always the favourites to beat Crystal Palace, and it indeed turned out to be true as the Gunners secured a 2-0 victory.
Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus made his debut, but the opening goal was scored by another Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli in the 20th minute. The Eagles tried to find an equalizer and came close on a few occasions, but could not capitalize on their opportunities. The missed chances eventually came back to haunt them, as an own goal from Marc Guehi doubled Arsenal’s advantage in the 85th minute.
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a brace against Liverpool
Like Arsenal, Liverpool too was expected to have a good start to their season, mainly for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they had just won the FA Community Shield by beating Manchester City, and to add to that, they were playing a newly promoted team in Fulham. However, they ended up settling for a 2-2 draw.
Serbian marksman Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring for Marco Silva’s team in the 32nd minute, but Liverpool managed to get a goal back through new signing Darwin Nunez in the 64th minute. Their lead only lasted eight minutes as Mitrovic scored once again, but for the second time, the Reds managed to restore parity as Mohamed Salah found the back of the net in the 80th minute.
Bournemouth 2-0 Aston Villa
Premier League action returned to the Vitality Stadium for the first time since 2020 as Bournemouth welcomed back their fans with a resounding 2-0 win over Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.
Jefferson Lerma lashed the ball into the back of the net latching onto a loose ball from a corner routine in the 2nd minute of the match giving the perfect start to Scott Parker’s team. Another set-piece routine in the 80th minute saw last season’s top-scorer Kieffer Moore head the ball past Emiliano Martinez to seal the win.
Leeds United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Daniel Podence opened the scoring for Wolves in the 6th minute followed by a moment of madness from Jose Sa as the custodian crashed into a Leeds player but the referee and the VAR decided not to award a penalty kick for the incident.
Leeds kept the pressure on and found the equaliser in the 24th minute through Rodrigo Moreno. In the 74th minute, Patrick Bamford sent a low cross into the box which was smashed into his own net by Rayan Ait-Nouri. Bamford was then denied a late goal by a brilliant save by Sa as the contest ended in Leeds’ favor.
Newcastle United 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest is playing in the Premier League after many years, but expectations were high from them as they made a plethora of signings in the ongoing summer transfer market. However, when it came to on-field performance, it was Newcastle United who had the upper hand.
After failing to score in the first half, the Magpies opened the scoring through a sensational Fabian Schar strike in the 58th minute. Twenty minutes later, Callum Wilson joined the act to give his team a 2-0 victory, and subsequently, three crucial points.
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur started their campaign in style
Like Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur also made plenty of new signings, but none of those signings started the game against Southampton. That, however, did not affect the result, as Spurs emerged as 4-1 winners.
The first goal was scored by the Saints, via a 12th-minute James Ward-Prowse strike, but it was all about Antonio Conte’s team since then. Ryan Sessegnon restored parity in the 21st minute before Eric Dier made it 2-1. In the second half, an own goal from Mohammed Salisu and Dejan Kulusevski gave Spurs a 4-1 triumph.
Everton 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea did not have a particularly impressive pre-season campaign, and hence, many expected them to struggle in the initial stages of the 2022/23 Premier League. While they were certainly not at their best in the opening fixture against Everton, Thomas Tuchel’s men did enough to secure a 1-0 win.
English left-back Ben Chilwell drew a foul inside the box just before half-time, and Jorginho made no mistake in converting from the spot. The second half saw Raheem Sterling come close for the Blues, but no more goals were scored.
Leicester City 2-2 Brentford
In the 33rd minute, Timothy Castagne became the first goalscorer at the King Power Stadium in the 2022-23 PL season as he headed a James Maddison corner kick into the back of the net. Youri Tielemans struck the post with an effort from outside the penalty area as the hosts failed to double their lead before half-time.
The 2015-16 PL champions instantly doubled their lead at the start of the second half courtesy of a stunning long-range goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Brentford’s top-scorer from last season, Ivan Toney started the comeback with a well-taken goal in the 62nd minute and Josh Dasilva scored his first-ever PL goal to steal a point for the visitors.
Manchester United 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester United suffered a 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester United fans were optimistic ahead of the start of the Premier League, given that their team played brilliant football in the pre-season campaign under the tutelage of new manager Erik ten Hag. However, all of their slick play and team combination somehow vanished in the game against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pascal Gross scored the opening goal for the Seagulls in the 30th minute, while he scored his and his team’s second goal only nine minutes later. An own goal from Alexis Mac Allister in the 68th minute gave the Red Devils an outside chance, but it turned out to be a consolation.
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester City
Defending champions Manchester City were able to leave behind the FA Community Shield disappointment as they started their campaign with a 2-0 win against West Ham United. Erling Haaland scored both the goals.
For the first goal, the Norwegian goal-machine himself earned a foul inside the penalty box before scoring from the spot. In the second goal, however, Kevin De Bruyne perhaps deserves more credit, as his defense-splitting pass found Haaland one-on-one with goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, and the striker made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
