The 2022/2023 English Premier League season began on Friday with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team defeating Crystal Palace 2-0.
21-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli scored the first goal of the new season. We also witnessed the fastest goal scored on matchday one by a newly promoted side in Premier League history.
Generally, it was a fun-filled weekend with exciting matches played all across England. Here are five observations from the matchday
Newcomers Already Making a Statement
Newcomers, Bournemouth began a new life in the Premier League with a resounding 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Steven Gerrard said his side’s disheartening loss at the Vitality Stadium means there is a lot of work to be done, while lamenting the team’s “lack of quality.”
Jefferson Lerma scored inside two minutes – the fastest goal scored on matchday one by a promoted team in Premier League history – to open scoring. The other goal was scored by Cherries striker Kieffer Moore with ten minutes to go.
Meanwhile, Fulham returned to the English Premier League with a commendable 2-2 draw against reigning EFL and FA Cup winners Liverpool. In fact, Jurgen Kloop’s side had to come from behind twice to secure a point at the Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers secured promotion to the topflight having won the Championship title last season. Their energetic and spirited display against the Reds showed they are not back in the Premier League for jokes. Everyone should brace up as it seems Marcos Silva’s men mean business.
At the St. James Park, second half goals by Fabian Schär and Callum Wilson were enough to down newly promoted outfit, Nottingham Forest.
Even though the away side failed to hit a single shot on target, they put up an admirable and resilient performance. Steve Cooper’s men frustrated Eddie Howe’s boys for a long spell but could not break through.
Despite his decent outing, the introduction of Nigeria’s Taiwo Awoniyi in the second half could not help the Tricky Trees.
Newcastle will be looking to further strengthen their squad following the acquisition of the club by Saudi billionaires in 2021.
The New Strikers Living Up to Expectations
Erling Braut Haaland scored a brace in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium.
The 22-year-old won and scored a penalty to break the deadlock before slotting the ball into the back of the net following a smooth pass from Kevin De Bruyne.
He has continued from where he stopped at Borussia Dortmund and is set to dominate the Premier League with golas. Following the impressive outing, Haaland becomes the second City player to score a brace on his Premier League debut. The first was Argentine striker Sergio Agüero in August 2011.
It was a show of the strikers in Fulham’s 2-2 home draw against Liverpool. Aleksandar Mitrović’s double proved vital for the newly promoted outfit who earned a deserved point in front of the home fans.
Darwin Núñez came off the bench to score a goal and also assisted Mohamed Salah with Liverpool’s second. It was one goal and one assist for each of the two players.
Liverpool were particularly unconvincing in the first half as Mitrović (who scored over 40 Championship goals last term) headed home. Trent Alexander-Arnold failed to deal with a cross to gift the Serbian a fantastic goal.
New signing Núñez was introduced early in the second half and he scored with a delightful skill from Salah’s assist. The former Benfica man then turned provider for Salah to equalize for the Reds for second time in the game. Mitrović had put Fulham in the lead again from the spot before Salah’s goal.
Judging Liverpool’s performance, one could see that the energy and versatility of Sadio Mané were missing. The Senegalese departed the Anfield club during the summer to pitch his tent with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
He has already hit the ground running, after scoring in the Bavarians’ 6-1 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night.
Also Read: 5 Nigerian Players to Watch In The 2022/23 EPL Season
United Picked Up From Where They Left Last Season
It was a disappointing start to life for Manchester United’s new manager Erik Ten Hag and his charges.
At Old Trafford, the Red Devils put up a poor performance in their 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
It isn’t that the Dutchman does not know the amount of work he was inheriting at United after quitting his job at Ajax. The 52-year-old has even said the task facing him currently is “a hell of a job.”
He has now seen that even more work needs to be done to address the various challenges troubling the 20-time league winners.
Both Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen had debuts to forget but what was very concerning was the shambolic defensive midfielders.
The performances of Fred and Scott McTominay are increasingly worrying. Both players were not good enough cover for the backline, making United exposed time again.
Danny Welbeck, Pascal Groß (who grabbed both goals), Solly March and Leandro Trossard were too much for United to handle.
Manchester United fans will be seriously hoping that the right changes are made in the team as soon as possible. The glory days are gone at United as the club is entering its sixth straight season without a single title.
How soon the team bounces back is left to be seen.
Conte Building a Spectacular Team… Watch Out!
When Tottenham acquired the services of Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perišić, we knew Conte was chasing something big.
Spurs already parade the likes of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane. The addition of the three new guys only indicate the seriousness and ambition of manager Antonio Conte.
Son’s outstanding displays last campaign ensured he finished joint top scorer in the league alongside Liverpool’s Salah. The South Korean did not score a single penalty in netting 23 goals. Meanwhile, Salah converted five of his 23 goals from the spot.
Kulusevski was also a menace up front last term and he has started the season in scintillating form. Conte and his boys, despite going behind early against Southampton on Saturday, were able to comprehensively defeat the Saints 4-1.
Eric Dier, Ryan Sessegnon and Kulusevski registered their names on the goalscorers’ sheet. Son, Emerson Royal and Kulusevski were the assist makers. The other Spurs goal was an won goal gifted them by Mohamed Salisu.
You could say it’s only one matchday, but truth is this is a formidable side that will compete well in the league, Champions League and other cup competitions, with the right tactics and mentality.
Also Read: Top 5 Greatest Nigerian Female Fotballers Ever
Chelsea Needs Improvement Up Front
The Blues were not sharp enough in front of goal against Everton at the Goodison Park on Saturday. Following the sale of the club to a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly, expectations were high everywhere.
Since the transfer window opened, Chelsea have successfully secured the signings of Raheem Sterling (from Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (from Napoli), Gabriel Slonina (who has been loaned back to Chicago Fire), Carney Chukwuemeka (from Aston Villa) and most recently, Marc Cucurella (from Brighton).
Romelu Lukaku already left on loan to Inter and with Timo Werner’s departure to Leipzig, Tomas Tuchel’s side needs reinforcements. Kai Havertz is not doing enough to justify why Chelsea coughed out over £70m to sign him two seasons ago.
Meanwhile, Armando Broja may not be suited enough to lead the line of a team seeking to win titles. I do not believe he is who Chelsea needs if they need a striker to bang in the goals regularly.
Interestingly, rumours have it that Chelsea could snap up former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabonese international will be a short-term plan for the West Londoners in the striking role as he’s already 33.
However, Chelsea have been linked with different players this summer but have missed out on signing most of them due to different reasons.
English Premier League Game Week 1 Results
- Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
- Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
- Bournemouth 2-0 Aston Villa
- Leeds 2-1 Wolves
- Newcastle 2-0 Nottingham Forest
- Tottenham 4-1 Southampton
- Everton 0-1 Chelsea
- Leicester 2-2 Brentford
- Manchester United 1-2 Brighton
- West Ham 0-2 Manchester City.
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