Manchester United were ruthless as they hammered West Ham by four goals to nil.
In an opening Premier League weekend filled with shock results and goals aplenty, the best was saved ‘til last with Manchester United thumping West Ham United by four goals to nil in Sunday’s late afternoon kick-off at Old Trafford.
In what has been described by many as the side’s best performance under Jose Mourinho, the hosts were impressive from start to finish and while two-goal hero Romelu Lukaku grabbed the headlines it was fellow debutant Nemanja Matic who was named man of the match.
The Serbia international, who signed from Chelsea in the summer linked up well with record buy Paul Pogba in the middle of the park, with the latter getting his name on the score sheet late on.
The result was enough to see the Red Devils end the weekend on top of the pile displacing Huddersfield Town, who themselves couldn’t have asked for a better return to the top flight after a forty-four year absence.
Terriers wagging
The Terriers thumped Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon with summer signing Steve Mounie, like Lukaku, bagging a brace in his first league appearance for his new club after a Joel Ward own goal had given David Wagner’s men the lead.
Many have predicted the Yorkshire outfit to end the season bottom of the league though you may be tempted to back them to stay up at a price of 4/5.
Another side who beat the odds on Saturday were Burnley who despite their troubles on the road last season won 3-2 at the home of champions Chelsea.
Sean Dyche’s men were three goals to the good at half-time and were given a hand early one with Blues’ captain Gary Cahill dismissed after just thirteen minutes.
The hosts finished the match with nine men after Cesc Fabregas was also dismissed, between consolation goals from new signing Alvaro Morata and David Luiz.
Dream return
There was a romantic tale at Goodison Park with Wayne Rooney rolling back the years with a textbook header – the only goal of the game as Everton beat Stoke City while the Toffees’ neighbours Liverpool managed just a point from their trip to Watford in Saturday’s early kick-off as the two sides shared out six goals.
Elsewhere on Saturday West Bromwich Albion edged past Bournemouth and Southampton and Swansea played out a goalless draw before title favourites Manchester City beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0, though the Seagulls did well to keep Pep Guardiola’s men at bay for seventy minutes.
Needless red
Tottenham Hotspur beat Newcastle United at St James’ Park in Sunday’s early kick-off with the North East side’s captain Jonjo Shelvey grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons after lashing out at Dele Alli, leading to a straight red card while the action all kicked off on Friday evening with a seven goal thriller between Arsenal and Leicester City.
The 2016 champions led twice before late goals from substitute duo Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud secured the points for the Gunners and kept those ‘Wenger out’ banners in the top drawer, for now at least.
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