Manchester United’s match against Fulham was a casualty as the Champions League winners crashed to defeat in Monaco against Zenit St Petersburg in the European Super Cup final. Sir Alex Ferguson consoled himself by going shopping, his mood brightened by finding a Dimitar Berbatov on the shelf, looking all upset and lonely, the price of £30.75m considered a bargain by the Scot.

At home, Chelsea and Liverpool went into their fixtures against Tottenham and Aston Villa defending their 100% start’s to the season. Both had upcoming home games against the defending Champions and were hopeful of maximum points to put a considerable distance between them and United at this early stage of the season. Things did not go to plan as points were squandered in draws. Jose Mourinho once commented that Tottenham had parked tanks on the Chelsea lawn to earn a draw, Luis Felipe Scolari was equally frustrated as Belletti’s twenty-eight minute opener was cancelled out by goalscorer extraordinaire, Darren Bent, equalised as the first half drew to a close. At Villa Park, Liverpool were on top for a lot of the game but could not breach the Aston Villa defence. Robbie Keane did not score nor did he get booked, so he has nothing to remember this game by.

Arsenal slipped into gear and into fourth place with a comfortable cruise through Newcastle United, three goals for the hosts in the first hour were met with no reply. Robin van Persie drilled home an eigth minute penalty, adding his second four minutes before the interval. So bad were the visitors in the first half that Mike Ashley mistook the Arsenal crowd’s chants of ‘Down in one’ for a challenge to drink a pint of lager in one gulp, little realising that they were taunting him about the Toon’s impending relegation.

Football fans often seek solace in the misery of their local rivals, a route not allowed for Sunderland fans as they slumped to a 0 - 3 home reverse to Manchester City. Shaun Wright-Phillips celebrated his homecoming with two goals in eight second half minutes, adding to Stephen Ireland’s opener in first half injury time. City would be very active in the final twenty-four hours of the transfer window, new owners, ADUG, finding that buying the club cost £32m more than they originally bargained for as it came with a Robinho from Real Madrid. The Brazilian raised eyebrows with the move, facial arching that increased when he stated that he was happy to be joining Chelsea a few days later at a press conference in his homeland but that is a story for another day.

The forwards of the newly-promoted teams could not hit a cow’s backside with a banjo as West Bromwich Albion gained a creditable goalless draw at Bolton Wanderers whilst their peers both lost. Middlesbrough gave an indication that 2 - 1 might be a good bet as a correct score for their matches by defeating Stoke City by that scoreline, Alves and Sanli for the home side, a Justin Hoyte own goal for the visitors, repeating Robert Huth’s feat on the opening day. For Hull City reality bit them firmly on the rear as they were given a masterclass in counter-attacking football by Wigan Athletic, of all people. The hosts defence was breached by the visitors five times without reply, Egyptian striker Zaki scoring a brace and setting Valencia away for the second Wigan goal, which saw the forward race half the length of the pitch unchallenged before scoring.  A Sam Ricketts own goal on five minutes had set the rot in, the half-time deficit being two goals for Hull to retrieve. On sixty-eight minutes, Zaki got his first, before he and Emile Heskey added two more goals in thirteen minutes to complete the demolition.

Equally chastened were Blackburn Rovers, crushed 4 - 1 at Upton Park by West Ham. A Callum Davenport twelfth minute opener and Samba’s own goal on twenty were immediately pegged back by Jason Roberts two minutes later. The search for an equaliser proved fruitless as on ninety-three Craig Bellamy scored with a cracking volley before Carlton Cole sealed the result two minutes later.

For Everton, it has been a mixed bag so far but not even the most ardent of Portsmouth fans would have expected such a comprehensive 3 - 0 win for the visitors at Goodison Park. Jermaine Defoe scored twice, despite Peter Crouch trying to claim one of them, the third added by Glen Johnson.

Tags: Football, premier league, Soccer

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