The opening day of the Premiership
August 16, 2008
The Premiership kicked off for fourteen teams today as each one hoped to start the new campaign with a win. 12 teams shared 20 goals in what looks to be one of the best Premiership seasons ever..
Arsenal and West Brom was the first kick off of the day and when new signing Samir Nasri slotted home in the 4th minute you would be forgiven for thinking West Brom’s welcome to the Premiership wasn’t going to be pleasant. But West Brom refused to roll over and the match ended Arsenal 1 – 0 West Brom.
Newly promoted Stoke were up against Bolton and were 3 – 0 down by the interval. It took until injury time in the second half for Stoke to score a consolation goal, final score: Bolton 3 – 1 Stoke.
The final promoted team of the season Hull, met Fulham and were quickly one down to a glancing header by Seol Ki-Hyeon. Geovanni levelled the score in the 22nd minute before Folan grabbed the winner in the 81st minute to give Hull a win in their first ever Premier League match: Hull 2 – 1 Fulham.
Paul Ince started his Blackburn reign with a win as his team beat Everton 3 - 2 at Goodison Park. David Dunn put Blackburn in front in the 22nd minute before strikes from Mikel Arteta just before half time and Yakubu in the 64th minute left Rovers 2 – 1 down. Two minutes later, Santa Cruz levelled the game for Blackburn before an injury time winner from Ooijer gave Rovers the win they deserved. Everton 2 – 3 Blackburn.
Dimitar Berbatoz started on the bench for Tottenham when they took on an impressive Middlesbrough at the Riverside. It looked like it was heading for a goalless draw until the 71st minute when Weater put the home team in front. Mido scored a goal against his former club in the 86th to make it two and a late own goal from Robert Huth made the score line a little flattering for Spurs as it ended Middlesbrough 2 – 1 Tottenham.
The final 3pm kick off of the day saw Wigan make the trip to London in a match against West Ham. Dean Ashton struck twice in the opening 10 minutes in front of England boss Fabio Capello. The first half ended 2 – 0 and Wigan came out fighting after the break with an early strike from Amir Zaki giving Wigan a great chance. Ashton was taken off due to a claf problem and has subsequently been removed from the England squad. Despite their efforts, the Lactics couldn’t convert and the match ended West Ham 2 – 1 Wigan.
The final game of the day kicked off at 5:30pm where Liverpool struggled to break Sunderland down for 82 minutes in their match at the Stadium of Light. That was until a superb 20 yard strike from Fernando Torres beat Craig Gordon and it was enough to secure the three points as it ended Sunderland 0 – 1 Liverpool.
More that may interest you
- Premiership round-up 23rd & 24th August- Loan Watch: 19/9/08 - 26/10/08
- United’s youngsters lift the Milk Cup again
- England hit five as boo boys switch from Lampard to Ashley Cole
Discussion
