Premier League roundup: Mitrovic's brace stuns Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea win
Fulham - Liverpool 2-2
The hosts dominated the first half, as Aleksandar Mitrovic poked wide from the edge of the area and Harrison Reed also struck tamely at Alisson Becker. Indeed, it wasn't until midway through the first half, when Marek Rodak denied Andrew Robertson and a curling Luis Diaz effort was ruled out for offside that Fulham were reminded of their opponents' attacking quality. But the newly-promoted side pushed on, undeterred and brave, as their gung-ho approach got its reward. Mitrović climbed highest to outjump Trent Alexander-Arnold at the back post and head home a cross from Kenny Tete in trademark fashion. A moment of brilliance almost pulled Liverpool level, as Diaz shifted the ball onto his left, creating an inch of space to find a wicked shot that hammered off the post but Fulham stood tall and deservedly led at the break.
The introduction of new-signing Darwin Nunez brought a spark to Liverpool’s play in the second half, but Fulham should have had a second when Neeskens Kebano thundered an effort against the post. Instead, Nunez made Fulham pay when he flicked home a cross from Salah to expertly equalise with his second goal in two competitive matches for Liverpool. The Uruguayan international might have had a second had Tim Ream not been alert to clear the ball off the line, but it was Fulham who restored their lead. Virgil van Dijk conceded a PL penalty for the first time since 2018 with a clumsy challenge, with Mitrovic on hand to convert from 12 yards.
An opening day victory looked on the horizon for Fulham, but Liverpool’s quality told when Salah tapped home from close range late on. Having been relegated in each of their last three top-flight campaigns, Marco Silva’s outfit showed this season could be different by more than holding their own in the West London sun. Fulham and Mitrović are back in the PL, and Liverpool were lucky to leave with a point.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
Bournemouth - Aston Villa 2-0
Many predict that Bournemouth will struggle this campaign, especially after Scott Parker labelled his squad "light" ahead of the opening weekend. Instead, his rallying cry about the transfer window seemingly motivated his players, who took the lead two minutes into their top-flight return. Having seen the visitors fail to deal with a corner, Lerma scored the fastest ever goal for a newly promoted team on a PL opening day, striking into the roof of the net from inside the area. In response, Villa’s sluggish play fashioned little opportunity in the first half, although John McGinn flashed an effort haplessly wide from range, while Danny Ings also tamely headed over.
The visitors have not finished in the top half since returning to the top flight in 2019, and their performances will have to get better if they are to change that record. Despite dominating the ball on the South coast, an uninspiring showing continued in the second half, where Steven Gerrard’s outfit lacked the attacking flair and quality to fashion any real chances. Their performance perhaps epitomised when Philippe Coutinho rolled a freekick out of play for a goal-kick.
Bournemouth would ensure their 191st PL fixture, and first without Eddie Howe as boss, would end in victory when Moore headed home. It was apt that the player who confirmed the Cherries promotion would clinch their first PL victory following a two-year hiatus from the top flight. Meanwhile, Gerrard’s outfit will once again rue a slow start. Villa conceded nine times in the opening 10 minutes last season; this year, the same problem remains.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth)
Leeds - Wolves 2-1
Had things worked out differently last season, Leeds may have found themselves in the Championship for the 2022/23 campaign. Instead, a Raphinha-inspired final day comeback secured their fate, but without the Barcelona-bound winger, the Yorkshire side struggled in the early stages of their opener against Wolves. Failing to deal with a loose ball, Leeds found themselves behind after just six minutes following Daniel Podence’s top-corner rocket.
Despite their slow start, the hosts reacted well, with new signing Aaronson at the heart of all things positive. Peppering the Wolves goal after going behind, an equaliser felt inevitable, with Rodrigo Moreno eventually restoring parity midway through the first half. Squeezing a driven shot beyond José Sá’s front right post, a rocking Elland Road celebrated lift-off for the 2022/23 season.
By contrast to the high-octane first half, both sides took their foot off the gas in the second period. With heavy legs starting to set in, chances came at a premium, but it looked as if a neatly worked set piece would hand Leander Dendoncker an opening. Latching onto a whipped corner, the Belgian midfielder’s bullet header appeared goal-bound, only for a sprawling Illan Meslier to tip the ball over the crossbar.
As the game teetered on a knife-edge, it was the home side who pushed for a winner, with Man of the Match Aaronson helping to guide the winning goal home 20 minutes from time. Reacting first to Patrick Bamford’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box, the American starlet’s strike deflected off Rayan Aït-Nouri, while simultaneously sinking Wolves’ hopes of a fifth consecutive unbeaten visit to Elland Road.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United)
Newcastle - Nottingham Forest 2-0
Nick Pope could hardly have wished for a quieter start to his career in the Magpies’ goal, as the hosts controlled every aspect of the first half. Steve Cooper’s men struggled to play through the Newcastle press, but didn’t have a focal point to play long either. Allan Saint-Maximin was clearly enjoying himself in front of the St James’ Park faithful, toying with Neco Williams and Joe Worrall, who were both cautioned before the break.
For all of their dominance, Eddie Howe’s men struggled to really work Dean Henderson in the Forest goal. Moments of brilliant quality on the ball from Saint-Maximin and Joelinton went to waste, as neither could follow their mazy dribbles with effective efforts on goal. The visitors’ attack was feeding off scraps, but Jesse Lingard gave Newcastle a warning of his quality, running onto a Lewis O’Brien pass before his shot was blocked by Fabian Schär.
One-way traffic continued after the restart, and Newcastle were finally able to break the deadlock from an unlikely source. Forest thought they had cleared the danger, but Schär was allowed to drift unchallenged to the edge of the area before unleashing a thunderous strike, flying beyond Henderson into the top corner.
Forest now needed to mount a comeback, but that looked highly unlikely, considering they had failed to register a single shot on target in the opening 70 minutes. New signings Taiwo Awoniyi and Orel Mangala came off the bench for the visitors, but they could do nothing to stop Newcastle doubling their advantage. Joelinton’s pull-back appeared to be behind Wilson, but the striker produced a phenomenal finish with the outside of his foot to lob Henderson, sealing all three points for the Magpies.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joelinton (Newcastle United)
Tottenham - Southampton 4-1
Holding on to the spirit that permitted them to execute a H2H league double last season, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s outfit got off to an excellent start despite being dominated in the opening minutes. James Ward-Prowse met Moussa Djenepo’s cross from the left flank, fantastically connecting with it to strike a half-volley past Hugo Lloris and stun the home crowd. Spurs didn’t take long to retaliate though, upping the ante as the minutes ticked on.
Midway through the half, Dejan Kulusevski sent a decent cross Ryan Sessegnon’s way, which the Englishman headed powerfully into the back of the net to level proceedings. Mustering momentum, Spurs doubled their lead 10 minutes later in similar fashion. On the back of a free-kick delivery from Son Heung-min, Eric Dier almost knelt down to direct the ball with his head into the bottom right corner. Spurs could have easily extended their lead, but close misses from Son, Ben Davies, and Harry Kane handed the visitors hope of a comeback after the break.
Antonio Conte’s men continued their relentless efforts against a rather shaky Saints outfit, who were in familiar territory, having dropped more points (29) from winning positions than any other PL club last season. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors after the hour mark, when Ghana defender Mohammed Salisu unfortunately lodged the ball into his own goal, before Kulusevski curled in an unstoppable low shot from the right side to make it 4-1.
The Saints had a chance to score a consolation in the final quarter-hour, but Joe Aribo’s left-footed drive was masterfully kept out by a Lloris save. Despite the visitors’ efforts, Spurs continued their charge, with Son coming close to adding to his 12-goal personal best record against Southampton with a weak drive that was easily saved by goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu. With 24 goals scored in their last eight home games, Spurs will take all the inspiration they can moving forward into the new season, whereas Southampton have work to do after their seventh away defeat in their last eight H2H matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham Hotspur)
Everton - Chelsea 0-1
After starting fairly well, Everton suffered an early setback when Ben Godfrey made a heavy challenge on Kai Havertz to recover from making a poor backpass but injured himself in the process - a devastating blow, with the defender missing from Frank Lampard’s starting XI in the final six games of last season. It took eight minutes for play to resume, but the hosts continued to defend resolutely when called upon and James Tarkowski’s header even forced Édouard Mendy into an intelligent save at the other end.
Chelsea built up plenty of late pressure in the first half, and Raheem Sterling thought he’d scored a debut goal when he converted the rebound after Jordan Pickford couldn’t hold N'Golo Kanté’s effort, only to see it ruled out for offside. However, the hosts’ work was eventually undone in the seventh minute of first-half injury time, when Abdoulaye Doucouré clumsily bundled over Ben Chilwell, conceding a penalty that Jorginho calmly stroked into the bottom corner after sending Pickford the wrong way.
Undeterred, the Toffees created promising openings soon after the restart, but Demarai Gray was slowed down by Thiago Silva and Doucouré saw his attempt stopped by Mendy. Aside from the fact the hosts were unable to break through Chelsea’s defence, there was further frustration when Yerry Mina went off injured after managing just 13 league appearances last term. Everton substitute Dele Alli then had the opportunity to lift the mood at Goodison Park soon after, but was let down by a tame first touch.
Sterling was denied his debut goal once again late into the 90 minutes, this time by a superb block from Vitaliy Mykolenko. Even so, Chelsea did enough to see out 10 minutes of stoppage time, due to a medical emergency in the crowd, and start their PL season with a victory for the third consecutive campaign. Meanwhile, Everton didn’t get off to the start they wanted, but can take positives from their performance as they aim to make big improvements, having only secured their PL survival in the penultimate game of the last campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: N'Golo Kanté (Chelsea)