…as Villa get off the mark with victory over Everton
Erling Haaland could not mark his home debut for Manchester City with another goal, but it made no difference for Pep Guardiola’s side who still swept Bournemouth aside with ease.
Haaland, who scored twice on his Premier League bow at West Ham last weekend, took 18 minutes to take his first touch but used it to set up Ilkay Gundogan for City’s opener.
City had been dominating the game since the start, and it did not take long for more goals to follow.
The impressive Kevin de Bruyne made it 2-0 with a dazzling solo strike, running to the corner of the area before bending the ball into the bottom corner with the outside of his boot.
And Phil Foden made sure of the points before half-time, running on to a De Bruyne pass and letting fly with a shot that Cherries keeper Mark Travers got his body behind but could not keep out.
Bournemouth spent most of their time defending in a compact 5-4-1 formation, and only forced Ederson into action once, through a Ben Pearson snap-shot from the edge of the area.
They never looked remotely capable of staging a comeback in the second half, which had turned into a stroll in the Manchester sunshine for the home side long before Jefferson Lerma’s own goal made it 4-0.
Lerma was trying to stop Joao Cancelo’s low cross from reaching substitute Bernardo Silva, but only succeeded in sending the ball spinning past Travers to complete an afternoon to forget for his team.
At the Emirates, The impressive Gabriel Jesus scored his first Premier League goals for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta’s side beat Leicester City in an entertaining encounter at Emirates Stadium.
The Brazilian striker, signed from Manchester City in the summer, scored twice before the break and missed several chances for a hat-trick as well assisting his side’s other goals.
William Saliba’s own goal early in the second half gave Leicester hope, but Granit Xhaka struck just two minutes later to restore Arsenal’s two-goal lead.
James Maddison again reduced the arrears, only for Gabriel Martinelli to quickly made it 4-2 as the Gunners maintained their 100% start to the season.
In the first game of the day, Danny Ings and Emiliano Buendia scored to get Aston Villa’s Premier League campaign up and running with victory over Everton as Steven Gerrard got one over on his old midfield rival Frank Lampard.
The two were facing each other as managers for the first time after years of battles on the pitch in games between Liverpool and Chelsea, reports the BBC.
Both had overseen losses in their Premier League openers and it was Gerrard’s side who claimed their first win of the season with a dominant display at Villa Park.
The home side looked on it from the start and got the breakthrough midway through the first half when Ollie Watkins, making his first start of the season, found strike partner Ings inside the box and he turned sharply before firing clinically into the back of the net.
Everton, once again playing without a recognised striker, did not manage a shot on target in the first half, although they did see an Anthony Gordon effort ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.
They showed some improvement after the break as Dwight McNeil flicked a shot just wide of the post and Demarai Gray saw a decent effort saved by Emiliano Martinez.
Villa substitute Buendia saw a deflected shot cleared off the line before adding a second when he stabbed in late on.
Lucas Digne turned a cross into his own net immediately after to give Everton a glimmer of hope but Villa held firm to take the three points.
RESULTS
Aston Villa 2 – 1 Everton
Arsenal 4 – 2 Leicester
Brighton 0 – 0 Newcastle
Man City 4 – 0 Bournemouth
Southampton 2 – 2 Leeds
Wolves 0 – 0 Fulham