The Premier League got back in action today, and now that the final whistle has blown we're going to recap the day's action for you. I'm going to link to several match reports from other team blogs, but do not take that as an invitation to troll at those sites. Be respectful if you comment there, feel free to express your feelings here. Now on to the games:
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Arsenal 0 - Sunderland 0: Arsenal started the post RvP/Alex Song era with a scoreless draw. There were certainly positives to be taken from this for Arsenal (Santi Cazorla looked very good), but it might be another rough start to the season. Head over to The Short Fuse or The Roker Report for each team's perspective on the result.
Fulham 5 - Norwich 0: This was a pretty one sided affair, and Fulham will be in a tie atop the table come tomorrow morning. Nice to see Damian Duff still doing great things. Head over to Cottagers Confidential to check out their perspective on the rout.
QPR 0 - Swansea 5: SB Nation doesn't yet have a blog for either of these clubs, so I'll recap the scoring for you. Michu had a pair, Nathan Dyer had a pair, and former Chelsea player Scott Sinclair added the 5th. QPR new boy Jose Bosingwa did not feature, so Mark Hughes and the fans can't blame him yet. Oh well. Swansea will join Fulham at the top.
Reading 1 - Stoke City 1: The Tilehurst End will cover your recap needs for this one, as Reading rejoined the Premier League with a draw. Draws are not unusual results for Stoke fans, but it has to be seen as a good start for Reading.
West Brom 3 - Liverpool 0: I didn't see this one coming. Liverpool looked ok early, but boy did they collapse after going a goal down. The Liverpool Offside has your recap. Lukaku had a goal and nearly had a pair of beautiful assists (damn WBA and their poor finishing), here's the highlight of the day for Chelsea fans:
West Ham 1 - Aston Villa 0: No more Alex McLeish, but addition by subtraction wasn't enough to get 3 points in London as West Ham returned to the top flight. The recap can be found over at 7500 to Holte.
Newcastle 2 - Tottenham 1: This was the tastiest fixture of the opening weekend for most neutrals, and it was a pretty scrappy and entertaining affair. Newcastle went on top through Demba Ba, Jermaine Defoe nabbed a goal that should have been called offside, Alan Pardew got sent to the stands for pushing an official, and Newcastle won the game from the penalty spot. It was a fun one, and Cartilage Free Captain and Coming Home Newcastle have more.
That was day 1 of what will be a long and entertaining season, and things went very well indeed for Chelsea fans. Only Newcastle took 3 points of the clubs that will likely be competing for Champions League places, so Chelsea have a great chance to gain some early breathing room as those clubs look to sort their transfer activity. Chelsea will open their season tomorrow, and we'll have much more for you then. I'd highly recommend checking out all of the linked recaps, but once again, be nice. We hate when people come here and troll, so treat others like you'd want to be treated.
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