Manchester City swatted aside Chelsea in their first match of the new Premier League season with two goals, one in each half, the 91st for Erling Haaland and a fine strike from former Chelsea player, Mateo Kovacic, late in the second half.
Chelsea have taken a huge leap of faith with the appointment of Enzo Maresca, who was plotting how to take Leicester City out of the Championship a year ago, but based on their ineffectiveness in defeat against the champions it is going to be a while before Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital see their occasionally baffling project come together.
There were wins for Liverpool and Arsenal and records for the prolific Mohamed Salah and the enduring James Milner on the first Saturday of the Premier League season.
Liverpool’s new era under Arne Slot began with a 2-0 victory over promoted Ipswich, with Salah netting the second to take his tally of goals in the opening round of a Premier League season to nine — breaking a tie he had with English soccer greats Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Frank Lampard.
In a one sided match, Brighton stormed to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over hapless Everton at Goodison Park.
Arsenal, runner-up in the league for the past two seasons, also won 2-0 at home to Wolverhampton thanks to goals by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
Liverpool and Arsenal are widely expected to be the biggest threats to champion Manchester City in their bid for a record-extending fifth straight English top-flight title. The season was launched on Friday with Manchester United beating Fulham 1-0. Newcastle defeated Southampton whilst Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Aston Villa defeated West Ham 2-1 in the early evening fixture on Saturday whilst Brentford beat Crystal Palce 2-1 in the early afternoon fixture on Sunday. Later today Tottenham face Leicester in the final game of Match day 1.
