The New Season Of Barclays Premier league 2012-2013 Day 1 Rounds Up:
West bromwich Albion Kicked Off their Season with A Thrilling victory over Liverpool.a miserable 3-0 defeat at West Brom in Brendan Rodgers’ first Premier League match as Reds boss, while Arsenal started life without Robin van Persie with a dour 0-0 draw against Sunderland on Saturday. Rodgers took over from Kenny Dalglish after Liverpool finished eighth last season, their worst final position for 18 years, and on the evidence of a shocking result at the Hawthorns the former Swansea manager still has plenty of work to do.Rodgers, who gave debuts to new signings Joe Allen and Fabio Borini and left unsettled striker Andy Carroll on the bench, might have feared the worst when he saw Zoltan Gera blast Albion into the lead with a stunning 43rd-minute strike. It was a sweet moment for Albion manager Steve Clarke, who was sacked by Liverpool at the end of last season after spending 18 months at Anfield as Dalglish’s assistant. Pepe Reina kept Liverpool in the match when he saved Shane Long’s woeful second half penalty after Reds defender Daniel Agger was sent off for a professional foul. But Albion won another penalty in the 64th minute and this time Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie stepped up to blast home. And Romelu Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, rubbed salt into Liverpool’s wounds when he marked his West Brom debut with a 77th-minute strike.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger must have been concerned that the Gunners failed to break down Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium in the first game since Dutch striker van Persie’s £24 million move to Manchester United. Wenger gave debuts to Germany striker Lukas Podolski and Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla, while French forward Olivier Giroud, another new signing, came off the bench. But the new boys were underwhelming, with Giroud missing the best chance of the afternoon.
new Swansea boss Michael Laudrup had to wait just eight minutes for his side to strike, with midfielder Michu scoring the first goal of the new season when he found the net with a little help from QPR custodian Robert Green.The Spaniard saw his left-footed shot trickle past Green when the England goalkeeper really should have done better.Michu ensured it was a debut to remember when he doubled Swansea's lead on 53 minutes with his second goal of the game.The Spaniard picked up a pass from Wayne Routledge and curled a superb shot beyond Green to send the away fans into raptures.Things got worse for QPR when Nathan Dyer made it 3-0 on 63 minutes after a fine flowing move from the visitors opened the QPR defence up.Dyer was not to be outdone by Michu and he grabbed his second of the game eight minutes later to pile the misery on the home fans.Michu turned creator for Swansea's fifth goal nine minutes from time when he played in Scott Sinclair in acres of space to fire home past Green and complete a dream day.
Fulham matched Swansea in hitting five goals as they strolled past Norwich 5-0 at Craven Cottage as Martin Jol got the better of his former assistant Chris Hughton.Fulham broke the deadlock after 26 minutes when Duff broke the offside trap to latch onto John Arne Riise's superb crossfield pass to stab the ball past John Ruddy.Mladen Petric marked his debut for Fulham with a second goal five minutes before the break with a headed effort.Fulham added a third on 54 minutes when Petric's shot from the edge of the box deflected in off Michael Turner to wrongfoot Ruddy.Alex Kacaniklic got in on the act on 64 minutes with a fine finish after some neat approach play from Moussa Dembele and Petric.Substitute Steve Sidwell completed Norwich's misery when he scored from the penalty spot three minutes from time after Turner brought down Hugo Rodallega.
Nolan's decisive goal was like so many others that he has scored down the years for Allardyce, the midfielder converting from close range after Ricardo Vaz Tê cut back the ball from the goalline. The assistant referee had waved frantically to indicate that Vaz Tê was offside when he had received the ball but the official in the middle, Mike Dean correctly spotted the ball had arrived at the Portuguese via the hand of defender Ciaran Clark.Villa's manager, Paul Lambert, graciously congratulated the referee afterwards for making the right call, while Allardyce hailed the prowess of his 30-year-old captain. "He got that goal on instinct," Allardyce said. "He's on the move when other players are standing watching. He's as good in the box as any Premier League forward."The goal was extravagant reward for a first half in which Allardyce's team grew in stature after being initially cowed by Villa's controlled passing. Lambert's first mission as Villa manager is to banish the disturbing memory of Alec McLeish's grim reign and the tidy interplay his team showed earned the approval of the travelling fans. Their relieved chants of "we're Aston Villa and we're passing the ball" brought levity that temporarily atoned for the lack of goalmouth action.
Reading stepped back into the Premier League limelight after a four-year absence and ran straight into the mean machine that is Stoke City. In a predictably dour match for years, Stoke have successfully suffocated and stifled many better opponents Reading needed a dramatic late equaliser to escape defeat.Garath McCleary, a jack-in-the-box substitute, drove into the Stoke area in the 89th minute and was felled by Dean Whitehead, who collected a second yellow card and then red for his clumsy challenge. Adam le Fondre thumped the spot-kick past Asmir Begovic to rescue a draw and, with a visit to Chelsea on Wednesday, a welcome point. Perhaps it should have been all three, such was Reading's dominance for sustained periods, but it was always an uphill slog after Adam Federici's first-half howler. That Stoke showed such a startling lack of ambition, after being gifted the opener, did not help, either.Last season, Federici was so often the saviour as Reading secured the Championship title. This time, faced with a rare effort on target by Stoke a tame mis-hit shot into the ground by Michael Kightly the Australian goalkeeper went to gather the ball but succeeded only in allowing it to squirm through his grasp.For Kightly, a £2m summer buy from Wolves, the joy. For Federici, the embarrassment. "We all make errors," Brian McDermott, the Reading manager, said. "I make errors most days. Adam's a great character, he was upset about it, but it's just part of life. I suppose I can't be too disappointed with a point. I thought that was the least we deserved. We kept going, as we always do, even though the temperatures weren't conducive to good football. Stoke have been in the Premier League for a long time so maybe we now know that we can compete [at this level]."Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, did not contest the penalty, given by Kevin Friend, or the dismissal of Whitehead. "It could have gone either way," Pulis said. "And if the referee has seen it, he has to book Dean, who has already been booked, and has to send him off."However, Pulis did question the time-lapse between Whitehead's foul and the awarding of the penalty. Friend had tried to play advantage, which resulted in Begovic saving a close-range Le Fondre effort, before going back to point to the spot. "It's a good rule, it gives advantage to the attacking team," Pulis said. "But we have to be consistent. When do you start it? When do you stop?"Pulis will try to clarify the issue with Mike Riley, general manager of the referees' governing body. Even at this early stage of the season, he may have to join a queue.
Hatem Ben Arfa gave Newcastle a winning start to the Premier League season Saturday, clinching a 2-1 victory over Tottenham after manager Alan Pardew had been sent off for pushing a match official.Ben Arfa scored from the penalty spot in the 80th minute after being tripped by Rafael van der Vaart, four minutes after Jermain Defoe appeared to have salvaged a point for Tottenham.Just before Tottenham's leveler with Newcastle leading through Demba Ba's goal Pardew was sent to the stands by referee Martin Atkinson for a furious response to a touchline incident.''It was ridiculous, I apologize publicly,'' Pardew said after the match. ''I thought the ball was out, I shoved him (referee's assistant Stuart Burt). I have pleaded with my players to behave and follow the Olympic spirit.''I can only apologize. I've been to see him and told him I didn't know what I was thinking.''Pardew could be facing a Football Association misconduct charge despite his contrition.At least his players delivered on the pitch.But it was a miserable day all round for Tottenham counterpart Andre Villas-Boas in his first competitive match since replacing Harry Redknapp, who was fired despite the team finishing fourth in May, one place above Newcastle.''We deserved more, played well, had the chances in the first half and pushed in the second,'' said Villas-Boas, who was fired by Chelsea in March. ''We deserved something extra for the effort we did and the game we played. We showed why we did so well last season and deserved more.''Spurs looked sharper in the first half when shots by Defoe and Gareth Bale hit the goal frame.A low-key encounter sprung into life 10 minutes into the second half when Ba scored his first goal since February against the run of play.Danny Simpson's high ball into the box was only half-headed clear by Kyle Walker, and Ba responded by sending a curling shot high into the net from the corner of the box.Spurs equalized in the 76th when Aaron Lennon crossed into a crowded box and Defoe wriggled free to fire past Tim Krul at the second attempt after his initial header had been parried by the goalkeeper.After Ben Arfa restored Newcastle's lead from the penalty spot, Jonas Gutierrez almost extended Newcastle's advantage with an ambitious looping effort but Brad Friedel tipped it over the bar.
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