Arsenal kept at bay Manchester United’s expensively assembled forward line and scored again from a set piece to win 1-0 in the marquee match in the opening round of the Premier League on Sunday.
Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori nodded in from close range in the 13th minute after United back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayındır — starting ahead of Andre Onana — flapped at the ball from a corner whipped in by Declan Rice.
While Arsenal followed likely title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City in claiming an opening-weekend victory, United fell to a loss that is all-to-familiar under Ruben Amorim following a woeful 15th-place finish last season by English soccer’s fallen giant.
United spent around 200 million pounds ($270 million) on revamping its attack in the offseason, with Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha starting the match and Benjamin Sesko coming off the bench in the second half.
While the team played with a good intensity at Old Trafford, Arsenal’s strong defense stood firm.
“For me, there was more sign of hope than what we got from the game,” United captain Bruno Fernandes said.
Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres was substituted in the 60th minute in an underwhelming first competitive start for Arsenal, whose goal came from a familiar route with Mikel Arteta’s team so imposing from set-piece situations in recent seasons. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Arsenal has scored 31 goals from corners — more than any other Premier League team, according to Opta, the league’s statistics supplier.
“We know we could have lost the game but football is like this,” Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya said. “Days like this is when the three points count.”
Chelsea also failed to score in its opening league game, held 0-0 by Crystal Palace in its first competitive match as the club world champion.
A month after stunning Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, Chelsea toiled at Stamford Bridge after a short preseason because of its exertions in the United States.
Eze’s farewell?
Eberechi Eze has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham so the England midfielder might have been making his final appearance for Palace.
He almost marked it with a goal.
In the 13th minute, Eze smashed a direct free kick past Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from the edge of the area but the goal was ruled out after a video review spotted an infringement by Palace captain Marc Guehi as he attempted to push aside Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo in the defensive wall.
The Premier League confirmed Guehi was standing less than one meter (yard) from the wall as the shot was taken, which is not allowed.
Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer, stars for Chelsea in the Club World Cup, were quiet. The hosts lacked intensity because they’ve only been back in training for a couple of weeks, while Palace has had a long preseason and was coming off beating Liverpool on penalties in the Community Shield last weekend.
Wood starts hot for Forest
Nottingham Forest hit the ground running with a 3-1 win over Brentford, with striker Chris Wood — the team’s top scorer last season with 20 goals — netting twice in the first half either side of a goal on debut by Dan Ndoye.
Wood started quickly last season in the best goalscoring top-flight campaign of his career and he needed just five minutes to open his account this time round, making the most of a poor clearance at a corner to poke home a finish.
Ndoye headed in a second in the 42nd minute and Wood rounded the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time to stroke in a third.
Igor Thiago converted a late penalty for a consolation for Brentford, which might struggle this season after selling star forward Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United and not having first-choice striker Yoane Wissa available. Wissa has been linked with a move to Newcastle.
Jota tribute
All matches on Sunday featured a period of silence before kickoff as a tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva, the brothers who were killed in a car crash in Spain last month. Jota was a player for Liverpool at the time.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
