LONDON (Sporting Alert) — Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck both scored braces and defending champions Manchester United started the new English Premier League season with a 4-1 win over Swansea City, but Arsenal was beaten at home by Aston Villa on Saturday.
Below will be all the results from the opening day’s fixtures in the Premier League.
After a less than convincing preseason, all eyes were on David Moyes’ men at The Liberty Stadium, and the Red Devils gave their new manager a winning start to campaign.
Van Persie opened the scoring with neat-looking finish in the 34th minute before his strike partner Welbeck doubled the tally after tapping home a cross from Antonio Valencia from close range two minutes later.
The Holland striker made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute with a brilliant effort, while Welbeck, who only scored once last season finished off a nice pass from Wayne Rooney with a chipped effort over the head of Michel Vorm in stoppage time.
New signing Wilfried Bony had made it 3-1 for Swansea City in the 82nd minute prior to United’s fourth goal.
Meanwhile, ten man Arsenal let a one goal lead slipped and was beaten 3-1 at home by Aston Villa, with Christian Benteke scoring twice and Antonio Luna adding another in the 84th minute.
Olivier Giroud had given Arsenal a sixth minute lead when he guided home a cross from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Laurent Koscielny was sent off for two bookable offenses.
Elsewhere, Daniel Sturridge scored the lone goal for Liverpool to beat Stoke City 1-0, with new Reds keeper Simon Mignolet making some fin saves, including a late penalty from Jonathan Walters.
Joe Cole and Kevin Nolan scored for West Ham United in their 2-0 win over new boys Cardiff City, Rickie Lambert scored a late penalty to give Southampton a 1-0 win over West Bromwich, Sunderland suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham, while Ricky van Wolfswinkel scored the equaliser in Norwich City’s 2-2 tie with Everton.
ENGLISH Barclays Premiership Results
Liverpool 1 vs 0 Stoke City
Arsenal 1 vs 3 Aston Villa
Norwich 2 vs 2 Everton
Sunderland 0 vs 1 Fulham
West Brom 0 vs 1 Southampton
West Ham 2 vs 0 Cardiff City
Swansea 1 vs 4 Manchester United
