Premier League winners and losers: Bruno Fernandes shines and Ben White endures nightmare debut
Bruno Fernandes impressed with a hat-trick while Arsenal had a night to forget at promoted Brentford.
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Your support makes all the difference.The first weekend of the new Premier League season had drama, shocks, comebacks and great goals.
Reigning champions Manchester City lost at Tottenham while new boys Brentford and Watford were victorious.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the winners and losers from the opening round of matches.
WINNERS
There were many contenders from Manchester United’s 5-1 win over Leeds who could have made the list.Paul Pogba with his four assists, Mason Greenwood’s fine display and goal – but ultimately Bruno Fernandes gets the nod following hat-trick.The Portugal international will be hoping to win his first silverware with the Red Devils at some stage this season and starting the campaign in such an eye-catching manner will only help those aims.
The Tottenham chairman is often vilified by a large section of the fanbase but he will have left the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a happy man on Sunday.Having finally settled on Nuno Espirito Santo as the club’s new manager and digging his heels in over the future of star striker Harry Kane it was a big day for Levy.Spurs would beat champions Manchester City courtesy of Son Heung-min’s second-half strike to give the north London club a great start under Nuno – and all with Kane watching on.
Trevoh Chalobah
The Chelsea defender continued a superb week as he rifled in the third and final goal in a comfortable win over Crystal Palace. Chalobah looked destined for a fourth successive loan spell away from Stamford Bridge before impressing boss Thomas Tuchel in pre-season. He was rewarded with his full Chelsea debut in the UEFA Super Cup win over Villarreal and followed that up with a goal on his Premier League bow against the Eagles, leaving the 22-year-old visibly emotional.
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool’s main man once again proved his quality with two assists and a goal in a routine win over newcomers Norwich.Salah laid on goals for Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino and finished well to get off the mark for the campaign, a goal which saw him become the first player to score on the opening weekend of five successive Premier League seasons.If Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are to wrestle the crown back from Manchester City, Salah will once again no doubt play a huge part.
Brentford Football Club
Brentford became the 50th club to participate in a Premier League game when they hosted 13-time English champions Arsenal.As Thomas Frank’s men kicked off inside the Brentford Community Stadium it brought to an end a 74-year wait for a return to top-flight football.Showing no fear and all of the tactical acumen that saw them promoted through the play-offs, the Bees were well-deserved 2-0 winners over Arsenal to leave some of their fans in tears.
LOSERS
Harry Kane
“Are you watching Harry Kane?” was the song ringing around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the home fans made their point during the 1-0 win over City.Going from “one of their own” to a player who some supporters feel has turned his back on the club in a hope of pushing through a move to Pep Guardiola’s side is quite a turnaround for Kane.Where his future lies will be sorted in the next two weeks but, if he ends up staying put, there will be bridges to be built.
Mikel Arteta
The Arsenal manager has struggled to make huge inroads into the rebuild required to turn the Gunners back into top-four contenders this summer.Defeat at Brentford will have hurt the Spaniard, who now faces Chelsea and Manchester City before the international break.If both of those games end in defeat there could be question marks over his future in the Emirates Stadium dug-out, especially if further recruitments are not found.
Ben White
One player Arsenal have signed this summer is England defender Ben White, who joined from Brighton for £50million.The 23-year-old has impressed at the Amex Stadium and previously on a loan spell at Leeds.That led Arsenal to splash the cash but his debut at Brentford left more questions than answers and he will be keen to improve – with the likely challenge of Romelu Lukaku coming on Sunday.
Patrick Vieira
Travelling to face Chelsea was always going to be a baptism of fire for Patrick Vieira to make his Premier League managerial debut with Crystal Palace.The three-time Premier League winner knows just how much of a job he has on his hands with the Eagles looking to rebuild their squad.Former boss Roy Hodgson arguably did not play an attractive style of play but did steady Palace in the top flight, Vieira will be delighted to achieve the same this year.
Matt Targett
Watford toasted their return to the Premier League with a deserved 3-2 win over Aston Villa at Vicarage Road.Ismaila Sarr stole the show with a fine display but it was the punishment he inflicted on Targett which would have made for tough viewing for the travelling fans.The 25-year-old left-back was an ever-present for Villa last year but was hauled off at half-time by Dean Smith to avoid any further indignity.