🦁 Premier League opening Saturday delivers as Arsenal and Liverpool win | OneFootball

There are six Premier League fixtures taking place on the opening Saturday of the new season.

Here’s what happened.

Supersub Durán gives Aston Villa win over Hammers

Scorers: Onana 4′, Durán 79′; Paquetá 37′

An early goal from new signing Amadou Onana and a winner from Jhon Durán gave Aston Villa a 2-1 win away at West Ham.

It took only four minutes for the deadlock to be broken, when corner sloppily conceded by West Ham led to a goal from debutant Amadou Onana as he bundled in a header as the ball came over the top from Youri Tielemans.

That lead was almost doubled when Leon Bailey took down a long ball with ease, rounded goalkeeper Alphonse Areola but struck his shot against the outside of the post.

Villa were dominating, and John McGinn really should’ve doubled the lead, but instead rolled the ball inches wide.

But then West Ham had a penalty when Matty Cash looked to have brought down Tomáš Souček in the box. VAR confirmed the decision and Lucas Paquetá converted the spot-kick.

Into the second half and Aston Villa really should’ve got themselves back in front, as decent chances for both Tielemans and Morgan Rogers went begging.

It was Jhon Durán – heavily linked with a move to the Hammers in the summer – who put Villa back in front with just over ten minutes to go, with an emphatic finish after a lovely passing move.

Seven minutes of injury time gave Unai Emery and his side some nerves, especially when a Souček chance was cleared off the line in the final seconds of the game, but Villa managed to hang on.

Saka shines in opening day win

Scorers: Havertz 25′, Saka 74′

Arsenal started the season in ominous form as they swept Wolves aside with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

Arsenal took the lead on 25 minutes when Bukayo Saka delivered a ball that was begging to be headed home – and Kai Havertz duly obliged him with a thumping finish to beat the onrushing José Sá.

Saka himself then had a strong case for a penalty denied before Jørgen Strand Larsen was denied a debut Wolves goal by an excellent David Raya save.

He was called into action again after half-time when a William Saliba slip gifted substitute Matheus Cunha possession but his low effort was kept out.

But Arsenal then made the points safe with a textbook Saka goal as he cut in from just inside the area and picked out his spot to curl home perfectly.

There was a slight blot on the copybook for the Gunners before the end as Declan Rice exited in discomfort, which Arsenal will be hoping is nothing overly serious.

Ten-man Newcastle hang on for victory

Scorers: Joelinton 45′

Despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men, Newcastle eked out a narrow 1-0 win over Southampton to kickstart their campaign.

Southampton started brighter and had the ball in the net early, only for the offside flag to deny them an opener and there optimism increased when Fabian Schär was shown a straight red card for the hosts for a foolish reaction to an altercation with Ben Brereton Díaz, a soft ‘headbutt’ leading to his dismissal.

But they were the architects of their own downfall on the stroke of half-time when goalkeeper Alex McCarthy gifted Alexander Isak the ball, who in turn set up Joelinton to put the 10 men into the driving seat.

The Magpies held firm in the second half to see things out for a nervy and hard-fought victory.

Brighton thrash Everton to go top

Scorers: Mitoma 25′, Welbeck 56′, Adingra 87′

Everton’s final season at Goodison Park got off to an humiliating start as they were beaten 4-0 by Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton in his first game in charge.

The opening 10 minutes produced lively fare as Jack Harrison saw an Everton goal disallowed before João Pedro had a penalty appeal waved away and then struck the woodwork moments later, something Dwight McNeil had also been denied by at the other end.

The deadlock was eventually broken though when Kaoru Mitoma was picked out unmarked in the centre of the area to send the Seagulls into the lead with a simple finish.

A chaotic contest kept up that drama after the break when Lewis Dunk caught Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the area to give away a penalty, which was then overturned following a pitchside VAR check and making the most of the let-off, Brighton swiftly doubled their lead through Danny Welbeck.

Everton’s afternoon soon got worse too when Ashley Young was shown a red card for dragging Mitoma back when he was sent through on goal – becoming the oldest recipient ever of a Premier League red card.

Their misery was compounded in the closing stages when Welbeck then set up Adingra to make it three for a goal that was almost a carbon copy of the Englishman’s earlier finish and they were lucky it didn’t get worse but Yasin Ayari’s injury-time strike was ruled out for offside.

Danilo injury overshadows Forest draw

Scorers: Wood 23′; Semenyo 86′

Nottingham Forest started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth in a game that was overshadowed by a worrying injury to midfielder Danilo.

That occurred with just eight minutes on the clock when he landed awkwardly on his left ankle and led to instant concern for the player, who looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

His replacement had a quick impact though as Ryan Yates came off the bench to test Neto with an effort and when he spilled the ball, Chris Wood pounced from close range for the opener.

Ten minutes later, Forest’s defence were given a big reprieve when they conceded after failing disastrously to deal with a corner into their six-yard box but Dango Ouattara’s goal was disallowed for an offside in the build-up.

That looked to be as close as the Cherries would come to a share of the points, only for Antoine Semenyo to pop up with time running out to force a loose ball home after Forest’s inability to clear in their own area came to the fore again.

Slot starts with victory at Ipswich

Scorers: Jota 60′, Salah 65′

Liverpool may have made no signings this summer but the old guard remained as reliable as ever for new boss Arne Slot as Mo Salah inspired them to a 2-0 win at newly-promoted Ipswich.

The first half of the Tractor Boys’ first top flight game in 22 years did not provide the kind of excitement fans were hoping for, with neither side creating a chance of note.

Things did improve after the break and on the hour mark, Diogo Jota grabbed the first goal of the Slot era by calmly steering home from Mo Salah’s pass, quickly making amends after missing a gilt-edged header moments before.

Five minutes later, the provider turned goalscorer when Salah played a neat give-and-go with Dominik Szoboszlai and poked the ball under the goalkeeper to put daylight between the sides and set a record for scoring more opening day goals (nine) than any other Premier League player.

The result sees Slot become the first Liverpool manager in 33 years to win his first league game in charge.

Sunday’s fixtures