Manchester United did not fire on all cylinders on Monday, but still did more than enough to show Newcastle United just how tough life in the Premier League can be with a 3–0 win.
Despite starting brightly, Newcastle lost the ball when attempting to counterattack just after the half hour mark, and were swiftly punished. Paul Scholes expertly threaded the ball through to Dimitar Berbatov, who finished emphatically.
Less than 10 minutes later, the lead had doubled. Excellent work by Nani on the right wing found Patrice Evra arriving in the penalty area with speed, and his low drive found Darren Fletcher, who hooked the ball into the net.
A Ryan Giggs volley five minutes from the end sealed a satisfactory opening night for last seasons runners up, without ever reaching the heights of Chelsea’s opening display against West Brom.
Newcastle started with passion and confidence, determined to announce their return to the Premiership, and could have scored early on when Andy Carrol made great space in the penalty area, only to head wastefully wide.
But the Magpies spent most of the game chasing the ball, and when finally gaining possession were generally too exhausted to make decent use of it.
Rooney had another subdued night. Although as usual working very hard, he rarely looked like scoring, and more worryingly there were one or two signs that he is lacking confidence in front of goal.
Although his replacement by new signing Javier Hernandez just after the hour will be put down to lack of match fitness, Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping that last season’s top scorer gets off the mark soon.
Reina Giftwraps Draw for Gunners
The home side was outplayed in the first half and went down to 10 men at the end of the half when Joe Cole was shown a straight red card for a clumsy tackle on new Arsenal center back Laurent Koscielny.
But the Reds took the lead shortly after the break when striker David Ngog fired a shot top shelf on bewildered Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia. From here, the Reds gained strength and looked like they’d take the three points.
“It was an outstanding shot in the short corner. Give credit to Ngog on that,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
But in extra time, new Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh, who had been fairly quiet, managed to interfere with Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina’s attempt at catching a cross. The ball bounced off the post and then off Reina and into the net, giving Arsenal a share of the points.
“We can’t accuse him [Reina] of hindering our chances of getting a result,” said new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson after the game.
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