Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy made up for the departure of David Beckham and Tim Howard started with a shutout on Saturday as Manchester United began its defense of the Premier League title by crushing neighbor Bolton 4-0.
Giggs hit two including a stunning free kick, Van Nistelrooy scored for a record ninth game in a row and new Portuguese signing Cristiano Ronaldo made a standout debut as a substitute at Old Trafford.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Howard made an acrobatic, fingertip save from Lee Nolan with the score still at 0-0 midway through the first half. Other than having to field a difficult defensive header from teammate Mikael Silvestre, the American spent much of the time watching goals go in at the other end.
Meanwhile, it seems the arrival of Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon is making up for the departure of Beckham to Real Madrid.
"It looks like the fans have a new hero," said Reds manager Alex Ferguson. "It was a marvelous debut, almost unbelievable. I felt his penetration could make a difference for us.
"We have to be careful with the boy," he said. "You must remember he is only 18. We are going to have to gauge when we use him."
Ferguson is happy to let Ronaldo play with the Portuguese squad against Kazakhstan in a friendly on Wednesday.
"It is a good thing he is going with Portugal," the Reds manager said. "He has the chance to talk with Luis Figo and Rui Costa in his own country and that experience will be invaluable when he comes back to us."
Ten-man Arsenal edged Everton 2-1 after Sol Campbell had been sent off in the first half with French stars Thierry Henry and Robert Pires both finding the net for last season's runner up.
But it was the second week in a row the Gunners had a player ejected. Last week it was striker Francis Jeffers in the Community Shield against Manchester United and the tally of red cards in just over six seasons under Arsene Wenger is 51.
There were mixed fortunes for the three promoted clubs.
Portsmouth returned the top flight with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa but Wolves were crushed 5-1 at Blackburn. Leicester held a two goal lead against Southampton but the Saints hit back for a 2-2 tie.
Fulham edged Middlesbrough 3-2 with Japanese star Junichi Inamoto scoring one of the three.
Teddy Sheringham and Patrik Berger scored on their debuts as Portsmouth downed Villa at Fratton Park.
Having languished in English soccer's wilderness for all but one season since 1959, Pompey made an impressive return under Harry Redknapp who justified his choice of veteran signings.
England striker Sheringham, 37, netted in the 40th minute and Czech forward Berger, hired from Liverpool, added the second after a brilliant dribble inside the area in the 63rd minute.
Promoted as division one champion, Redknapp's team was cruising to victory until Gareth Barry replied six minutes from the end for Villa a minute after he was sent off for abusing a linesman.
As the debutants continued to impress, Australian star Brett Emerton was the star as Blackburn made Wolves' return after 19 years a painful one at Ewood Park.
Signed from Feyenoord, the Aussie scored and created lots of chances for Rovers with Andy Cole coming off the bench to net twice to add to strikes by debutant Lorenzo Amoruso and Andy Thompson.
Kevin Phillips, signed by Southampton only Thursday, began the fightback at Leicester's Walkers Stadium with his team 2-0 down. His strike partner, James Beattie, then hit the equalizer as Gordon Strachan's team canceled out Paul Dickov's penalty and Les Ferdinand's power header.
On the opening day of the Premier League campaign, Birmingham edged Tottenham 1-0 thanks to another debutant, David Dunn.
Kicking off 30 minutes earlier, the Blues were the first team to collect three points when Dunn fired home from the spot after Anthony Gardner had hauled down Robbie Savage.
Hired from Blackburn, the England international midfielder powered the penalty to the left of Spurs' American goalkeeper, Kasey Keller.
Expected to be one of the strugglers under young manager Chris Coleman, Fulham hit the target three times against 'Boro through Steve Marlet, Inamoto and Louis Saha. Boro had taken the lead through Argentina forward Carlos Marinelli and scored the final goal through Slovak striker Sziland Nemeth.
The biggest match of the weekend is on Sunday when big-spending Chelsea goes to Liverpool.
With billionaire Russian businessman Roman Abramovich now controlling Chelsea and wiping out some ?90 million (US$144 million) debts, Blues manager Claudio Ranieri has recruited eight new players at a cost of ?75 million (US$120 million).
They include Juan Sebastian Veron from Manchester United, Geremi from Real Madrid, Damien Duff from Blackburn, Wayne Bridge from Southampton, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson from West Ham and, provided he gets a work permit, Romanian striker Adrian Mutu from Serie A club Parma.
Liverpool's one big buy was Harry Kewell from Leeds and the Merseyside club wants to make up for last season's 2-1 loss in the final game of the season when Chelsea edged Gerard Houllier's men for the fourth Champions League spot.
Sunday's other games are Charlton-Manchester City and Leeds-Newcastle.
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