Sunderland striker Darren Bent scored a 90th-minute penalty to hand big-spending Manchester City a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
After splashing out more than £100 million (US$154 million) on players during the close-season, City are expected to do great things, but Roberto Mancini’s side suffered their first defeat of the season against a resolute Sunderland.
Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor came close to putting City ahead late on, but his flick was brilliantly tipped over by Simon Mignolet.
PHOTO: EPA
That set the stage for Bent’s match-winning moment.
Micah Richards was penalized for climbing on the England international, who picked himself up to drive his spot-kick under Joe Hart.
“I think football is very strange,” Mancini said. “We played some fantastic football in the first half and we had three or four great chances, but if you don’t score you can lose games like this. I want to speak to the players when they come back from the international break because, in the second half, it was too easy for Sunderland to play their football.”
Fernando Torres fired Liverpool to their first Premier League win of the season as the Reds defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Anfield.
Roy Hodgson’s side had drawn against Arsenal and lost to Manchester City in their first two league games under their new manager, but Torres lifted the early-season gloom around Anfield.
Torres struck in the 65th minute with a volley from Dirk Kuyt’s cross to condemn promoted Albion to their second defeat of the season.
A disappointing day for Roberto Di Matteo’s side was complete when midfielder James Morrison was sent off for a rash lunge on Torres in the 86th minute.
“It was hard-fought, especially the first half when we weren’t firing on all cylinders, and they were playing well and causing us problems,” Hodgson said. “I thought we got better as the game went on and we got the points thanks to a world-class strike.”
Aston Villa boosted caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald’s hopes of landing the job on a permanent basis as Luke Young’s goal secured a 1-0 win over Everton.
Aston Villa have been without a full-time manager since Martin O’Neill quit just before the start of the season and MacDonald has been holding the fort with mixed results, but Young’s ninth-minute goal at Villa Park and the determined performance that followed at least made his case.
Robbie Blake capped a superb fightback by 10-man Bolton Wanderers as his late free-kick rescued a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City.
Owen Coyle’s side looked deep in trouble after Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner scored for Birmingham either side of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen’s red card for violent conduct, but Johnson then gave away a penalty which Kevin Davies converted to reduce the deficit with 20 minutes to go, setting the stage for substitute Blake to curl home his first goal for the club.
English Premier League
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Chelsea | 3 | 14 | 9 |
2 | Arsenal | 3 | 7 | 7 |
3 | Manchester United | 3 | 6 | 7 |
4 | Aston Villa | 3 | -2 | 6 |
5 | Bolton Wanderers | 3 | 2 | 5 |
6 | Birmingham City | 3 | 1 | 5 |
7 | Wolverhampton | 3 | 1 | 5 |
8 | Newcastle United | 3 | 3 | 4 |
9 | Manchester City | 3 | 2 | 4 |
10 | Sunderland | 3 | 0 | 4 |
11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | 0 | 4 |
12 | Blackpool | 3 | -2 | 4 |
13 | Liverpool | 3 | -2 | 4 |
14 | Fulham | 3 | 0 | 3 |
15 | Blackburn Rovers | 3 | -1 | 3 |
16 | West Bromwich Albion | 3 | -6 | 3 |
17 | Wigan Athletic | 3 | -9 | 3 |
18 | Everton | 3 | -2 | 1 |
19 | Stoke City | 3 | -4 | 0 |
20 | West Ham United | 3 | -8 | 0 |
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