Leicester City 4-2 Sunderland
LEICESTER CITY HANDED an opening day 4-2 defeat to Sunderland at King Power Stadium.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Crystal Palace and Aston Villa but Leicester’s four-goal tally lifts them top-of-the-table ahead of the final match of the day where champions Chelsea host Swansea at Stamford Bridge.
James Vardy, who made his England debut during the 0-0 draw against Ireland in May, opened the scoring for the hosts with a deft header from Marc Albrighton’s cross after just 11 minutes.
The Foxes then extended their advantage with the first of two goals from French-born Algerian midfielder Riyad Mahrez.
The 24-year-old, who signed from French club Le Havre in 2014, headed home the second goal for new manager Claudio Ranieri after more good work from Albrighton to hand the home side a 2-0 lead after just 18 minutes.
Dutchman Dick Advocaat, the Sunderland manager who saved the team from relegation last season, then looked on in horror as his team fell further behind following a soft penalty.
Lee Cattermole was the culprit for the Black Cats as he blatantly tripped Mahrez on 25 minutes and the Algerian cooly dusted himself down before slotting home the penalty past Sunderland’s Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.
Former England international Jermaine Defoe gave Sunderland hope with his strike to pull it back to 3-1 but the excellent Albrighton grabbed the goal his superb performance deserved on 66 minutes to put the result beyond doubt.
Scotland’s Steven Fletcher grabbed a late consolation goal for Sunderland with 19 minutes left but it was in vain.
Italian Ranieri, who was a surprise choice to take over at Leicester following a career that included spells at Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and Monaco, could not have hoped for a better start by his side, who dominated for long spells and never looked in danger of losing the match.
For Advocaat, it was the worst possible start to his first full season in charge after overturning his original decision to retire at the end of last season in order to stay on as manager at the Stadium of Light.
Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa
Aston Villa ruined Bournemouth’s first taste of the Premier League as Benin striker Rudy Gestede marked his debut with the late goal that sealed a 1-0 win at Dean Court.
Playing in the top-flight for the first time in the club’s 116-year history, Bournemouth’s failure to turn their first half dominance into goals led to a painful lesson in the harsh realities of the Premier League.
Tim Sherwood’s Villa played the role of party-poopers to perfection thanks to the second half header from Gestede, signed from Blackburn for £6 million (€8.48 million) to fill the significant void left by Belgium forward Christian Benteke’s move to Liverpool.
Norwich City 1-3 Crystal Palace
Yohan Cabaye marked his Crystal Palace debut with a goal as Alan Pardew’s side opened the Premier League season with a 3-1 win at promoted Norwich City.
Wilfried Zaha and Damien Delaney scored for Palace either side of half-time, but a Nathan Redmond strike had the visitors living on their nerves until France international Cabaye, a £10 million (€14.1 million) acquisition from Paris Saint-Germain, found the net in stoppage time.
Norwich substitute Cameron Jerome had an equaliser ruled out for a high boot, allowing the Eagles to kick off their attempt to improve upon last season’s 10th-place finish with victory.
