Rashford brace fires Utd to Chelsea romp; Gunners shoot down Magpies
- 11 Aug 2019
Marcus Rashford scored twice as Manchester United made the perfect start to their Premier League season by inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Frank Lampard in his first match in charge of Chelsea on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were in need of a fast start to the campaign to erase memories of a terrible end to last season and got it, as Rashford’s early penalty and three goals in 16 second-half minutes from Anthony Martial, Rashford and debutant Daniel James had Old Trafford in raptures.
Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka also impressed at the back on their debuts after United spent £130 million ($156 million) on the pair over the summer to shore up a defence that conceded 54 Premier League goals last season.
However, questions will be asked of Chelsea’s decision to let experienced defender David Luiz leave to join Arsenal earlier this week as the Blues struggled to contain the United counter-attacks despite dominating long spells.
Lampard’s first team selection was a bold one as he put his faith in youth with Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount handed starts, while £60 million signing Christian Pulisic was made to wait for his Premier League debut on the bench.
And Chelsea started the better as Abraham smashed a shot from the edge of the box off the post.
However, the heart of the Chelsea defence always looked fragile.
Kurt Zouma had already gotten away with gifting possession to Martial on the edge of his own box as the Frenchman shot weakly into the arms of Kepa Arrizabalaga before he was turned easily by Rashford and hauled the England striker to the ground.
Rashford dusted himself off to blast the penalty high past Kepa to open the scoring.
Rashford and Martial provided the clinical touch in the second half to kill the game off in the space of 60 seconds that Chelsea lacked.
Maguire showed his presence to outmuscle Abraham on the edge of the United box and set off a flowing counter-attack that ended with Martial bundling the ball home at the far post from Andreas Pereira’s cross.
Paul Pogba then played provider with a brilliant ball over the top for Rashford to burst in behind before coolly slotting past Kepa.
Pogba was the creator again for the fourth as the Frenchman played a one-two with Rashford and powered through the Chelsea defence before laying off to James, who got the benefit of a big deflection to find the bottom corner.
Earlier, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired Arsenal to a 1-0 win at Newcastle in their Premier League opener on Sunday, providing hope of an improved run this season for Unai Emery’s side.
Aubameyang gave Arsenal fans renewed belief they can get back in the top four this term with a typically predatory second-half finish to give the north Londoners a winning start.
After a quiet start, Aubameyang, the joint top-scorer in the Premier League last season, sprang to life when he tested Martin Dubravka with a powerful strike after superbly controlling Mkhitaryan’s long pass.
It was a warning that Newcastle failed to heed as Aubameyang put Arsenal ahead in the 58th minute.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles was the provider, making a timely interception of Paul Dummett’s under-hit pass to Jetro Willems and surging away from inside his own half. Unfurling a pin-point pass that curled over the back-tracking Newcastle defence, Maitland-Niles found Aubameyang in space and the Gabon striker took a touch before clipping his cool finish past Dubravka.
In another earlier match, Leicester City and Wolves offered little to show they can break into the Premier League top six this season after opening the campaign with an uninspiring goalless draw on Sunday. Wolves did put the ball in the net early in the second-half through Leander Dendoncker, but were denied by VAR as the goal was ruled out for a handball by Willy Boly before the Belgian fired home.
Both sides, along with Everton, were seen as potential beneficiaries should Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal stumble this season, but largely cancelled each other out at the King Power stadium.
The hosts had over 70 percent possession but had to wait until seven minutes from time to force Wolves’ goalkeeper Rui Patricio into a save as the Portuguese international comfortably held Harvey Barnes’ effort.
Agence France-Presse
English Premier League results on Sunday:
Leicester 0 Wolves 0; Manchester United 4 (Rashford 18-pen, 67, Martial 65, James 81) Chelsea 0; Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 58)
