Manchester United hosted Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon last in front a sizeable crowd for the first match of the new league campaign. It was great conditions for football, with the Red Devils opting to play against the wind in the first half after the winning the toss.
In truth it was a drab affair with both teams using a blanket defence. Indeed it was almost an hour before the home side registered a shot on target despite dominating kick-outs. The game was already settled at that stage, thanks to a bizarre set of circumstances when Spurs' corner back Kyle Walker managed to put the ball into his own goal; a rare occurrence on a football field.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Leicester City produced the performance of the afternoon, at home to Sunderland. Goals from Jamie Vardy and two from Riyad Mahrez gave them an early lead, before Marc Albrighton tagged on the insurance score on 66 minutes.
On Sunday the Arsenal vs West Ham match gave us the biggest upset of the weekend, with The Hammers overturning one of the favourites for the championship. The match saw young Reece Oxford, who still has two years left at minor level, make his West Ham debut.
He was part of a side who blew Arsenal away. We can talk about tactics until the cows come home but the fact of the matter is that West Ham were the hungrier side. They were first to every ball, tenacious in the tackle and had a much better workrate than their local rivals. That being said one would imagine Arsenal will still be there or thereabouts come September ... I mean 'May.'
Later in the day, Liverpool showed a new look set-up, deploying Christian Beneteke on the edge of the square. The big man proved a real handful and dangerous under the high ball, but remains to be seen whether he has the technical ability to cause sleepless nights for the opposition full backs.
