Let the games begin! This weekend was the start of the 2011-2012 season for the English Premier League. Each of the 20 Premier League teams will play 38 games, for a total of 380 games to be played throughout the season.
Reigning EPL Champions, and 2011-2012 favorites, Manchester United, started off on the right foot with a 2-1 road win vs West Bromwich Albion. ManU narrowly escaped an opening week tie due to an own goal late in the match, when a cross by Ashley Young was deflected into the net by West Brom defenseman Steven Reid. ManU also survived some shaky play by their new 20 year old goalkeeper David De Gea. De Gea will have big shoes to fill in place of former keeper Edwin Van Der Sar who had retired after the end of last season. If the Reds want to repeat as champs, they will surely need some solid play from their young unproven keeper.
Another favorite to win the EPL, Chelsea, got off to a slow start in a road game against Stoke City. Chelsea played well, dominating the game for most of the time, but failed to put the ball in the net. The game finished in a 0-0 tie. Last seasons big name acquisition, Fernando Torres, played well in the first game of the season. This is in comparison to last season when Torres struggled after being transferred over from Liverpool in February. He's still not in top form, but Sunday's game was definitely a step in the right direction.
Other top contenders, Liverpool and Arsenal both failed to impress as they both came away with ties on Saturday. Liverpool had a 1-0 lead against Sunderland until the 58th minute when Seb Larson scored on a beautiful volley to make it 1-1. Arsenal played Necastle, and got into a heated battle around the 73rd minute after the game started to get out of hand. Arsenal's Gervinho clearly dove in the box trying to draw a penalty after a failed to score. Newcastle's Joey Barton took exception to the play and physically confronted Gervinho by grabbing him. The two then exchanged words and then Barton went down acting as if he’d been punched. This incident escalated out of hand and had players from both teams confronting each other. The referee gave Gervinho, the Arsenal striker a red card, and decided to give Joey Barton yellow card for his involvement.
Top 3 finisher Manchester City is set to face off against Swansea City who is the first Welsh team to play in the EPL division since its formation in 1992. They are sure to have there hands full with Manchester City who finished the 2010-2011 season in 3rd which was their highest finish ever. With rumors swirling around their star forward Carlos Tevez, will Man City be able to come out with a victory? We shall see at 3pm.
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