Yesterday's Premier League Results
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham United
.......................................................Kouyaté 43′ Zárate 57′
At the Emirates Stadium. Att: 59,996
The Gunners suffered a shock defeat against fellow London side the Hammers
Arsenal's season started with defeat as West Ham won their first Premier League game under new manager Slaven Bilic.
Keeper Petr Cech misjudged Dimitri Payet's free-kick to allow Cheikhou Kouyate to nod in the Hammers' first.
After the break, Mauro Zarate finished from 20 yards after being gifted the ball by the Gunners defence.
Arsenal had 62% of possession, but put just six of 22 shots on target as Aaron Ramsey's first-half effort against the bar was the closest they came.
Gunners fans, who left the Emirates Stadium in large numbers before the final whistle, will feel like they have seen all this before, not just in the way their side performed, but also in the familiarity of their starting line-up.
Former West Ham defender Slaven Bilic was victorious in his first Premier League game as the club's new manager
Cech's arrival from Chelsea has been Wenger's only summer signing since last term's third-place finish, and it was an uncharacteristic display from the experienced keeper.
The 33-year-old was not only at fault for West Ham's opener, but was wrong-footed by Zarate's strike, although he received little help from his defence as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin gave the ball away on the edge of their own area.
Olivier Giroud frequently looked isolated up front, which will no doubt increase the hope among Arsenal supporters that
a reported deal for Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema can be completed.
Bilic, 46, a former West ham defender, replaced Sam Allardyce this summer and was handed a remit of getting the east London club playing 'the West Ham way' - a brand of football based around an attacking and entertaining approach.
But the Hammers showed the battling qualities Bilic was renowned for during his spell as a defender with the club from 1996 to 1997.
Reece Oxford, who became his side's youngest-ever Premier League player at the age of 16 years and 237 days, epitomised West Ham's fighting spirit, screening his defence superbly from midfield.
A star in the making: Young English defender Reece Oxford, aged 16, had the game's highest passing accuracy (95%), lost possession just once and made two blocks and three interceptions
BBC Sport - Arsenal 0-2 West Ham United
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Newcastle United 2-2 Southampton
Cissé 42′ Wijnaldum 48′..................................... Pellè 24′ Long 79′
At St James' Park. Att: 49,019
No-nonsense striker Shane Long rises to equalise for Southampton, his sixth goal for the Saints
Southampton earned a point at Newcastle thanks to substitute Shane Long's late goal.
Graziano Pelle met Cedric Soares' long ball to head Saints into an early lead, before Papiss Cisse equalised by chesting in a deflected cross.
New
£14.5m signing Georginio Wijnaldum then scored a powerful header on his Premier League debut to give Newcastle the lead early in the second half.
But Long struck 10 minutes from time, heading in a Dusan Tadic cross.
Southampton forward Sadio Mane had two chances to win the match in injury time. First he saw an effort blocked by Jack Colback, before another shot drifted inches wide of the post.
Saints manager Ronald Koeman followed the match from home as he recovered from an
operation on his Achilles tendon, while brother and assistant manager Erwin gave a first Premier League start in 491 days to striker Jay Rodriguez.
Rodriguez's return
Newcastle new boy Aleksandar Mitrovic, who came as a substitute after 75 minutes, was shown a yellow card for a foul just 12 seconds into his Premier League debut
England striker Jay Rodriguez was making his first Premier League start in 16 months.
The 26-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament in
April 2014 , only making his competitive return in the Europa League qualifying match against Dutch side Vitesse on Thursday.
His lack of match action showed and he was replaced by Long on 65 minutes after just one shot, which was off target.
Soares, the Portugal international signed for £3.6m from Sporting Lisbon, impressed on his debut, showing plenty of endeavour going forward and supplying a deep cross for Pelle's goal.
His replacement
Cuco Martina became only the second player from the Caribbean nation of Curaçao to play in the Premier League after West Brom's Shelton Martis in 2009.
BBC Sport - Newcastle United 2-2 Southampton
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Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool
...................................................................Coutinho 86′
At the Britannia Stadium. Att: 27,654
Stoke City thrashed Liverpool 6-1 on the last day of last season in what was Steven Gerrard's last game for Liverpool, but Liverpool got revenge yesterday (above)
Watch Coutinho's beautiful long-range strike:
Philippe Coutinho's stunning long-range strike gave Liverpool a late victory over Stoke on the opening weekend.
The match was a lacklustre Premier League encounter until the Brazilian's magic four minutes from the end.
Former Liverpool man Glen Johnson could have put his new side in front in the first half, but skewed his shot over the bar from 12 yards out.
Charlie Adam's long-range free-kick almost sneaked in at the back post but was pushed away by Simon Mignolet.
These two sides met on the final day of last season, when
Stoke's 6-1 win was Liverpool's heaviest defeat since 1963.
It meant Mark Hughes' side ended the campaign with 54 points, their highest total in the top flight.
New season, new problems
Despite last season's embarrassing result, Liverpool's owners backed Brendan Rodgers and kept him as manager, so have things improved?
Although victorious this time round, Liverpool have work to do on how to bed together their attacking players.
Christian Benteke touched the ball just five times in the penalty area, and will need to improve as he faces competition from substitute Roberto Firmino - who had a run out in the last 15 minutes - and Danny Ings. Daniel Sturridge will add to the fight for places when he returns from injury next month.
Meanwhile, Stoke are an uncompromising outfit under Mark Hughes, with new boys Ibrahim Afellay and Marco van Ginkel giving extra class to a side who were undone by a special strike.
Ibrahim impresses and the Christian conundrum
Afellay was brought in on a free transfer from Barcelona and looks to be a player who will excite the Britannia Stadium crowd. His neat footwork was generously applauded by the fans, while his composure on the ball and attacking prowess will give Stoke extra incentive in the final third.
Liverpool full-backs Nathaniel Clyne and 18-year-old Joe Gomez both impressed, while the experienced James Milner and Stoke's on-loan Van Ginkel showed they are not afraid to scrap in midfield, but also looked assured in possession.
BBC Sport - Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool
