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The Premier League returned with a bang on Friday night. Newly-promoted Brentford played their first ever Premier League game and registered an exhilarating win over Arsenal in front of their vociferous home crowd at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Sergi Canos became the first goal-scorer of the 2021-22 Premier League season, with Christian Norgaard completing a 2-0 win for Brentford, as Arsenal were left shell-shocked.
Brentford set the tone for the rest of the weekend as the Premier League ended up producing blockbuster entertainment on Saturday and Sunday. Manchester United ran riot over bitter-rivals Leeds United at Old Trafford, courtesy of a hat-trick from Bruno Fernandes. The Red Devils' 5-1 win also witnessed Paul Pogba racking up four assists, one more than what he managed in the entirety of last season.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool also registered convincing 3-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich City respectively. However, reigning champions Manchester City suffered a shock defeat away from home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to cap off an exciting opening weekend in the Premier League.
Newcastle United hosting West Ham at St James' Park proved to be one of the best fixtures overall. Not purely because six goals were scored in the 4-2 win for the Hammers, but because it also produced the intensity and vigor synonymous with the Premier League.
The Premier League benefitted from the return of fans
It goes without saying that the fans returning to stadiums also proved a sight to behold. For so long football had suffered without its supporters, and from the Brentford Community Stadium on the opening night to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, the atmosphere was electric.
Without further delay, let's delve straight into the major talking points that emerged from the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League season:
#1 Pogba turns the style on as Manchester United signal intent
For all the talk surrounding his inconsistency and loyalty in a Manchester United shirt, Paul Pogba could not have picked a better game to showcase his quality. In Leeds United's highly-anticipated return to a packed Old Trafford, nothing short of blockbuster entertainment was expected.
The ensemble cast at Manchester United delivered that and more on Saturday. With the crowds making for a raucous atmosphere that raised the decibel levels all throughout, Manchester United were ruthless. Despite Bruno Fernandes netting a hat-trick, the display from Pogba would have felt more soothing to the United faithful.
In the build-up to the Premier League season, Pogba has been the subject of a potential move away from Old Trafford. The Frenchman is in the final year of his contract and with negotiations stalling, the tension has been palpable with respect to his future.
But on Saturday, all of that took a backseat as Pogba shifted gears and drove United to the summit of the Premier League table. The midfielder, who enjoyed a free role, became the first Manchester United player and the seventh overall to record four assists in a Premier League game. Fernandes took the match ball home, but it was Pogba who ignited the stuff of dreams at Old Trafford.
Many would argue that the manner in which Leeds approached the game allowed United to run away with it. There will be claims suggesting the 5-1 drubbing could've been avoided if the visitors were slightly more pragmatic. But all of that background noise rarely matters, especially since Pogba is now setting the tone at Manchester United.
#2 Salah reinstates quality with opening day magic yet again
The events that transpired during Saturday's late kick-off at Carrow Road in the Premier League seemed like deja vu. Mohamed Salah was at the peak of his powers, steering Liverpool to a convincing opening day triumph over newly-promoted Norwich City. The last time it happened, Liverpool won the league and the Canaries were relegated.
Despite their eagerness to play expansive football hurting their chances of avoiding relegation in the 2019-20 Premier League season, Norwich were in no mood to look for alternatives this term. Daniel Farke encouraged his team to stick to their ethos and to be fair to Norwich, they did compete well for most parts of the game.
The opening goal for Liverpool came through a slice of fortune. Salah failed to control a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold and the ball slid into the path of Diogo Jota, who tucked it away albeit not in the most convincing way. Although it was recorded as an assist to Salah, the Egyptian, to his credit, did not make any claim for it.
There was plenty of surety about his involvement in the next two goals though. First, he teed up Roberto Firmino with a cut back across goal. However, the icing on the cake proved to be his goal that completed the rout. A weak clearance fell to Salah near the 18-yard line and the forward produced a moment of absolute quality.
Salah brought the ball down with an exquisite touch before curling it past Tim Krul and into the corner. The touch was so delicate that it produced enough backspin to set everything up for him. It proved to be the ideal indication of his quality and it only shows the fact that he is always in the mood for goals.
Nobody but Salah has scored on the opening day of five successive Premier League campaigns so far. The Liverpool forward has seven goals and is one short of equalling the likes of Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard as players with the most goals on the opening day.
Many 'kopites' would believe that with him running down the wings, there is very little that could go wrong for Liverpool. Norwich will hope this isn't a sign of things to come like in 2019-20, but Liverpool have every right to believe it could be.
#3 Spurs prove the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Nuno Espirito Santo sports a beard, but he is no Aristotle. Under his tutelage on Sunday in the Premier League, however, Tottenham Hotspur proved the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Portuguese tactician has tried his best to ensure the Harry Kane transfer saga is shunned from the spotlight as much as possible. He has confidently maintained that Kane is integral to his plans, so much so that you would feel there is no interest from Manchester City.
Spurs did not need Kane on the opening weekend though. Backed by their vociferous home supporters, the north Londoners pulled through to upset the Premier League champions. Not many people expected Spurs to do that under Nuno. The former Wolves boss was not a prime candidate to take over at the club anyway.
But Nuno deserves credit for sticking to his guns. He is someone who has seemingly found the trick to getting the better of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, especially after doing the Premier League double on them in 2019. The reliance on absorbing pressure and then punishing the Premier League champions' carelessness to hit them on the break seems to be the key to it. Nuno's Spurs were no different in Sunday's Premier League clash.
Lucas Moura looked threatening and it was no surprise that the opening goal stemmed from him initiating a break with a pass for Steven Bergwijn. When Son Heung-min received the ball out wide from Bergwijn, there was still plenty left to do. The Spurs forward cut inside before getting his shot away from just outside the penalty area and the ball nestled into the far corner.
As the game went on and it started to look like the Premier League champions would succumb to defeat on the opening day, Spurs fans could not resist the temptation. "Are you watching Harry Kane?", they sang in unison to usher in a new chapter under Nuno.
Kane may still end up joining Manchester City before the transfer window shuts in the Premier League, but Spurs have proved they can be fine even without him.
#4 Not all talent has slipped out through the back at Chelsea
The ongoing summer transfer window has witnessed a mass exodus of talent from Chelsea. Despite boasting one of the finest academies in England, the Premier League giants have understandably struggled to integrate enough of their graduates into the first team.
With several highly-rated prospects like Tino Livramento, Lewis Bate and Marc Guehi, who made his Crystal Palace debut against Chelsea on Saturday, leaving Stamford Bridge this summer, there were concerns. It signaled that Chelsea were no longer interested in promoting academy talent to help their Premier League aspirations.
Amidst all that gloom, the emergence of Trevoh Chalobah has been a much-needed ray of sunshine for the Chelsea faithful. The 22-year-old, who spent last season on loan in Ligue 1 with Lorient, has enjoyed a stellar week. In addition to playing an influential role in helping Chelsea lift the UEFA Super Cup, Chalobah capped off his Premier League debut with a goal on Saturday.
As soon as the Chelsea academy graduate planted his shot into the far bottom-corner from 25 yards out, he went down on his knees and kissed the turf. A moment to remember for Chalobah, who has been with the Premier League giants since he was eight years old.
There is talk of Chelsea pursuing a deal for Sevilla defender Jules Kounde in the ongoing summer transfer window. But considering how Chalobah has forced his way into Thomas Tuchel's thinking, the call to find a versatile ball-playing defender for Chelsea may have already been answered.
#5 Brentford are the bee's knees and Arsenal face their sting
The last time Brentford played in a top-flight game was back in 1947. Coincidentally, their last home game in the division was against Friday's opponents Arsenal too.
Back in the day, Arsenal secured a 1-0 win during that fixture. But Thomas Frank and his modern day Brentford were going to have none of that on the opening day of the 2021-22 Premier League season. Backed by the electric atmosphere generated by their fans, the Bees were buzzing from the first whistle at the Brentford Community Stadium during their Premier League debut.
It felt as if Arsenal were overwhelmed, which is quite a concern despite the fact that they were without key players in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. For the majority of the first half, Brentford ran riot, making it look like they belonged in the top-flight.
The opening goal was the perfect example of how badly the hosts wanted to win.
Callum Chambers attempted to flush the ball away from the byline, but his clearance was weak. Ethan Pinnock, who had moved up from right centre-back, headed the ball into the path of Sergio Canos. The Spanish wing-back raced into the penalty area from the left flank and rifled his shot low into the bottom corner, beating Bernd Leno with power at the near post.
As soon as the ball crashed into the back of the net, Griffin Park erupted into a delirium of noise. It was well-deserved and Arsenal never really got going for the rest of the first half.
While the opening goal was evidence of how Brentford can press high and take games to the opposition, the second goal proved they can be multi-faceted in their approach.
Second-half substitute Mads Bech Sorensen catapluted a long throw-in into the Arsenal penalty area and Christian Norgaard capitalized with a header from close-range.
The goal was the perfect example of an intelligently worked out routine. Ivan Toney sneaked in between Ben White and Pablo Mari at the near post and the ball ricocheted off the latter on its way to Norgaard. The Danish midfielder leapt high to plant his header safely and seal the three points for the Premier League newcomers.
While several newly-promoted teams have struggled to avoid relegation due to their efforts to play expansive football in the Premier League, Brentford seem capable of finding the right balance. That could be key in the Bees' quest to stay up in the top-flight.
For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, it only gets tougher now with games against Chelsea and Manchester City.
