The 2016-17 edition of the Premier League kicks off with some exciting matches. While Everton are set to host Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool travel to Arsenal and Chelsea welcome West Ham on matchday 1 of the new season. While the excitement is shooting through the roofs already, the bigger teams that play “supposedly” weak teams must be cautious as there have been numerous instances where they have slipped on the very first day of the season.
In this segment, we bring to you 5 biggest upsets on the opening day since the league’s inception in 1992.
Sheffield United 2-1 Manchester United 1992
Having missed the League title in the 1991-1992 season by 4 points, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were expected to mount an even more tenacious challenge for the newly instituted Premier League title. However, things did not go as per plan for the Red Devils on the opening da,y as they lost the game 2-1 to Sheffield United, a side which had finished 9th in the previous season.
Sheffield United had only won once in over 15 years preceding the match and the opening fixture was believed to be a walk in the park for the mighty Manchester club. Brian Deane played the wrecker-in-chief for Sheffield as he scored in the 5th minute and then went on to grab a second early in the 2nd half dealing a blow to United’s aspirations. While Mark Hughes did pull one back for Manchester United in 61st minute, it did not save his club from suffering a shock defeat on the opening day.
Arsenal 2-4 Norwich City 1992
Sheffield’s win over United was not the only shock of the matchday 1 of the Premier League era with Arsenal suffering a shock defeat to Norwich city. The Canaries had narrowly escaped relegation the previous season and were believed to be in contention for a relegation battle yet again in the new season.
Things began on a bright note for the Gunners as they went up by 2 goals courtesy of goals from Steve Bould and Kevin Campbell in the 28th and 39th minute respectively. However, things took a turn for the worse when Mark Robbins pulled one back in the 69th minute. With time on hand, the Canaries pushed on and were duly rewarded as they found the back of the net on 3 more occasions within the next 15 minutes.
Buoyed by their performance on the opening day, Norwich went on to have a great first Premier League season, finishing third and ahead of the heavyweights such as Liverpool and Arsenal.
Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United 1995
Appearing second time on the list of 5 major upsets in the Premier League era are Manchester United, who lost 3-1 away to Aston Villa of the opening day of the 2015-16 season. While Manchester United has finished 2nd in the previous season, Aston Villa had escaped relegation by a single point and this was touted to be a mismatch of the highest order.
However, Villa ran away winners, courtesy of 3 first half goals from Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and future Manchester United superstar Dwight Yorke. David Beckham’s late effort failed to inspire the Red Devils handing them a horrific start to the new season of the Premier League.
It was after this infamous match that Liverpool legend and commentator, Alan Hansen, remark those famous words – “You’ll never win anything with kids”, which would later haunt him as that group of “kids” won every possible title.
The Red Devils recovered from the shock defeat and went on to claim the title just like they did in the opening season of the 2012-13 season.
Coventry City 2-1 Chelsea 1999
While they were not at their imperious best by the 1998-1999 season, the Blues were definitely a club on the rise having finished 4th in the previous season. Post the sacking of Ruud Gullit in February 1998, the club had appointed Gianluca Vialli as a player-manager and the former Italian international was expected to ring the right changes at the club to ensure that they claim their first league title since the 1954-55 season.
However, the London club’s aspirations were dealt a blow by Coventry who beat them courtesy of early goals from Darren Huckerby (10th minute) and Dion Dublin (16th minute). Though Guus Poyet restored the single goal difference in the 37th minute, the London club was not able to capitalise on the momentum and suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Coventry, a side which eventually finished 15th in the season.
West Brom 3-0 Liverpool 2012
The Merseysiders had been in pursuit of their first league title for over 20 years when the club decided to install former Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers at the helm of affairs. The Irishman’s first challenge as the new manager of the club was a trip to West Brom, a club that had proved to be a thorn in the flesh for the Reds and he was dealt a reality check as the Baggies thrashed Liverpool 3-0.
A spectacular goal from Zoltan Gera was followed by a Peter Odemwingie Penalty and Lukaku capped up the brilliant evening for West Brom with a well-taken goal late in the second half. If you think the score line looks ridiculous, West Brom had a chance to add at least 2 more clear cut chances to improve their lead. Should they have taken their chances, it would have handed the Reds with, not only their worst start in a Premier League season, but also one of the worst defeats ever.
The side failed to pick up from their opening day loss, finishing 7th in the league, just one spot above the side which kick-started yet another disappointing season for the Reds.
