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LONDON: West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyate (second from left) heads the ball to score his sides first goal during the English Premier eagueL soccer match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium. —AP Cech blunder shatters Arsenal

Ham into the lead late in the first half at the It was a dream start for new West Ham Aaron Ramsey came close to breaking the fully punished the mistake by heading into Emirates stadium. manager Slaven Bilic, who replaced Sam deadlock when the Arsenal midfielder’s drive the unguarded net. Desperately needing an Arsenal 0 Cech wasn’t helped by an alarmingly care- Allardyce in the close-season, and the perfect hit Aaron Cresswell and deflected onto the immediate response after the interval, less display from his new team-mates, who response to criticism of his decision to field a crossbar. Arsenal tried to raise their tempo and Giroud crumbled again when Alex Oxlade- weakened team in their Europa League But Wenger’s men weren’t quite as domi- sent a shot crashing into the side-netting. Chamberlain’s mistake allowed Argentine for- defeat against Astra Giurgiu on Thursday. nant as the possession statistics suggested But Giroud wasted another chance, this ward Mauro Zarate to seal the most stunning While Bilic celebrated with his club’s sup- and West Ham debutant Dimitri Payet clever- time failing to find the power to beat West Ham 2 result of the Premier League’s opening week- porters at full-time, Wenger wore a frown as ly worked space for a long-range effort that Hammers goalkeeper Adrian, and in the 57th end. he trudged down the tunnel, possibly to deflected just over. minute more lackadaisical defending allowed All the optimism surrounding Arsenal in reconsider his decision to distance himself That was a warning to Arsenal’s notorious- West Ham to double their lead. LONDON: Petr Cech suffered a nightmare the aftermath of last season’s FA Cup final from a bid for Real Madrid striker Karim ly fragile defence that they couldn’t afford to This time Oxlade-Chamberlain was the Premier League debut for Arsenal as the goal- rout of Aston Villa and last weekend’s Benzema. With French forward Olivier Giroud relax, but they were breached two minutes guilty party, surrendering possession to keeper’s costly blunder condemned the Community Shield victory over Chelsea was failing to repay Wenger’s faith after being before half-time in the careless manner that Zarate, who turned under no pressure and hit Gunners to a shock 2-0 defeat against West washed away in a catastrophic start to Arsene handed a start ahead of Theo Walcott, Arsenal suggested Cech’s arrival is yet to spread the a low strike that wasn’t especially powerful Ham yesterday. Wenger’s 20th season in charge. were mostly impotent in front of goal. increased assurance he was expected to pro- but still beat Cech. Cech’s £10 million ($15.5 million, 14.1 mil- The Gunners boss must have been horri- Oxlade-Chamberlain popped up in space vide. Wenger sent on Walcott and Alexis lion euros) arrival from champions Chelsea fied with the way his team, tipped to finally to lash a dipping volley just wide in the early When Payet whipped a dangerous Sanchez and Arsenal laid seige to Adrian’s was hailed in some quarters as the move that end the club’s 12-year wait to win the title, stages. The Arsenal winger then made an inci- inswinging free-kick into the penalty area, goal late on. But West Ham, superbly mar- would tip the balance of power in the title were bullied by West Ham, who ended a run sive burst down the right flank that took him Cech made the wrong choice, rushing off his shalled by 16-year-old midfielder Reece race firmly in Arsenal’s favor. But the 33-year- of 10 successive defeats against Arsenal with past three defenders before a lofted cross line to attempt a leaping punch that got Oxford, held firm thanks to Adrian, who old Czech was badly at fault when Senegal their first win over their London rivals since picked out Santi Cazorla, who guided his vol- nowhere near the ball and Kouyate, left free turned away efforts from Cazorla and Mesut midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate headed West April 2007. ley onto the roof of the net. by Laurent Koscielny’s sloppy marking, glee- Ozil to leave the hosts stunned. — AFP Coutinho beauty gives Newcastle in drab draw Shane Long. Southampton, whose man- Liverpool Stoke revenge ager Ronald Koeman missed the game Newcastle 2 following surgery on his Achilles tendon, midfielder Marco van Ginkel and ex-Liverpool deserved their point and contributed to defender Glen Johnson. an entertaining game. Stoke 0 Both sides prodded and probed for signs of They survived an early scare when weakness in the opening 20 minutes. A mis- Southampton 2 Wijnaldum should have scored from a cued shot from Mame Biram Diouf and a cross by the influential Sissoko, who also sliced effort from Charlie Adam were the best teed up Cisse, only for the Senegal strik- er’s touch to betray him. Liverpool 1 that Stoke could manage, while the visitors showed neat build-up play with Coutinho’s NEWCASTLE: Former England manager By that stage, Newcastle were trailing clever runs at the heart of their attacking for- Steve McClaren was unable to mark his to Pelle’s 24th-minute goal, headed in by ays. Stoke, who were watched in the stands by Premier League return with a victory as the striker when the hosts’ central STOKE-ON-TRENT: Philippe Coutinho scored Inter Milan playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri amid Newcastle United drew 2-2 at home to defenders failed to deal with a cross from a stunning late goal as Liverpool avenged reports of a loan move, opened up the LONDON: Stoke’s Marco van Ginkel (cen- Southampton yesterday. Cedric Soares and goalkeeper Tim Krul’s their humiliating defeat on last season’s final Liverpool defence just after the half-hour tre) is tackled by Liverpool’s James Milner But there was still much to encourage touch was not sufficient to prevent the day against Stoke City with a 1-0 victory yes- mark. during the English Premier League soccer McClaren in the way his new team pro- ball going inside the foot of the post. terday. From Van Ginkel’s cross Afellay saw his match. — AP duced a performance that was in vivid Krul had already made one excellent contrast to the dismal displays that so save when he blocked an angled drive The Reds were thrashed 6-1 — their heavi- volleyed effort blocked by Clyne, with box, but it was pinched back off him, while est defeat in 52 years-at the Britannia Stadium Johnson unable to capitalise on the loose ball alienated their supporters last season. from Cedric and also dealt well with an Benteke subsequently saw his first real effort Those fans have resisted calls to stay effort from Dusan Tadic as Southampton 77 days ago, but made partial amends for that as he lifted his effort from near the penalty of the game blocked. loss with a hard-fought win in their opening spot over the crossbar. away, with nearly 50,000 at this game, displayed a willingness to drive forward With 15 minutes left Can played an intelli- and they liked what they witnessed as in support of Pelle. Premier League fixture on the same ground. Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren was gent through-ball for Benteke to chase, only Neither goalkeeper had a meaningful save to fortunate to only escape with a yellow card Papiss Cisse and Georginio Wijnaldum Newcastle, annoyed that two penalty for a combination of Marc Wilson and Geoff scored their goals. appeals had been rejected by referee make in the match, which appeared to be shortly after the break when his elbow caught Cameron to deny the former Aston Villa man a destined to end in a goalless draw. Diouf as the pair challenged for a high ball. Players such as Cisse, Moussa Sissoko Craig Pawson, were again frustrated chance to shoot. and Gabriel Obertan, who all struggled when Davis cleared a shot off the line in But with four minutes left Brazil interna- Rodgers withdrew the ineffective Adam Rodgers gave the visiting supporters their tional Coutinho, one of five survivors from Lallana for Emre Can just after the hour, but it for much of last season, were much the 38th minute, but they were level first glimpse of the Brazil attacker Roberto improved, while new signings Wijnaldum three minutes before the interval. that capitulation in May, gave Liverpool the was Stoke who at that stage looked the most Firmino, but it was his compatriot who provid- points with a sublime long-range effort. likely to break the deadlock. and Chancel Mbemba made instant It was a goal they deserved, but it ed the game’s standout moment. impacts. McClaren was unhappy at the involved a stroke of good fortune as Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers gave Indeed, Liverpool goalkeeper Simon In the 86th minute, Coutinho spun away debuts to four of his close-season signings, Mignolet did well to tip a dangerous curling way they allowed Graziano Pelle to give Massadio Haidara’s cross flicked off the from Stoke substitute Steve Sidwell and ran at Southampton the lead mid-way through foot of Sadio Mane and looped over with Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez in at full- free-kick from Adam around the post, as Diouf goal before unleashing an unstoppable shot back, James Milner in midfield and striker lurked with intent, before the visitors built the first-half, but overall this was a stranded goalkeeper Maarten from 30 yards that flew over the despairing vibrant start against a team who finished Stekelenburg to leave Cisse with the sim- Christian Benteke leading the line. The Potters some momentum of their own. dive of Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland and handed first starts to winger Ibrahim Afellay, Coutinho stole the ball on the edge of the seventh last season and emerged with a ple task of chesting in from only two into the net. — AFP point thanks to a 79th-minute goal from yards. — AFP