SOCCER

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Roberto De Zerbi avoided defeat in his competitive home debut as Olympique de Marseille saw out a fiery Stade de Reims in a gripping 2-2 draw at the Stade Vélodrome, with the two teams sharing a point apiece for the first time in six head-to-head encounters. A 10-man Stade de Reims suffered defeat to Lille on the opening match day, while Marseille routed Brest with a stunning five-star performance.

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Joao Pedro’s (22) 95th-minute header secured all three points for Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium as they prevailed 2-1, a result which sees them record a fifth victory in six head-to-head encounters.

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Liverpool made it two wins from two in the Premier League, easing past Brentford 2-0 at Anfield. The Reds have now won their last six home matches against the Bees, each without conceding. Arne Slot became the first Liverpool manager since Graeme Souness in 1991 to win his first league match, and his competitive introduction to Anfield couldn’t have started much better for him.

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Leandro Trossard came off the bench to inspire Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa - a major boost for the Gunners after suffering two Premier League (PL) defeats against the Villans last term. There was a delay to kick-off due to communication issues for the match officials, and there were further pauses in play so that Amadou Onana and Matty Cash could receive treatment, with the latter being forced off just 14 minutes into proceedings.

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Real Madrid picked up their first win of the 2024/25 LaLiga campaign with a 3-0 victory against Real Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabéu, stretching their unbeaten run in the Spanish top flight to 29 games.

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Ipswich Town’s rude awakening to life back in the Premier League continued with a 4-1 defeat at Manchester City - the first time since 2006/07 they’ve opened a league campaign with two successive defeat. PL winners four seasons running against last season's Championship runners-up - if football was played on paper, there was only ever likely to be one victor here.

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Noni Madueke scored a second-half hat-trick as Chelsea secured their first Premier League victory under Enzo Maresca, staving off two comebacks from Wolverhampton Wanderers to emerge 6-2 winners at Molineux. After drawing a blank on the opening weekend against Manchester City, it took Chelsea less than two minutes to get off the mark for the campaign in the Midlands.

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag (54) is delighted with how Joshua Zirkzee (23) has kicked off his Premier League career and hopes for more of the same from his new striker when they travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.