A New Season

With the kick-off of the new English Premier League season, it's time for a brief round-up for the first week.

Two-time defending champion Chelsea got off to a good start, with a comfortable 3-0 home win against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. With the addition of star players like Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, it was the old boys who dominated the headlines, as John Terry, Frank Lampard (why didn't he find the target in the World Cup?) and Didier Drogba all found the target.

In their next match, Shevchenko opened the scoring for Chelsea against Middlesborough, who is managed by first-year manager, former English international Gareth Southgate. It looked as though Chelsea could maintain its 100% record, but two goals in the last 10 minutes from Emanuel Pogatetz and Mark Viduka dashed their hopes and gave Boro their first victory of the season. In their first match at the new-promoted Reading, Boro took a 2-0 win in the first 21 minutes, only for the Royals to come back with three goals for a dramatic 3-2 win.

Last season's runners-up Manchester United is the only team with a 100% record after two matches so far. Yours Truly did watch a large portion of their first game against Fulham live on TV, but somehow managed to miss all the goals, as United scored FOUR TIMES in the first 20 minutes, on route to a 5-1 thrashing of the Cottagers.

Three days later, they travelled to Charlton Athletic and easily won by 2-0, and has already opened up a two-point gap over second-placed Portsmouth, who only drew 0-0 at Manchester City, following their impressive 3-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers on the opening day.

For the other half of the "Big Four", Liverpool and Arsenal had played only a league match apiece during the week, owing to their European commitment. Liverpool, a perennial slow starter, traveled to Bramall Lane to take on newly-promoted Sheffield United, a tricky fixture for them. A close-range header by Rob Hulse gave the home team the lead just 40 seconds into the second half, but a brave excursion by the outstanding Steven Gerrard (who else?) gave the visiting team a controversial penalty, which Robbie Fowler coolly converted for a well-deserved equaliser. In the end, a 1-1 draw was a fair result for both teams.

Arsenal, in their first match at the new state-of-the-art Emirates Stadium, fell behind to an Olof Mellberg header early in the second half. It was a sweet revenge for the Swedish international as he not only put his name on the record books as the first ever scorer at the new Emirates Stadium, but he also headed home by outjumping the Gunners' goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who started for Germany in their two recent wins over Sweden, including knocking Sweden out of the World Cup in the Round of 16.

But Brazilian Gilberto Silva saved the day for the Gunners, as his close range strike late in the game salvaged a point for the home team. The goal was created by second-half substitute Theo Walcott, whose dazzling display of skills down the left flank may have convinced some that he really deserved a place in the England's World Cup squad this summer.