LONDON: Marcus Rashford struck twice as Manchester United opened their Premier League account with a resounding 4-0 victory over Frank Lampard’s Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.

It was an awful start for the new Chelsea boss in his first competitive game on the bench for his old club who struck the woodwork twice in the first half but paid for their defensive frailties as Anthony Martial and Dan James also scored.

“Four mistakes for the goals. We have to be self-critical for that. We controlled the first half hour but made some poor decisions. We should be in the lead at the break,” said Lampard, who took over from Maurizio Sarri in the close season.

It may indeed have been a harsh scoreline for the visitors but for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United team with Harry Maguire, the world’s most expensive defender, and right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka making debuts, it was a dream start to the campaign.

Not only did Rashford strike twice but his attacking partner Martial also found the target after the break and the victory was rounded off by substitute James, a close-season signing from Swansea City, marking his United debut with the fourth.

“It is a great start for myself and the team. We rode our luck a bit first half but second we were much more ourselves,” said Maguire, who joined United for 80 million pounds from Leicester City on Monday.

But while the crowd celebrated their new-look side’s perfect start, it was evident until Martial made it 2-0 in the 65th that there is still much work to be done to get United anywhere near the level of title favourites Manchester City and Liverpool.With Pedro and Ross Barkley causing problems in the channels, Chelsea were moving the ball with confidence and United’s midfield were often chasing shadows.

But against the run of play the hosts got in front with an 18th minute Rashford penalty after the England forward was pulled down by Kurt Zouma.

Chelsea responded well, however, and went close to an equaliser when Emerson struck the post shortly before the break with a left-foot drive from a tight angle.

But the game turned decisively in United’s favour when, after a Rashford led counter-attack, Martial bundled in a low cross from Andreas Pereira.

Two minutes later, Chelsea’s defence was again exposed when Rashford timed his run to perfection, latched on to a long ball from Paul Pogba and beat keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with a confident finish.

Another counter-attack led to United’s fourth goal when Pogba fed Welsh winger James who, after initially hesitating, fired into the far bottom corner via a deflection.

Earlier, Steve Bruce’s reign as Newcastle United manager began in disappointing fashion as Pierre-Emerick Aubame­yang’s second-half goal sealed a 1-0 victory for Arsenal at a subdued St James’ Park on Sunday.

After a largely forgettable first half in which Newcastle were slightly the better side, Arsenal eased to a comfortable three points thanks to Aubameyang’s 58th minute strike.

Wolverhampton Wanderers had a goal by Leander Dendoncker ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in an entertaining 0-0 Premier League draw against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

Wolves thought they had scored six minutes into the second half when Dendoncker blasted in from close range but VAR deemed that the midfielder had headed the ball onto team mate Willy Boly’s arm off a corner before taking the shot.

Later on Saturday, Harry Kane got straight into the groove with two late goals as Tottenham Hotspur recovered from an early setback to beat promoted Aston Villa 3-1 at home

Villa, back in the top flight after three seasons away, looked set to mark their return in style as they hung on tenaciously to John McGinn’s ninth-minute opener.

But Tottenham’s record signing Tanguy Ndombele fired home a debut goal in the 73rd minute to break Villa’s resistance.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2019