Premier League: Arteta’s 150th win to Chelsea’s 31-second goal, numbers that made headlines in Gameweek 1

London, Aug 25 (IANS) The 2026/27 Premier League season got off to a dramatic start, with Gameweek 1 producing landmark results, late goals and a host of individual milestones.

From Hull City’s historic victory over Manchester United to Liverpool extending their remarkable unbeaten run on the opening day and Arsenal beginning their title defence in style, the opening weekend delivered plenty of numbers that made headlines.

Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry City saw manager Mikel Arteta reach 150 Premier League wins. He reached the landmark in 249 games, putting him among an elite group of managers to record 150 Premier League victories in fewer than 250 matches, according to Jio Star.

The result also extended Arsenal’s remarkable record against promoted opposition. The Gunners are now unbeaten in 46 consecutive Premier League home games against promoted sides, with 41 wins and five draws. They have won their last 17 such matches, scoring 47 goals and conceding just nine.

Martin Odegaard also made an early impact, scoring in consecutive appearances for Arsenal for the first time since December 2023. His two goals this season have already surpassed his total of one goal in 36 appearances across all competitions last season.

One of the biggest shocks of the weekend came at Hull City, where the newly promoted side defeated Manchester United 2-0 despite United enjoying 71.6 per cent possession. It was United’s highest possession figure in a Premier League match since September 2023.

The defeat was historic as it marked the first time in Manchester United’s league history that they had lost their opening fixture to a newly promoted side. United have now lost their opening Premier League match in four of the last seven seasons.

Their attacking struggles were further highlighted by the fact that United have failed to score on the opening day in back-to-back Premier League seasons, despite registering a combined 43 shots across those matches.

Hull’s victory also ended a long wait against United. The newly promoted side had failed to score in their previous 37 attempts against the Red Devils in the competition before Semi Ajayi found the net. It was Hull’s first league win over United since 1974.

Liverpool’s new era under Andoni Iraola began with a dramatic 2-2 draw at Newcastle, but their remarkable opening-day record remained intact. Liverpool are now unbeaten on the opening day for 14 consecutive Premier League campaigns, the longest active run in the competition.

Newcastle, meanwhile, remain without a win in their last 20 Premier League meetings with Liverpool, recording six draws and 14 defeats since their last victory in December 2015.

The fixture also continued its remarkable late-goal trend, with this being the fourth consecutive Premier League meeting between the sides at St James’ Park to feature a result-changing goal in the 90th minute or later. Dominik Szoboszlai’s stoppage-time penalty came at 98:06, making it Liverpool’s latest-ever Premier League penalty and earning the visitors a point.

The opening weekend also saw several players end lengthy goal droughts.

Anthony Elanga scored his first Premier League goal for Newcastle on his 33rd top-flight appearance for the club, ending a run of 40 Premier League appearances without a goal. Joe Willock also scored against Liverpool, finding the net for the first time in the Premier League since February 2024. His goal ended a drought of 61 appearances and 40 shots without scoring in the competition.

Newcastle’s late collapse also continued an unwanted trend. They have dropped 29 points from winning positions in the Premier League since the start of last season, the second-most among teams in Europe’s big-five leagues during that period, behind Wolfsburg’s 33.

Ipswich Town also enjoyed a memorable return to the Premier League, beating Sunderland 2-1 with Jack Clarke scoring a 90th-minute winner. The victory was Ipswich’s first opening-day Premier League win since 1993/94, ending a wait of more than three decades.

It also ended a run of nine consecutive top-flight defeats at Portman Road. Emerson added another milestone by becoming the first player to score on his overall Premier League debut for Ipswich since Fabian Wilnis in August 2000.

Tottenham suffered one of the weekend’s heaviest defeats, going down 3-0 to Brentford. The result matched Spurs’ joint-heaviest defeat on the opening day of a Premier League season, equalling their 3-0 loss to Manchester United in 2011/12.

For Brentford, it was their biggest-ever win in the top flight. Their attacking dominance was reflected in an xG of 3.96, their highest in a Premier League match since January 2025.

Everton started their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, their first opening-day Premier League win since August 2021 after four consecutive defeats without scoring.

Iliman Ndiaye continued his growing influence, having been involved in 19 Premier League goals since joining Everton in 2024/25, with 15 goals and four assists. That is the most goal involvements by any Everton player during that period.

Despite the defeat, Crystal Palace created plenty of opportunities, recording an xG of 2.04, their highest in a Premier League game without scoring since December 2018.

Leeds United also made a winning start, defeating Nottingham Forest 1-0 and extending their impressive opening-day record. Leeds have now won their opening Premier League fixture in three consecutive campaigns, matching their longest such run in the competition.

They have also won five of their last eight Premier League games, collecting 17 points during that run. Only Arsenal, with 18 points, have collected more points since the start of April.

Anton Stach again proved a threat from distance. He has scored five Premier League goals from outside the penalty area since the start of last season, more than any other player. He also has four direct free-kick goals during that period, joint-most among all players.

The promoted sides also made an immediate impact, with two of the three clubs winning their opening fixtures. That had previously occurred only four times in Premier League history.

Chelsea closed out Gameweek 1 with a 3-1 victory over Fulham, with Joao Pedro opening the scoring after just 31 seconds. It was the earliest-ever goal scored by a team in its opening game of a Premier League season.

The goal was also Chelsea’s fastest Premier League strike since Pedro scored after 30 seconds against Manchester United in October 2016. Chelsea have now scored 13 goals in the opening minute of Premier League matches, with only Everton having more, at 14.

The result gave Xabi Alonso a winning start to his Premier League career at Chelsea. He became the first Blues manager since Maurizio Sarri in 2018 to see Chelsea score three goals in his first Premier League game in charge.

Chelsea also ended their wait for an opening-day victory. The Blues had not won their first Premier League game of the season since 2022/23, when they defeated Everton 1-0.

Their starting XI had an average age of just 24 years and 43 days, making it the youngest starting XI fielded by any team on the opening weekend. Chelsea have also gone 124 consecutive games without a player aged 30 or older featuring.

–IANS

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