Season Kickoff! Watch West Brom vs. Manchester United Sunday live at 11 a.m. ET on FOX Soccer. For a complete match schedule, click here
Black Cats rally to take a point on the opening day of the season as debutant strikes with stunning volley to equalize following Uruguayan's opener and penalty miss
A promising start for Liverpool devolved into a unsatisfying home draw.
Liverpool took the early lead on a header by newcomer Luis Suarez but tired in the second half, allowing a brilliant volley from Sebastian Larsson to stand as the equalizer for visiting Sunderland in an entertaining 1-1 result on Saturday.
Both sides delved heavily into the transfer market over the summer, and the results were immediate.
In front of an expectant home crowd at Anfield on Saturday, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish handed debuts to four new signings – Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique ex-Sunderland man Jordan Henderson. Sunderland's starting lineup featured new players Wes Brown and Larsson while James Vaughan came off the bench.
The new signings would make immediate impacts for their clubs, with Adam earning his first assist in a Liverpool shirt by setting up Suarez's early opener. Larsson scored the equalizer early in the second for Sunderland.
Liverpool had been much the stronger side in the first half, but tired badly and could not make its possession tell in the later stages. Sunderland even looked likely to take all three points, though that would have been harsh on the home side, which started so brightly.
Suarez burst past the defense early on, but as he went to round Simon Mignolet in the Sunderland goal, he was cynically brought down by Kieran Richardson, who was lucky to escape a sending off as referee Phil Dowd produced only a yellow. The striker recovered to take the spot kick, but blazed his effort well over the bar. His downturn in fortunes didn’t last long, however.
Barely five minutes after the missed penalty, Suarez had the ball in the net, cleverly heading in from a sweeping Adam free kick to put Liverpool on top.
And the Reds had the ball in the net for a second time in the 21st minute, with Andy Carroll taking Stewart Downing’s pass on his chest before tucking the ball into the net – only for a free kick to be given after Carroll was harshly adjudged to have pushed Anton Ferdinand in the back.
Liverpool was made to rue its missed first half chances, though, thanks to a moment of magic from Larsson. A throw in on the right was passed back to Sessegnon, whose cross to the back post was brilliantly volleyed in by Larsson, who found himself fully horizontal when striking the ball back across Reina and into the far corner.
Though Liverpool continued to hold Sunderland back after Larsson's tally, it simply could not find the incisive play it needed to get an opening day win, and settled for a point.
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Season Kickoff! Watch West Brom vs. Manchester United Sunday live at 11 a.m. ET on FOX Soccer. For a complete match schedule, click here. Mick McCarthy's men record opening day victory thanks to goals either side of the break as they begin new season with an impressive away win and all three points
It was only the first game of the season, but Wolves scored a big win over Blackburn in a battle between two teams tipped by pundits to go down. The victory was Wolves' first over Blackburn in nine attempts, and will come as a welcome boost for Mick McCarthy's men as they started a potentially grueling season on the right note.
Goals from Steven Fletcher and Stephen Ward cancelled out Mauro Formica’s 20th minute opener to give McCarthy’s side all three points on Saturday afternoon at Blackburn's Ewood Park and put pressure on Rovers boss Steve Kean already.
In a fairly even affair Rovers took the lead through Formica but it was then all Wolves as the visitors created numerous chances, with Fletcher getting them level before Ward fired in a left foot volley after Kevin Doyle had missed a penalty.
None of Blackburn’s three summer signings started for Steve Kean but David Goodwillie and Bruno Ribeiro were both named on the subs bench. Formica, though signed in January, was handed his debut in this fixture. A defensive crisis saw youngster Grant Hanley start at the center of defense alongside Steven Nzonzi in the absence of Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen.
Mick McCarthy put new signings Roger Johnson and Jamie O’Hara straight into his starting line-up, and Johnson also wore the captain’s armband. McCarthy lined up with a 4-4-2 formation with Fletcher and Kevin Doyle leading the line, with Karl Henry joining up with Jamie O’Hara in the centre of midfield.
Blackburn came out flying, and on 20 minutes opened the scoring through debutant Formica, although all the credit should go to Jason Roberts. The striker battled for a long ball over the top of the Wolves defense before laying the ball right into the path of the Argentine who calmly slotted the ball past Hennessey. The Wolves keeper managed to get a hand on the low shot but it wasn't enough to stop the ball rolling over the line.
That goal seemed to spark the visitors into life and with their first real attack they equalized through Fletcher. Richard Stearman and Matt Jarvis combined down the right before Jarvis lifted the ball to the back post where Fletcher out-jumped Salgado to head past Robinson. The equalizer well and truly sparked Wolves to life, as they continued to create dangerous chances through the remainder of the first half, but couldn't finish them off.
Wolves began the second half as they had finished the first and in the first minute they took the lead for the first time in the match through Ward. Fletcher charged at the Blackburn defense before releasing Jarvis inside the penalty area, he tried to go past Salgado but the Spaniard brought him down. Kevin Doyle's spot kick was saved by Robinson but when the ball was cleared to the edge of the penalty area Ward rifled in a left foot volley to give the visiting side a lead it would not relinquish.
Despite going behind early in the half, Blackburn was not able to create any serious threats until late on, and the team's inability to finish of its moves will surely give Kean and his side some headaches moving forward.
