Premier League Round-up: Everton, Leicester, Swansea and Norwich win; Stoke holds Spurs
Southampton 0-3 Everton
Two goals from Romelu Lukaku and a fine strike from Ross Barkley allowed Everton to coast to a 3-0 win over Southampton in Matchday 2 of the Premier League at the St Mary’s Stadium. The hosts were toothless in attack against a clinical Everton side who were also very solid at the back, registering their second clean-sheet in their last 18 away games in the league.
Lukaku scored the opener for the Merseyside club when he powered home a header from Kone’s cross from the right in the 22nd minute. He doubled the advantage before half-time with his second goal in as many shots. Ross Barkley wrapped up proceedings with just six minutes to go, as he unleashed a stunning right-footed finish into the mid-right corner.
Everton picked up their first win of the season after drawing their previous match against Watford and they are now in second place behind Manchester United.
West Ham 1-2 Leicester City
Leicester City picked up three points from their away trip to Upton Park with a 2-1 victory over West Ham. Claudio Ranieri's side won their second league on the trot while West Ham succumbed to their first defeat of the season after beating Arsenal in their opening fixture.
New signing Shinji Okazaki gave his side a surprise lead and picked up his first goal for his new club in the process. The former Mainz striker received an excellent ball from James Vardy in the 28th minute and had his first time shot saved by Adrian, but the return ball was headed in by the Japanese international. Nine minutes later he helped create the second goal for Leicester with some good build-up play, passing the ball to Albrighton for him to cut it back for Mahrez, who scored the goal.
The Hammers pulled one goal back in the 55th minute and had Dimitri Payet to thank for it. The new summer signing scored his first Premier League goal with a thumping finish into the top-left corner, after his initial effort was blocked by Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Watford 0-0 West Brom
Watford and West Brom played out a goalless draw in their Premier League match at Vicarage Road. The home side were held to their second straight draw in as many matches whereas the away side picked up their first points of the season.
There were plenty of shots for both sides in a slightly drab affair, which was completely void of any goals. Newly promoted Watford were the more threatening of the two teams with 5 shots on target from a possible 16, as compared to West Brom who had a miserable 6 shots with none on goal despite fielding Saido Berahino and Rickie Lambert up front.
Spurs 2-2 Stoke
Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City played out an entertaining 2-2 in their match at the White Hart Lane. Tottenham were two goals up and looked like running away with the three points, but Stoke’s resilience in the end earned them a much-deserved point.
The two teams were pretty evenly matched, but it was Tottenham who took a two-goal lead in the first half. Erik Dier flicked the ball into the net after a darting run to the near post to hand the home side the lead in the 19th minute. This lead was doubled in the injury time of the first half, when Nacer Chadli volleyed a Davies cross into the bottom left corner.
Stoke had a number of opportunities but failed to take advantage of them, as Hugo Lloris pulled off save-after-save. Their persistence finally paid off as they had a little luck in the 77th minute when Toby Alderweireld was penalised for a foul in the penalty box. Marko Arnautovic scored the penalty a minute later to give the away side a chance to rescue one point, which was a success courtesy Diouf’s equaliser six minutes later.
The draw means that both teams have picked up their first points of the season.
Swansea 2-0 Newcastle
Goals from Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew helped Swansea City to a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at the Liberty Stadium. The home side pretty much continued where they left off from against Chelsea last week, but were more solid defensively against a toothless Newcastle attack.
Swansea’s first goal was the Gomis’ second in as many games, and he scored with just 10 minutes on the clock. The striker easily beat the offside trap to receive a pinpoint through ball from Shelvey, following which he dribbled around Krul and slotted the ball into an empty net. New signing Andre Ayew joined in and scored his second goal of the season, angling a brilliant header past Tim Krul after receiving a cross from Jefferson Montero in the 52nd minute.
This is Swansea’s first win of the season after their previous draw against Chelsea, and the result sees them take third place in the Premier League behind Everton on goal-difference.
Sunderland 1-3 Norwich
Norwich City were comfortable winners in their away trip to the Stadium of Light, dispatching Sunderland 1-3. The away side were value for money in their performance against the home side, who succumbed to their second straight defeat after losing their opening game against Leicester.
The Canaries had three different scorers to thank for the result, as Wes Hoolahan picked up two assists for his consistently good passing throughout the match. Defender Russell Martin scored an awkward opener in the 26th minute when keeper Costil Pantilmon parried a strong shot from Brady onto his shin, with the resulting rebound crossing the line. Whittaker scored the second 11 minutes later, after completing a one-two with Hoolahan. The third goal was scored by Nathan Redmond in the second half when Sunderland’s defense failed to react, allowing Hoolahan to pick up his second assist of the match.
Sunderland’s Watmore came off the bench to score Sunderland’s first goal of the evening, but it wasn’t enough to save them as they fell to their second defeat in as many matches.