Liverpool and Arsenal Struggle in Premier League Openers

West Bromwich Albion midfielder Zoltan Gera celebrates his goal with teammate Shane Long. (Darren Staples)

Yesterday, the Premier League saw its new season begin. While most results came as expected, a couple of perennial contenders struggled in their first game. These two clubs are Liverpool and Arsenal. My blog post will briefly recap the action in both matches and look at went wrong for the two favored clubs.

West Bromwich Albion 3 Liverpool 0
Both teams had numerous opportunities to score, but came up short in their effort. Liverpool striker Luis Suaraz could have likely had a hat trick in the first half, but could not find the back of the net. West Bromwich finally broke through in the 43rd minute. Zoltan Gera buried a powerful strike to put his side up 1-0 just before the half. The Liverpool defense that had struggled all day suffered a big blow when defender Daniel Agger was sent off with a red card. They then gave up two penalty kicks in the stretch of four minutes. Shane Long missed the first one, but Peter Odemwingie scored the second one to increase the West Bromwich Albion lead to 2-0. In the 77th minute, West Brom substitute Romelu Lukaku put the icing on the cake. Liverpool struggled with the lack of being able to score on their golden opportunities. Their poor self-control and discipline defensively helped cost them the game as well.

Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0
Arsenal probably had a feeling that they would miss Robin van Persie and his knack for scoring goals. Now, they know it without a doubt. Despite firing away 23 shots throughout the match, Arsenal only managed to get three on goal. That is an embarrassing statistic when one considers that this is Premier League football. While Arsenal did out possess and frankly out play Sunderland, their inability to score was their clear downfall. Call me crazy, but it seems obvious to me that you have to score to win. Arsenal must find their offensive identity quickly if they are going to have any shot at competing with the best.

Manchester City Wins First Premier Title Since 1968

Photo Credit: Dave Thompson/AP Photo

Manchester City has been considered to be the second-rate team of their city for decades. They have had to live in the shadow of their bitter rival, Manchester United. Today, Manchester City needed a win over Queens Park Rangers. If they won the match, it would mean that they would win their first Premier League Title since 1968. Not only would they win it, but they would keep their inner-city rival, Manchester United, from winning the title. With United's 1-0 defeat of Sunderland in the books, City knew they were playing a must-win game.

Neither Manchester City or Queens Park Rangers played particularly well in the first-half. In the 39th minute, City pieced together some nice passing to set up a short angle shot for Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentinian's shot found the net, thanks in part to some poor goalkeeping work by Patrick Kenny. The lackluster half came to a close, but at half-time, QPR received news that a loss could potentially mean relegation from the Premier League. Wanting desperately to avoid that fate, QPR came out with a renewed energy to begin the second half. It didn't take long before that energy forced a mistake by City's defender Joleon Lescott. Lescott attempted to head the ball clear, but his header ricocheted backwards to the feet of QPR's Djibril Cisse, who buried the equalizer.

With the match still level at 1-1, Man City caught a break when QPR's captain, Joey Barton, got issued a red card in the 55th minute for elbowing Carlos Tevez in the face. Despite being down to ten men, QPR's defense refused to give in. In the 66th minute, QPR was rewarded when an unmarked Jamie Mackie headed home a ball from Armand Traore. The panic began to set in for City and their fans as they felt the title slipping away. Into stoppage time, they went still down 2-1. About a minute into stoppage time, City earned a corner. David Silva's beautiful ball into the box found the head of Edin Dzeko, who finished in cleanly. City's late heroics weren't over yet. Forward Sergio Aguero's shot found the bottom right corner. City's improbable comeback was complete.

The two late goals secured Manchester City's first Premier League Title since 1968. Granted that some of this success is due to the money that was spent to bring in many of these players. Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour has made more than a $1 billion dollar investment since purchasing the club from former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2008. The real credit though has to go to the players. In what was a crazy and surprising Premier League season, Man City was the most consistent club by far. As a result, they are unquestionably the most deserving of the title. The atmosphere of Manchester, England has changed today. No longer does United remain forever supreme. Today belongs to City's players, coaches, fans, and everyone associated with the club.