Premier League Top Moments: Christian Pulisic starts hot in Chelsea's opener
The English Premier League launched a brand-new season this weekend, and the action is already fast and furious.
It all started Friday with a contest between Arsenal and Brentford, with Brentford pulling off a 2-0 stunner.
It was such a distressing defeat for the Gunners that the president of Rwanda (!) took to Twitter to register his concern.
That game was just a warm-up for a busy Saturday, with plenty of big names in action. The EPL will put a nice bow on the weekend when defending champion Manchester City take the field Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur.
If you need a primer on the EPL, check out "Premier League’s Return: What you need to know about the 2021-22 season."
Then scroll down to check out the top moments from Saturday’s slate of matches.
Remember how the USMNT shocked the world not so long ago by winning the Gold Cup with a roster of kids? Remember how it led to all sorts of excitement over the rejuvenation of American men’s soccer?
Let’s not forget about the young man who started that renaissance and was one of the veterans not present for the Gold Cup run: Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic showed that he will continue to be a key player for the USMNT as it approaches World Cup qualifying and a prominent figure in the EPL as well. Check out what he did in his first game of the season for Chelsea.
Pulisic, still just 22, has 14 goals in Premier League play, the third-most ever for a U.S. international.
It drew plenty of reactions from around the soccer world.
Pulisic’s goal came near the end of the first half and gave Chelsea a 2-0 lead.
Marcos Alonso had put Chelsea on the board earlier with a brilliant shot off a set-piece.
Pulisic isn’t the only promising young player on Chelsea’s roster, as 22-year-old Trevoh Chalobah showed with this strike in the second half, delivering an amazing strike in his first EPL game.
Liverpool took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when Diogo Jota found himself with the ball on his foot and no defenders in his way.
Roberto Firmino came on as a sub in the 60th minute, and the move paid off quickly for Liverpool as he pushed the advantage to 2-0.
Mo Salah made it 3-0 late with a beautiful left-footer, becoming the first player in Premier League history to score on five consecutive opening weekends.
There was also a cool moment for Norwich City — and U.S. soccer — when Josh Sargent made his Premier League debut late in the match.
MANCHESTER UNITED 5, LEEDS UNITED 1
Man U was in a festive mood even before the action started, as the team unveiled the official transfer of French soccer star Raphaël Varane.
It was a dominant showing on the pitch for Man U, which received a hat trick from Bruno Fernandes and four assists from Paul Pogba. In fact, there were so many highlights that we're not going to post them all here. Instead, check this out:
All of it left coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær quite pleased.
Watford won in their first game back in the EPL after being relegated for a year, building a 3-0 lead thanks in part to a bit of good fortune on this strike by Ismaila Sarr.
Aston Villa made a furious comeback in the final 20-plus minutes, including a stoppage-time goal by Danny Ings, but it was not enough.
Jamie Vardy is fun. How do we know this? Not only did he score the only goal of this contest with a pretty brilliant finish …
… but he also howled at Wolves fans after he did it.
Adam Armstrong took advantage of a defensive miscue to give Southampton a 1-0 lead in the first half.
But Richarlison responded off a corner kick after the break, and Everton dominated the second half on the way to victory.
Burnley started hot, going up 1-0 just two minutes into the game when James Tarkowski headed it home off a corner kick.
But that was it for Burnley, as Neal Maupay and Alexis MacAllister scored in the second half to lead Brighton's comeback.
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