The English Premiership and the German Bundesliga seasons got underway over the weekend, but it was a round of frustration for the defending champions. Not only were Manchester United and Stuttgart held at home, but they witnessed their principal rivals for honours make winning starts.
French Ligue 1 holders Lyon also slipped up in round two, although the pain of their 1-0 loss at Toulouse was softened somewhat by Marseille's failure to taste victory at home. FIFA.com reflects on the action.
United held as rivals win
Manchester United spent handsomely during the summer replenishing their championship-winning squad, but as their three chief title rivals eked out victory from the 2007/08 Premiership's opening round, the Old Trafford side were held to a goalless draw by visiting Reading. The Red Devils had their opponents on the back foot throughout, but they were repeatedly denied by Marcus Hahnemann, who underlined why he made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the division last season.
Liverpool invested close to £50m on new players following the conclusion of the 2006/07 campaign, but it was their patriarchal skipper who once again proved their saviour at Villa Park. When Gareth Barry's 85th minute penalty put Aston Villa back on level terms, a 1-1 draw seemed the inevitable outcome, but Steven Gerrard made an addition to his breathtaking collection of wonder goals to earn Rafa Benitez a first-ever opening day success as Reds manager.
Arsenal were also 2-1 winners in round one, and their defeat of Fulham was even more dramatic. Trailing to David Healy's first minute tap-in, Robin van Persie hauled the Gunners back on level terms with an 84th minute penalty, before Alexander Hleb's last-gasp goal snatched the points for Arsene Wenger's team. For their part, Chelsea saw off Birmingham City's spirited challenge at Stamford Bridge, Michael Essien sealing a 3-2 reverse of the Premiership newcomers in the 50th minute.
New signings also stole the headlines elsewhere. Elano starred and Rolando Bianchi scored as Manchester City triumphed 2-0 at West Ham United on Sven-Goran Eriksson's debut in charge, Michael Chopra's eleventh hour goal nicked newly-promoted Sunderland all three points at home to Tottenham Hotspur, and Roque Santa Cruz rose from the bench to initiate Blackburn Rovers' comeback win at Middlesbrough.
Signings star as Bayern sprint top
While Mancheser United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was left to rue his decision to hand Anderson and Carlos Tevez the day off, the man he pitted his wits against in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League final witnessed his big-money recruits help Bayern Munich sprint out of the Bundesliga blocks.
It took Luca Toni a mere 14 minutes to get off the mark for Ottmar Hitzfeld's side, the Italian striker finishing off unselfish work from Miroslav Klose, who went on to add two goals of his own to complete a 3-0 victory over Hansa Rostock. Equally impressive was the performance of a third league debutant, Franck Ribery, whose ingenuity provided the top tier newcomers with an incessant headache at the Allianz Arena.
Results elsewhere accentuated Bayern's feeling of satisfaction. In Friday evening's curtain raiser to the campaign, holders Stuttgart and their 2006/07 runners-up Schalke 04 shared four goals in an entertaining contest, while one day later Werder Bremen relinquished a two-goal cushion to draw at Bochum. Werder, who finished third last term, led 2-0 at the break, but their hosts netted two quick-fire goals following the restart to clinch a share of the spoils.
Trio maintain perfect records
Matchday two in Ligue 1 belonged to Tulio de Melo and Le Mans. The Brazilian striker posted a hat-trick to lead Le MUC to a 3-1 success at Sochaux, which sent them racing into pole position on goals scored. Bordeaux and Nancy remain the only other two sides to have taken maximum points from their opening two outings, having won 2-0 and 1-0 respectively over the weekend.
Midfielder Wendel was the hero for Laurent Blanc's outfit, his brace undoing Auxerre inside the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, while another Brazilian, Tulio's former Atletico-MG club-mate Kim, bagged the only goal as Nancy overcame Caen.
Toulouse, who will encounter Liverpool in a UEFA Champions League qualifier on Wednesday, served a surprise by beating reigning six-time champions Lyon, who were reduced to ten men before half-time. Nonetheless, it took a 90th minute Johan Elmander toe-poke to hand Alain Perrin a first league defeat in the les Gones hot-seat.
Marseille, popularly considered the chief threat to Lyon's rule, failed to capitalise, however, slipping to a second successive 0-0 draw in front of a 50,000-plus crowd at the Velodrome.
