Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace stunned Tottenham with a 3-0 win, thus bringing an end to their perfect start to the Premier League season. Meanwhile, Manchester United triumphed 4-1 over Newcastle United as prodigal son Cristiano Ronaldo scored a crucial brace on his return to Old Trafford.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men started the season with a bang as they won all three matches in the Premier League. However, a tough test at Selhurst Park saw them drop points for the first time this season. The Lillywhites missed a lot of players starting from Heung-min Son and Steven Bergwijn due to injuries, while Davinson Sanchez and Christian Romero missed out due to quarantine restrictions.
Both sides tried their best in the first half but failed to break the deadlock as Tottenham lost Eric Dier due to injury in the 11th minute of the match. The match also saw Japhet Tanganga losing his cool and getting sent off after receiving two yellow cards. Spurs were down to 10-men, and a Palace goal was well in the cards.
The usual suspect Wilfried Zaha broke the deadlock with a well-taken spot-kick. It all started with Connor Gallagher as his cross was handled by Ben Davies in the penalty area and it led to the subsequent penalty. Later, former Celtic forward Edouard came off the bench and scored a brilliant brace to mark Patrick Vieira’s first win as Crystal Palace manager.
Meanwhile, Manchester United trounced Newcastle at Old Trafford as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant brace on his return. The Portuguese talisman opened the scoring in the first half after Mason Greenwood’s shot was not gathered properly by Newcastle custodian Freddie Woodman. The Portuguese was right there to capitalise on the mistake as he calmly slotted it home.
However, the visitors came roaring back with Javier Manquillo restoring parity early in the second half. The match was gradually turning into a cagey affair in the second half, but Crisitano had other ideas. The 36-year-old completed his brace after he slotted home from an excellent Luka Shaw cross.
The best goal of the game came a few minutes later when Bruno Fernandes found himself in space and thundered the ball into the top corner. Lastly, substitute Jesse Lingard also scored in the dying moments of the match to complete the humiliation.
It was a momentous occasion for Ronaldo and the United fans as they got to see him back at the Old Trafford. His first goal against the Magpies meant that it was his first Premier League goal since May 2009 against rivals Manchester City. The difference between the two strikes is 12 years and 124 days, the second-longest gap in the competition’s history.
Newcastle United have not yet registered a single win this season, and with another humiliating defeat, the pressure is mounting on manager Steve Bruce. The Magpies are in 19th position with only a single point from their 2-2 draw against Southampton.
Meanwhile, United are at the top of the pile after a dominant win as they have won three out of four matches. However, these are just early days in the Premier League and with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all in the mix, things can change very swiftly in the points table.
