LONDON, 21 August 2006 — Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United crushed Fulham 5-1 yesterday while champions Chelsea began their Premier League title defense with a 3-0 home win over Manchester City.
The two other probable title contenders, Arsenal and Liverpool, were both held 1-1 on Saturday. Villa spoilt Arsenal’s first match at their new Emirates stadium and Liverpool needed a penalty equalizer to deny promoted Sheffield United a first-day win at Bramall Lane.
City’s Italian striker Bernardo Corradi was sent off just past the hour for a late tackle on Michael Essien, having earlier been booked for a late challenge on Paulo Ferreira.
Defender John Terry followed his first goal as England captain in midweek by heading home Arjen Robben’s curling left-footed free kick from the right to put Chelsea ahead in the 11th minute.
Terry’s England colleague Frank Lampard, who also scored in the 4-0 win over Greece, struck the second in the 25th, taking a square ball from Essien and hitting a low shot that took a slight deflection off Richard Dunne.
Striker Didier Drogba added a late third for Chelsea with a diving header from Wayne Bridge’s low cross from the left.
United were even more impressive as they tore Fulham to shreds in a devastating opening burst that brought them four goals in the first 12 minutes.
Rooney, putting to the back of his mind the three-match suspension hanging over him, scored United’s third in the 16th minute and rounded off the scoring just past the hour from defender Wes Brown’s cross.
The England striker will start a three-match ban on Aug. 23 after being sent off during a pre-season tournament in Amsterdam.
France’s Louis Saha, relishing the confidence of manager Alex Ferguson who off-loaded Ruud van Nistelrooy, his rival for the central striker’s role, headed the seventh-minute opener from Ryan Giggs’ fine cross for his third goal against his ex-club.
Defender Ian Pearce turned the second into his own net in the 14th trying to prevent Saha’s pass from finding Rooney.
Rooney netted the rebound after keeper Antti Niemi saved a Saha shot in the 16th and the England striker’s fine ball to the far post allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to volley home the fourth from a tight angle three minutes later.
The young pair’s embrace after Ronaldo’s goal showed they had put behind them the controversy over the Portuguese player’s involvement in Rooney’s sending off during England’s loss to Portugal on penalties in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Fulham, whose defending was ragged, pulled one back to make the halftime score 4-1 when Heidar Helguson’s shot from the edge of the box was deflected by defender Rio Ferdinand into his own net over goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
Bayern Edge Out Bochum for Second Win
In Berlin, Roy Makaay and Philipp Lahm earned below-par Bayern Munich a 2-1 win at promoted Bochum yesterday, giving the Bundesliga champions a share of the early lead with a maximum six points from two matches.
Makaay put the champions ahead two minutes before the break but Bochum equalized in the 52nd minute when Brazilian Fabio Junior slipped the ball past Oliver Kahn from 10 meters. The goal stung Bayern into their best football of the game and Lahm drilled in the winner from the left side of the area with 25 minutes to go. The result saw Bayern join Nuremberg and Werder Bremen as the only sides with six points from two games.
In yesterday’s other game, VfB Stuttgart won 3-2 at Arminia Bielefeld despite finishing the game with nine men. Cacau got the winner with a right-foot screamer in the 82nd minute, his second goal of a frantic game.
Celtic Lose Chance to Go Top With Draw
In Glasgow, champions Celtic conceded a late equalizer to miss out on going top of the Scottish Premier League in a 1-1 draw at Inverness Caledonian Thistle yesterday.
Stephen Pearson slid home Celtic’s opener from six meters following a diagonal pass into the area by Kenny Miller in the 26th minute.
With 10 minutes left, Thistle leveled as Grant Munro hooked a knee-high shot from the edge of the box which hurtled beyond goalkeeper David Marshall into the right side of the net.
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said the game had almost been too easy and his team’s slack passing had cost them victory.
Juventus Start Season With Italian Cup Win
In Rome, under-fire Juventus began the season with a 3-0 win over third division Martina Franca in the first round of the Italian Cup on Saturday.
Goals by Pavel Nedved and new signings Marco Marchionni and Valeri Bojinov gave the Turin giants a victory in their first competitive outing since they were relegated to the second division following a match-fixing trial.
In a twist of fate, the scene of their latest triumph was Bari’s San Nicola stadium, the ground where they beat Reggina 2-0 in the final match of last season to win their 29th Serie A title, a trophy they had to concede to Inter Milan after the trial.
Still smarting from their failure earlier this week to persuade Italy’s football federation to repeal their relegation to Serie B, Juventus made short work of Martina.
