LONDON, 21 August 2005 — Manchester United made it two wins out of two in the fledgling Premier League season as Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the only goal in a 1-0 home success against a toothless Aston Villa yesterday.
Tottenham Hotspur also made it two in a row, though for the Londoners it was the first time they had managed it for 11 years, as they beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at White Hart Lane.
European champions Liverpool beat Sunderland 1-0, while champions Chelsea host last season’s runners-up Arsenal in the weekend’s top game today.
Manchester United fully deserved the points against a Villa side who played with one striker, defended from the start and never looked likely to end their 22-year run without an Old Trafford victory over the hosts. Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung had a shot tipped on to the crossbar by goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen in the first half as United were kept at long range for an hour.
However, the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo turned the match as the Portuguese winger immediately stretched the game before crossing for Van Nistelrooy to tuck in the winner in the 66th minute.
It was the Dutchman’s third goal in three games this season and he looks to have recovered the zest that was absent in an injury-hit 2004/2005 season. Only a goalline clearance by former teammate Eric Djemba Djemba prevented him claiming another.
United manager Alex Ferguson was delighted to have his chief goalscorer back in the groove. “His fitness in pre-season has been fantastic and we are getting the benefit of that,” he said. “It is important for the team that Ruud scores because once he gets on a run he is unstoppable. “Ruud’s last season was fragmented and it was partly our fault for bringing him back too early. But in his first two seasons here he scored 36 and 44 goals and he is capable of doing that again.”
Villa boss David O’Leary, still without an Old Trafford win in 14 attempts as a manager, defended his side’s negative approach.
While United fans routinely expect a winning start, Tottenham supporters merely hope. This season, however, Martin Jol’s attractive-looking side have made an encouraging start to raise the hopes of their fans.
England striker Jermain Defoe, who also scored in last week’s 2-0 win at Portsmouth, got things moving yesterday with a well-struck 20-meter shot after 49 minutes.
Egypt striker Mido made the game safe in the 75th when his weak effort from outside the box somehow got past Mark Schwarzer.
Tottenham coach Martin Jol said he was pleased with his side’s start. “It’s nice because people have been expecting a lot from us so we have to live up to that,” said the Dutchman.
Liverpool, disappointing in a goalless draw at Middlesbrough last week, looked a little more like European champions as they proved too good for Sunderland. Xavi Alonso got the only goal with a sweetly-struck free kick after 24 minutes and Sunderland’s hopes of a late comeback were effectively ended with a mysterious red card for Andrew Welsh in the 74th minute.
Elsewhere: Charlton Athletic made it two out of two with a 1-0 home win over promoted Wigan Athletic, West Bromwich Albion beat Portsmouth 2-1, Blackburn Rovers beat Fulham 2-1 while Newcastle United could not break down 10-man West Ham United in a 0-0 St. James’ Park draw.
Bordeaux Go Second With 1-0 Win over Monaco
In Paris, Girondins Bordeaux moved into second place in Ligue 1 with a 1-0 home win over Monaco yesterday.
Former Liverpool midfielder Bruno Cheyrou scored from a free kick just before the hour to earn Bordeaux their third victory in four games. The goal was one of few highlights in a tense match that featured seven yellow cards. Bordeaux climbed to second place, level on nine points with leaders Paris St Germain, but could be overtaken by several other teams playing later on Saturday, among them champions Olympique Lyon who entertain promoted Nancy. Paris St Germain, the only side with maximum points after three games, visit promoted Troyes today.
In Frankfurt, Cologne became the first top-flight casualties in the opening round of the German Cup when they went down 3-1 at second division Kickers Offenbach yesterday.
Cologne, sitting high up in the Bundesliga table after two wins out of two, moved ahead in the 29th minute through Markus Feulner but the sending-off of Andrew Sinkala for a bad foul in the 58th minute brought the home side back into the game. Oualid Mokhtari equalized in the 65th minute, Suat Turker scored with a penalty seven minutes later after a handball and an own goal from former Germany international Christian Rahn four minutes from time consigned Cologne to their fate. The other first division sides in action yesterday came through with hardly a scare. Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed an 8-0 win away to Rot-Weiss Erfurt’s second team, with Danko Lazovic, newly signed from Feyenoord, helping himself to a second-half hat-trick.
Hamburg, dumped out of the Cup last season when their 4-2 defeat by SC Paderborn was fixed by referee Robert Hoyzer, finished strongly to beat third division Stuttgarter Kickers 5-1.
