Flying Start for Frank’s Spurs, Sunderland Shine on Top-Flight Return
Richarlison scored twice to give Tottenham manager Thomas Frank a dream home debut with a 3-0 win over Burnley on Saturday, while Sunderland shocked West Ham 3-0 on their return to the Premier League. Frank was seconds away from launching his era in charge with a trophy until a late Paris Saint-Germain revival won the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday. The former Brentford boss replaced Ange Postecoglou despite the Australian ending Spurs' 17-year trophy drought by lifting the Europa League. However, Postecoglou was undone by a miserable return of six home league wins last season as Tottenham finished just above the relegation zone in 17th. Richarlison made the most of the faith shown in him by Frank as the Brazilian turned in Mohammed Kudus' cross to open the scoring.
The pair combined again on the hour in more spectacular fashion as Richarlison's bicycle kick crashed in the Ghanaian's delivery from the right. Brennan Johnson was Tottenham's hero of the Europa League final with the only goal against Manchester United and he began the new season by racing clear to slot in the third. Burnley racked up 100 points in their Championship promotion campaign last season but did little to suggest they will buck the trend of sides being relegated straight back to the second tier.
For the past two seasons, all three promoted teams have gone down. However, big-spending Sunderland enjoyed a dream return to the top-flight with a second-half demolition of West Ham. Former Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka is among pool of new signings attracted to the Stadium of Light.
But it was three players key to their promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2017 who scored. Eliezer Mayenda's looping header gave the Black Cats lift off on the hour mark. Centre-back Dan Ballard headed in the second before Wilson Isidor rounded off a huge win in stoppage time. Newcastle missed the unsettle Alexander Isak as they failed to find the breakthrough against 10-man Aston Villa in a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
The Magpies were the dominant side even before Ezri Konsa's red card for bringing down Antony Gordon 24 minutes from time. Isak had not been involved during Newcastle's pre-season as he appears determined to force through a move to Liverpool, who reportedly saw a o110 million ($149 million) offer for the Swedish striker rejected. The two clubs face off in their next league match at St. James' Park on August 25. Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said he wants an end to the saga one way or another. "From my perspective, you want a resolution quickly. It's taking away the focus of the players and the supporters," said Howe
"We want to be united together. We'd like a resolution, but we're not in control of that." Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz struck in the 96th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw at Brighton after Matt O'Riley's penalty put the Seagulls in front. Manchester City begin their campaign away to Wolves later on Saturday, hoping to bounce back into contenders for the title after a season to forget in 2024/25. Arsenal are not in action until Sunday when they travel to face a transformed Manchester United attack. Defending champions Liverpool began their title defence with a dramatic 4-2 win over Bournemouth on Friday thanks to late goals from Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa.
