It took just one round of the Premier League to puncture the preseason positivity surrounding Manchester United and Tottenham. In the middle was a win for Everton in front of Britain’s recently installed prime minister and a victory for another promoted club, Ipswich. Saturday in England’s top division began with United, the 20-time champion with a new permanent manager and a freshly renovated midfield, getting rolled over by promoted Hull in an embarrassing 2-0 loss. It ended with Tottenham, one of the biggest spenders in Europe this summer with $300 million – and counting – of new players in its squad, getting overwhelmed in a 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
Palace lost Morocco defender Chadi Riad to what appeared to be a serious knee injury that forced him to be carried off on a stretcher in the second half. First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy at set-pieces consigned United to a tepid loss away to a team that was promoted via the second-tier Championship playoffs and is widely expected to be among the relegation candidates. “It doesn’t change the direction of the football club. Andy Burnham took in his first Everton match since becoming Britain’s prime minister last month and saw Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry score goals for the hosts.
They struggled to impress along with many other players in a lackluster team display that showed United – last a Premier League champion in 2013 under Alex Ferguson – still has far to go to recapture its former glories and is unlikely to challenge for the title, at least on this evidence anyway. Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, who joined for a club-record $133 million from Newcastle, was among the new signings in a Spurs team that was completely outplayed by a settled Brentford lineup, which was two goals ahead by the 33rd thanks to close-range strikes by Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt.
“One game doesn’t change the direction of everything,” Carrick said. Everton manager David Moyes said he spoke to Burnham, a season ticket-holder at the club, on the phone after the match. Ismaila Sarr, linked with a move away from Palace, wasn’t in the matchday squad for Pierre Sage’s first game in charge of the team, though the manager said the Senegal forward’s absence was injury-related.
