Weekend Football Review

The world’s most competitive league — the Premier League — returned at the weekend and lived up to its billing with some exciting and, depending on which side of the fence you sit, some shocking results.

Arsenal nearly got the shock of their lives on Friday night as they entertained the Foxes at the Emirates Stadium. With Leicester looking set for a famous 3-2 victory, Aaron Ramsey (83 minutes) and Olivier Giroud (85 minutes) stepped up with late goals to give the Gunners a much needed victory.

Champions Chelsea got their title defence off to a wobbly start against Burnley. The Blues had Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas sent off as the defence of their Premier League title began with a stunning 3-2 home defeat by Burnley.

Disjointed and embarrassed in the first half, Chelsea threatened to mount the most unlikely of comebacks in a stirring second-half display, but just failed to overcome their numerical disadvantage.

Old Trafford presented the last match of the weekend with attention on some of the new Manchester United signings. With his double in the 4-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday, Romelu Lukaku joined an exclusive club of Manchester United goalscorers to have scored on their debuts.

Lukaku became the 18th United player to score on his Premier League debut but only the fourth to net twice in his first match.

Marcus Rashford, who set up Lukaku’s first, was the previous debutant to do so when the Red Devils beat Arsenal 3-2 in February 2016. James Wilson and Ruud van Nistelrooy were the others to match that feat.

Lukaku continued his record of starting quickly for his new clubs, having also scored on his Premier League debut for West Bromwich Albion and Everton.

The Belgium striker would have been confident of extending his scoring run on debuts, having been so prolific against West Ham in the Premier League. He has scored 11 PL goals against the Hammers, more than he has against any other team.

DOWNS, CHIEFS DUMPED OUT OF MTN8

An extraordinary start to the South African season saw six players and coaches red-carded as title-holders Wits scraped into the semi-finals of a knockout competition this weekend.

The debut of Montenegrin Slavko Damjanovic for league champions Wits lasted just 22 minutes before being sent off for kicking an opponent so hard in the face he concussed him.

A second yellow card for Zimbabwean Danny Phiri of Golden Arrows on the stroke of half-time reduced both teams to 10 men in the MTN 8 quarter-final.

Constant second-half swearing led to Wits coach Gavin Hunt and Arrows coach Clinton Larsen and his assistant, Mandla Ncikazi, being sent to the grandstand.

The referee flashed his red card again during extra time to expel Siyabonga Dube of Arrows for head-butting Malawian Frank “Gabadinho” Mhango.

Amid the chaos, Wits won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw that seemed an unlikely result midway through the first half when Arrows led 10-man Wits by two goals.

A Lerato Lamola header and a tap-in from seemingly offside Zimbabwean Kudakwashe Mahachi for the underdogs from Durban rattled Wits.

But goals in each half by England-born James Keene, the first from a penalty, brought the resilient hosts level.

The flurry of red cards and dramatic comeback overshadowed the Wits debut of 35-year-old former Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland midfielder Steven Pienaar.

Deciding to end his career in his home city of Johannesburg, Pienaar sat on the bench for 84 minutes as he is not fully fit after missing several weeks of pre-season training.

He showed touches of class and struck an unstoppable penalty in the shootout, suggesting he will be a valuable addition to the “Clever Boys”.

Benni McCarthy, a 2004 UEFA Champions League winner with Jose Mourinho-managed Porto, debuted as a coach by guiding Cape Town City to a 1-0 home win over Polokwane City.

The winner came gift wrapped from the visitors on 38 minutes as an intended clearing header from Sibusiso Mbonani flew past his goalkeeper, Zimbabwean George Chigova.

New Zealander Jeremy Brockie scored after only six minutes to give South African FA Cup title-holders SuperSport United a 1-0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs in Durban.

Maritzburg United shocked CAF Champions League title-holders Mamelodi Sundowns with a 1-0 away triumph in Pretoria through a second-half goal from Zimbabwean Evans Rusike. Cape Town meet Wits and SuperSport face Maritzburg in the two-leg semi-finals of a competition offering a winners-take-all eight million rand ($595,000/500,000 euros) prize.

The top eight finishers in the previous league season qualify for the MTN 8.

RONALDO SEES RED AS REAL SINK BARCA

Real Madrid made light of a red card for Cristiano Ronaldo to deal a further blow to Barcelona by winning 3-1 in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.

Ronaldo, only introduced as a second-half substitute, was shown two quickfire yellow cards after blasting Madrid into a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes to go.

However, Real extended their advantage with 10 men thanks to a sumptuous late strike from Marco Asensio.

Earlier, Lionel Messi’s penalty had cancelled out Gerard Pique’s own goal as Barca failed to get the early season boost they needed after losing Brazilian star Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee.

The sides will meet again in Madrid for the second-leg on Wednesday.

WHAT THEY SAID….

“It is just that the ball did not get into the net. There’s one Parker touched and where we are sitting you could see the ball going in and I’m saying it’s going to hug the side-netting and it didn’t. I’m sure by then Tinkler’s heart was almost out, but congratulations to them.” – Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela following their exit from the MTN8.

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