By DAN KARELL
David Moyes couldn’t have asked for a better way to officially open up his reign as Manchester United manager.
The defending English Premier League champions took Swansea City to task on Saturday, scoring two goals in each half to win, 4-1, in the pouring rain at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.
Though Swansea were the better side for most of the first half, Man United scored two goals in a two minute span, as Robin Van Persie and Danny Welbeck each found the back of the net. The two would again score terrific goals in the second half, with Van Persie rocketing a shot past Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm and Welbeck sending an audacious lob over Vorm for a goal.
Wayne Rooney made his season debut in the 62nd minute, entering for Ryan Giggs and having a part in both Man United second half goals.
Here are some more stories to catch up on from around the world:
ARSENAL ADD INJURIES TO INSULT
It only took about 20 minutes for wheels came off the Arsenal wagon in the first game of the season.
After momentarily making fans forget about the lack of spending during the summer with a classic Arsenal goal from Olivier Giroud in the 6th minute, their opponents on the day, Aston Villa, scored three straight goals, two of them on controversial penalty kick decisions from the referee to take all three points back to Birmingham.
Worse for the Gunners, Kieran Gibbs, Bakary Sagna, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all substituted due to injuries during the match, leaving the Arsenal squad even thinner than expected. Manager Arsene Wenger also confirmed after the game that Tomas Rosicky picked up a knock and he didn’t know what to expect from Jack Wilshere after his 90 minute performance.
Arsenal, who were already missing Abou Diaby, Thomas Vermaelen, Nacho Monreal, and Mikel Arteta before Saturday’s season opener, are now likely to rely on reserve players to fill the numbers when they face Fenerbahce in UEFA Champions League play-off round matches on the next two Wednesdays.
MANDZUKIC LEADS BAYERN TO SECOND VICTORY
Bayern Munich weren’t able to put up the same kind of offensive performance that Hertha Berlin did against Eintracht Frankfurt a week earlier, but Bayern still walked away with the three points.
Playing in Frankfurt, a Mario Mandzukic goal was all that Bayern needed to defeat Eintracht, 1-0, sending the Europa League team down into the relegation zone while keeping Bayern at the top of the table on points.
New Bayern signing Mario Götze, who is slowly returning to fitness, was on the bench for the first time this season in an official match. Götze missed nearly all of the summer’s preseason due to a thigh injury.
QUICK KICKS
AS Monaco will be without new signings Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez for Sunday’s tilt against Montpellier due to injury. (REPORT)
Japan has accepted an invitation to play in the 2015 Copa America, joining Mexico as the other non-CONMEBOL side in the competition. (REPORT)
After scoring twice for Mexico in their 4-1 victory over Ivory Coast on Wednesday, Oribe Peralta scored another two goals for his club side Santos Laguna in a 3-0 victory over Tigres UANL. (REPORT)
Celtic FC are in the running to sign Schalke 04 forward Teemu Pukki. (REPORT)
An injury has kept PSV phenom Zakaria Bakkali off the field for his side’s 3-0 victory on Saturday after he scored a hat-trick one week ago. (REPORT)
———-
What did you make of today’s games? Did you expect Man United to score four times? Do you see Arsenal making some signings to cover for the injuries? Do you believe Bayern can keep on winning in the Bundesliga?
Share your thoughts below.