Sunderland striker Darren Bent scored a 90th-minute penalty to hand big-spending Manchester City a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light yesterday.
After splashing out over £100 million on new players during the close-season, City are expected to do great things, but Roberto Mancini’s side suffered their first defeat of the season against a resolute Sunderland.
Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor came close to putting City ahead late on but his flick was brilliantly tipped over by Simon Mignolet.
That set the stage for Bent’s match-winning moment. Micah Richards was penalised for climbing on the England international, who picked himself up to drive his spot-kick under Joe Hart.
Fernando Torres fired Liverpool to their first Premier League win of the season as the Reds defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Anfield.
Roy Hodgson’s side had drawn against Arsenal and lost to Manchester City in their first two league games under their new manager, but Torres lifted the early-season gloom around Anfield with his first goal in 10 matches.
Torres struck in the 65th minute with a volley from Dirk Kuyt’s cross to condemn promoted Albion to their second defeat of the season.
A disappointing day for Roberto Di Matteo’s side was complete when midfielder James Morrison was sent off for a rash lunge on Torres in the 86th minute.
Superb fightback
Robbie Blake capped a superb fightback by 10-man Bolton as his late free-kick rescued a 2-2 draw against Birmingham.
Owen Coyle’s side looked deep in trouble as Roger Johnson and Craig Gardner scored for Birmingham either side of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen’s red card for violent conduct.
But Johnson then gave away a penalty which Kevin Davies converted to reduce the deficit with 20 minutes to go, paving the way for substitute Blake to curl home his first goal for the club.
The dramatic finish at the Reebok Stadium maintained Bolton’s unbeaten start to the season and left Birmingham rueing their failure to push home their numerical advantage.
Aston Villa boosted caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald’s hopes of landing the job on a permanent basis as Luke Young’s goal secured a 1-0 win over Everton.
Villa have been without a full-time manager since Martin O’Neill quit just before the start of the season and MacDonald has been holding the fort with mixed results since then.
It remains uncertain whether Villa owner Randy Lerner regards former Liverpool midfielder MacDonald, who has worked for the club as a coach for 15 years, as a serious candidate for the job.
But Young’s ninth-minute goal at Villa Park and the determined performance that followed at least made his case.