England

MANCHESTER — Bruno Fernandes scored his first hat-trick in English football in front of a raucous Old Trafford as Manchester United thrashed Leeds United 5-1 to get their Premier League season off to a flying start on Saturday.

French midfielder Paul Pogba also starred with four assists - one more than he managed in the whole of last season in the league - to help United run riot in front of their first full crowd in 17 months.

Christian Pulisic opened his 2021/22 Chelsea scoring account in the first game of the season with a true poacher’s finish. With Chelsea leading 1-0 in the first half courtesy of a Marcos Alonso thunderbolt free kick, Pulisic made it 2-0 in the 40th minute.

Christian Pulisic Goal vs. Crystal Palace

One match, one goal for Christian Pulisic!

@peacocktv pic.twitter.com/tKYRQo6dAV

Brentford hadn’t played a game in England’s top flight in nearly three-quarters of a century. The Bees came swarming back on Friday to open their Premier League campaign by thumping Arsenal 2-0 on the opening night of league play.

The Arsenal vs. Brentford highlights are a reminder of how much better this sport is in front of a full stadium. The scenes before the game were enough to give goosebumps

The scenes that Brentford supporters have waited 75 YEARS FOR.

Jesse Marsch is the best American coach in European football right now. After two wildly successful campaigns with Red Bull Salzburg, the Wisconsin native moved up to the big time with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. Ahead of his first season leading Leipzig, Marsch is already being compared to another wildly successful American coach in Europe, albeit a fictional one, Ted Lasso.

ROME - Romelu Lukaku is a familiar face to Premier League viewers, but the player who completed a $134.7 million return to Chelsea on Thursday is, by his own admission, not the same one who departed England two years ago.

“Italy has brought me to another level. I have never felt this strong. I have reached another level, physically and mentally,” Lukaku said in May.

Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the first round of Premier League fixtures from Aug. 13-15 (all times EST).

Premier League Schedule 2021/22 Opening Weekend 

Friday, Aug. 13

Brentford v Arsenal (3:00 p.m.)

* Brentford will be the 50th different team to play in the Premier League, and the 10th from London.

Two years ago, Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be taken off in the closing minutes of a Carabao Cup match when coach Mauricio Sarri wanted to bring on Willy Caballero for penalty kicks before losing to Manchester City. On Wednesday, it was Kepa brought on in the closing minutes, and this time he came off as a winner. 

There's no doubt that footballers create a special connection with each other since there's such a strong bond between two people that understand the game and everything it entails. It's no secret that many professional women’s players are dating teammates or even opponents. The most recent rumored couple that had fans wondering if they're official or not was the relationship status between Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis. 

Zack Steffen did his best to keep Manchester City in its Community Shield match with Leicester City, but he couldn’t quite do enough. Kelechi Iheanacho converted on an 89th-minute penalty kick to finally find a way past the American goalkeeper as the Foxes won their second Community Shield title on Saturday, the first coming in 1971. 

Steffen made four saves, including one that was arguably the play of the game, but could only get his fingertips to Iheanacho’s well-struck penalty in the closing minutes.