(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Folks, if Saturday managed to spring about a few surprises, Sunday wasn't to be outdone either.
The first Sunday of the new English Premier League had two games being played, Manchester United hosted Birmingham City in the early kickoff while Liverpool travelled to Tottenham Hotspur.
Manchester United began their Premier League defense without several key defenders including Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Rafael Da Silva, and Nemanja Vidic, which meant Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to pair Jonny Evans with John O'Shea at the heart of United's defense.
Wayne Rooney partnered Dimitar Berbatov upfront while new signing Luis Antonio Valencia made his league debut for the Red Devils.
Birmingham had defensive problems of their own as Giovanni Espinoza, Scott Dann and Liam Ridgewell were all missing due to injuries.
Alex McCleish handed a debut to Scottish midfielder, Barry Ferguson while Ecuadorian striker, Christian "Chucho" Benitez looked on from the bench.
Cameron Jerome headed the attack on his own and was occasionally joined by James McFadden, Keith Fahey, and Sebastian Larsson.
United constantly troubled Birmingham's defense in the first half as Wayne Rooney's fierce strike was denied by the finger tips of on-loan Manchester City keeper Joe Hart in the opening minutes of play at Old Trafford.
Nani had a golden chance to put the Red Devils ahead minutes later but the Portuguese winger made a mess of Patrice Evra's cut back sending the ball into the stands.
Valencia tried to impress the Old Trafford faithful but failed to have any real impact on the game.
United eventually broke the deadlock when Darren Fletcher's long ball found Nani on the left wing, Nani's cross was met by Wayne Rooney, in the six yard area. Rooney's header teasingly rebounded after striking Joe Hart's post but Rooney was prepared and neatly tucked the rebound into the net, providing United, a much deserved lead in the 34th minute of play.
Birmingham came close when Frank Quedrue's header was saved off the line by Patrice Evra.
United lead the Blues going into the break but Birmingham came close to finding an equaliser after the interval when Cameron Jerome's long range effort went inches wide of Ben Foster's goal.
Foster also made a sensational save to deny substitute Christian Benitez late in the second half as United held on to take the three points.
Micheal Owen failed to score on debut despite being put one-on-one with Hart by Rooney's cheeky play-on.
Tottenham Hotspur played host to Liverpool at White Hart Lane and Harry Redknapp chose to leave new signing Peter Crouch on the bench against his former club.
Robbie Keane, though, led Spurs against the Reds, after his return to White Hart Lane from Anfield last season.
Liverpool started with Fernando Torres upfront, Steven Gerrard just behind him and the Dutch duo of Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel assisting the Spaniard from the flanks.
It wasn't too long before Liverpool started missing Xabi Alonso, who left for Real Madrid earlier this month.
His replacement Alberto Aquilani still faces time on the sidelines.
Lucas and Javier Mascherano were paired together in midfield in Alonso's absence and Liverpool appeared to be missing an air of creativity.
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