A Fantastic Opening Weekend of the Premier League Season

Premier League football is back, and with a bang.

The opening weekend witnessed plenty of goals, 32 in total (and some stunning ones at that), some fantastic individual and team performances, several impressive debuts, and the new "Get On With The Game" made a smooth transition into Premier League football.

The highlight of the opening weekend's fixtures was undoubtedly Hull's 2-1 victory over Fulham at the KC Stadium. After Seol Ki-Hyeon had given Fulham the lead with a deft header, Geovanni soon equalised with a magnificent 20-yard curling shot. Caleb Folan then scored the winner, in the 81st minute.

It was Hull's first ever game in the Premier League, and this season's relegation  favourites showed they are going to be no pushover. Hull's performance exhibited plenty of grit and passion—with its fair share of class—and they did well to defeat a Fulham team who cannot say they underperformed.

Ultimately, Hull were simply too good for them. An excellent start for the Tigers, and if they recreate that type of performance in every game in the Premier League they might just defy the odds and remain in the division.

A special mention also needs to be made to the Hull support, who were truly exceptional and, if Hull are to have any chance of staying up, will need to play their part. The noise they created throughout the 90 minutes on Saturday was thunderous.

Chelsea displayed the most impressive performance of the weekend, by crushing Portsmouth 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. The performance set a high, early benchmark for the title contenders.

Luis Felipe Scolari's men were relentless, and the Brazilian's impact was obvious. Their football was more attractive to watch—even including a taste of Samba flair—and they carved Portsmouth open at will throughout the first half.

Joe Cole, Nicolas Anelka and a Frank Lampard penalty put them 3-0 up inside the first half, before Deco capped an excellent Premier League debut with a rasping drive just before the final whistle—although maybe David James could have kept it out.

Portsmouth will have to regroup, and ensure that their season really kicks into gear next weekend.

Manchester United fielded a far from full strength line-up and it showed as they struggled against a galvanised Newcastle United at Old Trafford. Obafemi Martins opened the scoring with a header from a corner, but Newcastle's lead was short lived as Darren Fletcher stole in at the near post to equalise just 2 minutes later.

On reflection, the 1-1 result was justified. Newcastle's close-season signing Jonas Gutierrez displayed an especially impressive debut performance, full of running, purpose and creativity.  

While Sir Alex Ferguson won't be too worried by the dropped points, Kevin Keegan will certainly be the happier of the two managers, as the point illustrates a significant improvement for the Magpies upon last term (when they conceded 11 goals in two heavy defeats to the Red Devils). 

Arsenal and Liverpool both won by a single goal, against West Brom and Sunderland respectively. Both clubs will be happy with gaining the three points, although Liverpool will perhaps be happier with their performance.

Arsenal broke out of the traps fast and Samir Nasri opened his Arsenal account with a coolly taken goal after four minutes, slotting home from just outside the six-yard box. Arsenal threatened to extend their lead, but West Brom eventually got to grips with them—and were unlucky not to equalise.

Liverpool played exceptionally well at the Stadium of Light, and limited the home side to very few chances. Fernando Torres picked up from where he left off last season, driving home a 25-yard effort into the bottom corner.

Paul Ince's first game in charge was a memorable one to say the least, snatching victory with virtually the last kick of the game at Goodison Park to win 3-2.

David Dunn opened the scoring with, arguably, the goal of the weekend. However, Everton rallied and equalised before half time, through Arteta's opportunistic freekick. Not long after the break, Yakubu put the home side in front with a header.

Any suggestion of player unrest at Blackburn was quashed though, as they battled back to win the game with goals from Santa Cruz and then Ooijer. A precious three points, and an impressive start to Paul Ince's Premier League managerial career.

Juande Ramos' summer spending spree had little effect at the Riverside Stadium, as Middlesbrough beat Tottenham 2-1 and thoroughly outplayed them in the process.

David Wheater bagged Middlesbrough's first before ex-Spurs striker Mido wrapped the game up. Robert Huth's injury time own goal proved to be too little too late for Tottenham. The victory for Middlesbrough will help to encourage optimism on Teeside. 

Aston Villa emerged victorious from the opening weekend's highest scoring game, beating Man City 4-2. All eyes were on Gareth Barry, but despite his impressive performance it was Gabriel Agbonlahor who stole the show, scoring a 7-minute hat-trick to add to Carew's opener.

Elano had equalised for City from the penalty spot, before Agbonlahor took the game by the scruff of its neck. Corluka stabbed home from close range in added on time to make the scoreline a little more respectable from City's point of view.

Dean Ashton scored two goals inside the first 10 minutes at Upton Park, as they defeated Wigan Athletic 2-1. Ashton's afternoon took a turn for the worse though as he got injured and subsequently had to be substituted. The injury also prevented him from being available for selection in Fabio Capello's next England squad.

Wigan's new Egyptian striker Amir Zaki grabbed Wigan's goal, with a sensational volley on the turn. Zaki's goal was impressive, but he spurned several chances later on to equalise for his new club.

The Premier League's other new boys, Stoke City, had a shocking first half at the Reebok Stadium. They were 3-0 down at the interval after goals from Steinsson, Davies and Elmander.

Stoke did manage a late consolation through Ricardo Fuller, but Bolton were too strong for them on the day. It was a brilliant win for Bolton though and will help rid some of the relegation fears at the Reebok Stadium.