Arsenal routs Everton 6-1 as Premier League opens; Chelsea, Man City win, Aston Villa loses

Arsenal romps in Premier League opener

LONDON — The Premier League season opened Saturday, with Arsenal routing Everton 6-1 and Chelsea beginning its bid to reclaim the title by rallying past Hull 2-1.

Captain Cesc Fabregas scored twice in the second half for Arsenal, which sent Everton to its worst home loss in the Premier League. The five-goal margin matched Bolton’s 5-0 win at Leicester in 2001 and Liverpool’s 6-1 win at Crystal Palace in 1994.

Denilson, Thomas Vermaelen, William Gallas and Eduardo da Silva also scored for Arsenal against U.S. national team goalkeeper Tim Howard. Louis Saha had the lone goal for Everton, which finished fifth last year and was the FA Cup runner-up.

“Let’s face it, we’re not going to win 6-1 every day,” Fabregas said. “It’s just one more game for the title race. We can do it if we play like that.”

Didier Drogba scored his second goal of the game in the 90th minute to lead Chelsea. The Blues are trying to capture their first league crown since 2006 and end Manchester United’s record-equaling run of three straight titles.

Drogba’s winning goal came on an attempted cross that floated over goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and into the goal at the far post from a sharp angle.

“We were lucky to score, but the desire is always there,” the Ivory Coast striker said.

Manchester City, which has not captured any trophies since 1976, beat Blackburn 2-0 behind goals by Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland after a summer of heavy spending. City has spent almost $166 million on new players since the end of last season, with Adebayor one of the acquisitions.

Aston Villa finished sixth last season but was jeered from the field by its fans after a 2-0 loss to visiting Wigan, with American keeper Brad Friedel yielding the scores.

In other results, it was: Sunderland 1, Bolton 0; Fulham 1, Portsmouth 0; Stoke 2, Burnley 0; and West Ham 2, Wolverhampton 0.

Manchester United hosts Birmingham on Sunday, when last season’s runner-up Liverpool is at Tottenham.

PARIS (AP) — Defending champion Bordeaux extended its record winning streak in the French league to 13 matches with a 3-2 victory at Sochaux on Saturday, with Marouane Chamakh scoring twice and Brazilian winger Wendel getting the other goal.

American striker Charlie Davies came on as a substitute to score both Sochaux’s goals in his home debut, but Bordeaux held on to win and join Nancy at the top of the French league with both teams winning their opening two games.

Bordeaux won the final 11 games of last season to clinch the title on the final day, and coach Laurent Blanc’s team has got off to the perfect start this time around.

Davies replaced defender Ivan Stevanoic at the start of the second half, and he scored with a neat turn and shot after 61 minutes. But Chamakh, the Morocco striker who has repeatedly stated he wants to join Arsenal or another team in the Premier League, made it 3-1 in the 81st when he headed in a corner kick.

Davies scored again in injury time when he poked home from close range after goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso stopped Jacques Faty’s header.

Davies also scored for the United States in a 2-1 defeat at Mexico in a World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich remained without a win in the Bundesliga season after rallying for a 1-1 draw at home against Werder Bremen.

Mario Gomez scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern in the 72nd minute to salvage the point after Mesut Oezil put Werder ahead after 39 minutes. Munich’s home fans jeered the team off the field at halftime.

Hamburger SV scored three goals in the first 12 minutes and beat Borussia Dortmund 4-1. Eintracht Frankfurt played to a 1-1 tie at home with promoted Nuremberg.

Stuttgart beat promoted Freiburg 4-2;Hannover drew 1-1 at home with Mainz, another promoted team; and Bayer Leverkusen edged Hoffenheim 1-0.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Rangers opened their Scottish Premier League title defense with a 4-1 win over visiting Falkirk.

Lee McCulloch put the home team ahead in the 14th minute, but Kenny Miller struck twice and Steven Naismith rounded off the scoring with seven minutes left to give Rangers a convincing victory.

Celtic enjoyed a 3-1 win at Aberdeen. Aiden McGeady scored twice before Scott McDonald made it 3-0 at halftime in Tony Mowbray’s first league game as manager.