Reina’s goalkeeping blunder hands Arsenal 1-1 draw at Liverpool in Premier League opener

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Reina blunder hands Arsenal 1-1 draw at Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina accidentally pushed the ball into his own net to hand Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Anfield in their Premier League opener on Sunday.

The ball rebounded off Reina after Marouane Chamakh’s header hit the goal post in the 90th minute to cancel out David Ngog’s powerful strike.

“We defended very well and it’s unfortunate to give a goal away at the end,” Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve got 10 or 11 (players), and we’re very disappointed it’s not even a goal where they’ve used their man advantage.”

The equalizer came after Liverpool overcame Joe Cole’s sending off at the end of the first half to take the lead at the start of the second when Ngog beat Manuel Almunia at his near post.

Laurent Koscielny, who was the victim of Cole’s red-card lunge, was sent off himself in second-half injury time after being shown a second yellow card for handling.

“I believe we got a deserved equalizer because I couldn’t see Arsenal losing a game like this without being deeply hurt,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

This was Roy Hodgson’s first significant challenge as Liverpool manager, having replaced Rafa Benitez after last season’s disappointing seventh-place finish.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Ruud van Nistelrooy scored three goals to lead Hamburger SV to a 5-1 win over fifth-tier Torgelower SV Greif and a place in the second round of the German Cup.

Paolo Guerrero and David Jarolim added the other goals for the Bundesliga side in new coach Armin Veh’s first official game.

Steve McClaren had a winning start as the first English coach of a Bundesliga side when Wolfsburg beat fourth-division Preussen Muenster 2-1 in another game.

Wolfsburg needed late goals from Cicero and Grafite and survived a scare when Edin Dzeko hit the ball into his own net in the 86th, before Grafite notched the winner two minutes later.

PARIS (AP) — Bordeaux and Lyon remain without a win after two rounds of the French league after both were beaten Sunday, casting doubt on their title hopes.

Toulouse defeated Bordeaux 2-1 to top the standings on six points even with promoted Caen, which stunned last season’s runner-up Lyon 3-2. Lyon has one point while Bordeaux slipped to last place without a point.

Paris Saint-Germain could join Toulouse and Caen with six points by beating Lille later Sunday.

The match between Monaco and Montpellier was postponed to Tuesday due to a damaged field from heavy rain.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Former Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan scored a tying goal in the 36th minute, helping Randers rally for a 2-1 victory over Lyngby in the Danish league.

The 23-year-old is an Armenian citizen and has a U.S. green card, making him potentially eligible to play for the United States. He announced last week he is joining Armenia’s national team and played in Wednesday’s exhibition against Iran. If he appears in an official match — Armenia hosts Ireland in its opening European Championship qualifier on Sept. 3 — he would be ineligible to play for the U.S.