Claudio Ranieri feels Hull City was simply the better team in Saturday’s Premier League opener as Leicester City was beaten 2-1 and the Italian lamented his players for a lack of togetherness.
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Leicester were dominant in the first half but failed to test Eldin Jakupovic in the Tigers goals, leaving Adama Diomande to break the deadlock in first half stoppage time.
Leicester equalised with a penalty converted by Riyad Mahrez nearly immediately after the re-start, but Snodgrass restored Hull’s lead for good in the 57th minute with a powerful low shot from inside the area.
Robert Snodgrass drove in the victor 12 minutes into the second half as a team in crisis on and off the pitch became the first to beat the defending English champions on opening day since Manchester United defeated Arsenal in 1989.
Caretaker manager Mike Phelan hinted a takeover at Hull could be days away after kicking off the season with an unlikely victory over Premier League champions Leicester.
Guardiola’s City career got off to a ideal start when Sergio Aguero fired home a fourth-minute penalty after Patrick van Aanholt had brought down Raheem Sterling.
Aguero fired City into the lead in the fourth minute after Patrick van Aanholt brought down the lively Raheem Sterling but City were lethargic in attack despite enjoying the vast majority of possession. At Wembley against Manchester United we played as a team – but we weren’t together today.
Ranieri refused to criticise individuals, but he did admit his team had delivered an error-strewn display.
A Chinese consortium, led by businessmen Dai Yongge and Hawken Xi Liu, has expressed an interest in buying the club, and its key figures were at the match to watch the Premier League season begin. We will lose a little more than we did last season.
Spurs lost goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to a hamstring injury in the 36th minute but bounced back when Lamela nodded in Kyle Walker’s cross.
“It was a hard match for us”.
Philip said: “Unbelievable. I don’t think anyone saw this coming”.
Swansea eventually broke through the Burnley resistance to come away with a 1-0 win.
Manchester City’s new manager Pep Guardiola reacts after a missed opportunity during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday Aug. 13, 2016.
Southampton manager Claude Puel and his Watford counterpart Walter Mazzarri started life at their respective new clubs with a 1-1 draw at St Mary’s. The wide player made the most of his chance to hunt the foxes with a superb delivery for the opening goal and a brilliant strike to score their go-ahead second.
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Leroy Fer scored Swansea’s late victor against Burnley and a header from West Brom’s Salomon Rondon gave the visitors their victory at Crystal Palace.
