It has been 16 years of waiting for Leeds United. Marcelo Biesla lost to Derby in the play-offs last season, throwing away a chance to grace the premier league much earlier. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop him from dragging back Leeds into the top league. The Leeds castle has been consistently built on hard work and persistence. When Biesla lost the play-offs to Derby, he had the option of letting the team fall further back into the drain and swim in the empathy coming his way. Instead, he chose to pick up the broken pieces and mold a team for a top-flight competition.
Arsenal cage Fulham at the Craven Cottage
Elsewhere, Willian got off to a flying start, assisting the three of Arsenal’s goals, and eventually winning the player of the match award. Although Fulham caused themselves too many problems at the back, Arsenal was simply outstanding.
The new boys offered some resistance, once in a while restricting the FA cup holders to long-range shots and midfield play. However, Scott Parker’s charges were nowhere near their best, allowing a slick arsenal to breeze past them in a scintillating fashion.
At the final whistle, it was the North London club that got back to the dressing room with all the three points.
Leeds mark their return with a seven-goal thriller
For Leeds, it was a debut premier league game after 16 years of absence. And so for the Elland Road faithful, that alone was enough motivation to take all the three points at Anfield. As with any opener, the Saturday evening encounter had some of the thrills and spills which decided the game.
There as the awkward Virgil Van Dijk moment, a mistake which cost his side the second goal. But more than that, the Egyptian forward put up a sterling performance, sealing the game with a late penalty to claim a first hat-trick of the season.
And then we had a debut strike for Jack Harrison, a former New York City FC winger. The former Manchester United academy product leveled for Bielsa’s side in the 12th minute, sending the Leeds faithful in a frenzy.
The leveler was some fine work of art. Harrison collected a long ball from the left flank, dodged past two defenders with some incisive dribbling before calmly finishing off with his right foot.
The newly-promoted side threw everything at Liverpool, only falling to a Mohammed Salah penalty in the game’s dying minutes.
Careless Liverpool side
If Biesla wasn’t happy with what he saw in the first half, the Klopp must be somewhere thinking whether this is the Liverpool side of last season.
It was a chaotic first half, with more than four goals being scored. The Reds had to wait for 30 years to lift the premier league trophy. However, with the high level of carelessness exhibited against Leeds, it will take longer to have the trophy in their cabinet.
Are Fulham up to the task?
Fulham seems not to have learned from their last two appearances in the top flight. They spent over £100m in the 2018-2019 season, but still got relegated and soaked in the league’s most goals.
However, Scott Parker wasn’t in a hurry to bring in new signings as they faced Arsenal. He used the team that beat Brentford in the Championship final but still fell to a more clinical and resolute Arsenal.
Fulham visits Leeds for the next premier league assignment, and they’ll be hoping not all teams will be as tough as the in-form Arsenal. More worrying is their leaky defense, which they will need to fix before it gets out of hand.
