Man City opened their 2012-13 Premier League campaign in a similar way to the way they finished the last one. City came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in their opening game which brought back memories of Aguero’s famous goal in May which clinched their first Premier League title.
City were dominant for large parts of the game but it was the introduction of second half substitute Rickie Lambert who changed the game. He scored the equaliser to make the game 1-1 after Tevez had given City the lead in the first half. Lambert’s goal galavanised Southampton who broke form a City corner and Steven Davis expertly finished to give Southampton the lead just 10 minutes after Lambert’s introduction.
A missed penalty from David Silva looked to be costly for City as Southampton led with just 20 minutes left on the clock. But the Premier League Champions fought back through goals through Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri to secure the victory ten minutes from time. It was nothing more than City had deserved being the better time for the vast majority of the game but it was a cruel punishment for Southampton who had fought so hard to get back into the game. Man City will also be without star striker Sergio Aguero for the foreseeable future after the forward was stretchered off with a knee injury in the first half of the game.
Elsewhere in the Premier league both Fulham and Swansea netted five times without reply on the opening day of the season. Fulham dominated against a lackluster Norwich who survived the drop by a considerable distance last year but it looks like it will be much more of a challenge for new boss Chris Hughton to keep the Canaries afloat this season.
Results
Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Everton 1-0 Man Utd
Fulham 5-0 Norwich
Man City 3-2 Southampton
Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham
QPR 0-5 Swansea
Reading 1-1 Stoke
West Brom 3-0 Liverpool
West Ham 1-0 Aston Villa
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea