MADRID (AP) — Arsenal got its title defense off to a perfect start Friday with a 3-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City in the opening match of the Premier League.
In France, a second-half double from Amine Gouiri set Marseille on its way to a 4-0 victory over Strasbourg on the first night of this season’s Ligue 1 action.
Elsewhere in Europe, Real Betis beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Spanish league while fan trouble overshadowed the first round of
the German Cup.
Newcomer Christos Tzolis helped set up two goals as defending champion Arsenal opened the Premier League season by dismantling promoted Coventry 3-0 to spoil the visitor’s long-awaited return to the top flight.
After ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, Arsenal showed why it’s favored to repeat as champion by completely dominating Frank Lampard’s side in a game that was one-sided from start to finish.
Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored for the Gunners, who spurned chances to pad the scoreline even further.
For Coventry, it was a rude welcome back to the Premier League after a 25-year absence. Having won the second-tier Championship last season by a wide margin, Lampard’s side simply looked outmatched as it was repeatedly taken apart by the marauding Gunners.
Gouiri, who scored eight goals in 22 league matches last season, has been linked with a move to Everton in recent days, but the speculation clearly did not hinder his concentration in the Ligue 1 opener.
He slotted home from close range a minute after the break and then doubled his tally from the penalty spot midway through the second half, just minutes after Strasbourg was reduced to 10 men following Samir El Mourabet's dismissal for a bad tackle.
Keyliane Abdallah added a third in the 89th minute before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg completed the scoring in stoppage time to give new Marseille coach Bruno Génésio the perfect start to the season.
Betis kicked off its La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in Seville.
Riquelme’s volleyed goal after 63 minutes separated two evenly matched teams and extended Betis’ unbeaten home run in Friday night games to 18.
The win takes the Seville club into joint second place in La Liga, one of four teams on three points, behind Alaves, which has four.
It’s a stuttering start to the league season in Spain, with some teams having played twice before others have even kicked off their campaign.
Police had to intervene in the German Cup match between Waldhof Mannheim and Kaiserslautern as fans threw flares and other objects and some Mannheim supporters invaded the pitch. The trouble started as the game was heading into extra time with the score tied at 0-0.
The match was halted for nearly 30 minutes as officers in riot gear and mounted police pushed fans back into the stands before the players could return.
Ibrahim Kanate scored in the last minute of extra time, giving second-division Kaiserslautern a 1-0 win to advance to the second round.
Eintracht Frankfurt cruised into the second round of the competition with a staggering 11-0 win away at fifth-tier St. Tönis. Ten of the goals came before half time, three of them from Jonathan Burkardt.
Karlsruhe beat Munster 2-1 and Dženan Pejčinović scored a hattrick as VfB Stuttgart beat Hansa Rostock 4-0 away from home.
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