LONDON (AP) ― Liverpool lost its first Premier League game since Brendan Rodgers took over as coach, falling 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion after defender Daniel Agger was sent off early in the second half on Saturday.
Arsenal began life without Robin van Persie with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Sunderland, but Fulham and Swansea both enjoyed 5-0 routs.
Fulham did not miss American midfielder Clint Dempsey during its Premier League opener, cruising past Norwich at Craven Cottage.
Coach Martin Jol said after the match that reports that Dempsey rejected the opportunity to play against Norwich were untrue.
Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski (right) and Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole challenge for the ball on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
“To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move and if you want to move, you don’t want to take risks so you don’t want to play in case you get an injury,” Jol said.
Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 on a winning penalty by Hatem Ben Arfa. Demba Ba opened the scoring for Newcastle in the 54th minute but Jermian Defoe tied it in the 76th minute.
Newcastle coach Alan Pardew was sent to the stands after pushing a match official and likely will face further punishment by the English soccer association.
Neither of the top Premier League teams were in action. Manchester City begins its title defense on Sunday and Manchester United plays on Monday.
West Ham and Reading each avoided a loss in their first matches since gaining promotion. West Ham beat Ashton Villa 1-0, and Reading played to a 1-1 draw against Stoke.
In the second-tier League Championship, American defender Jonathan Spector entered in the 63rd minute of Birmingham’s 1-1 draw against Charlton, his first appearance since tearing a thigh muscle in May against Blackpool in the promotion playoffs.
Germany
Defending champion Borussia Dortmund progressed to the second round of the German Cup, and fourth-tier club Berliner AK knocked out Bundesliga side Hoffenheim with a 4-0 win.
Marco Reus, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ivan Perisic scored in Dortmund’s 3-0 win at fourth-tier team Oberneuland, a Berlin suburb.
Hoffenheim’s 4-0 loss sparked wild celebrations among just under 1,500 Berliner AK fans, whose side only qualified for the competition after beating local rivals SC Gatow in a regional cup final.
Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Freiburg all beat lower-ranked opposition to move on, and Wolfsburg routed sixth-tier Schoenberg 5-0.
Spain
Fabrice Olinga became the youngest player to score in Spain’s La Liga, coming off the bench to get the winner in Malago’s 1-0 victory at Celta Vigo.
Cameroonian Olinga scored in the 83rd minute, ruining Vigo’s return to the Primera Division. The goal made Olinga the youngest player to score in the Spanish league at 16 years, 3 months, 6 days and the youngest player to play in the first division for Malaga.
Olinga wrote on Twitter that he was “very happy for the game and the victory of the team, now back to Malaga and above all back to work.”
Sevilla beat Getafe 2-1 on first-half goals by Federico Fazio and Alvaro Negredo.
Defending champion Real Madrid begins its title defense at home against Valencia on Sunday.
