Brentford made light of Ivan Toney's absence to start their 2024-25 Premier League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, as Yoane Wissa netted a second-half winner.
Bees talisman Toney was left out of the hosts’ squad for Sunday’s game at Gtech Community Stadium, with Thomas Frank confirming before kick-off that decision was made due to transfer interest in the striker.
But his absence was not felt as Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark, cutting onto his favoured left foot to stroke into the bottom-left corner.
However, Palace – who saw strikes from Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Edouard disallowed in either half – came on strong in the second period and levelled through Ethan Pinnock’s own goal.
The Eagles were caught out as the game became stretched, though, with Wissa converting from close range 14 minutes from time to seal the points for Brentford, moving them up to fifth in the early standings.
Data Debrief: Mbeumo and Wissa fill Toney-shaped hole
Frank's pre-match admission that Toney could leave in the final weeks of the transfer window will surely concern Brentford's supporters, with the England international's 36 Premier League goals for the Bees being a club-record tally.
However, the next two players in the club's Premier League scoring charts, Wissa (27) and Mbeumo (23), appeared to relish the freedom of playing in a fluid front three and stepped up in Toney's absence.
Wissa recorded a goal and an assist for the third straight Premier League game after doing do against Bournemouth and Newcastle United to end the 2023-24 season. He is the first player to achieve that feat since Riyad Mahrez did so for Manchester City in December 2021.
Mbeumo, meanwhile, maintained his knack of troubling Brentford's London rivals. Since the start of 2021-22, only Bukayo Saka (12 goals, 14 assists) has bettered Mbeumo's 17 goal involvements (11 goals, six assists) in Premier League London derbies.
Verona 3-0 Napoli: Conte oversees humiliating loss on Partenopei bow
Napoli's Serie A season began in calamitous fashion on Sunday as they were thrashed 3-0 by Verona, also losing star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury.
Antonio Conte, overseeing his first league game in charge of the 2023 Scudetto winners, was forced to withdraw Kvaratskhelia just before half-time after the Georgian collided with Pawel Dawidowicz.
Napoli's problems mounted after the break when Dailon Livramento got in front of their defence to slot home from close range and give the hosts the lead.
The nightmare continued for Napoli after 75 minutes as substitute Daniel Mosquera received a throughball and calmly slotted his finish past Alex Meret.
With Napoli throwing men forward late on, Verona added some gloss to the scoreline as Mosquera claimed his brace, tapping home a cutback from Darko Lazovic for his brace.
Data Debrief: Conte's perfect record ends
After a dismal 2023-24 season that saw Napoli, as defending champions, go through three head coaches and finish 10th in Serie A, hopes were high that Conte's arrival would herald an instant upturn.
However, the Partenopei were stunned in his first league game at the helm, as he started a season as a Serie A manager with a defeat for the very first time.
He had previously registered five wins and one draw on matchday one in the competition.
Bolton draw proves Wrexham competitive in League One, says Parkinson
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson says his side's goalless draw away at Bolton Wanderers proves they can compete in League One.
Bolton finished third in the league last season behind Portsmouth and Derby County before losing out in the play-off semi-finals against eventual promotion winners Oxford United.
The Welsh side, meanwhile, were promoted from the fourth tier and opened their League One campaign with a 3-2 victory over Wycombe Wanderers last time out.
Parkinson's side and Ian Evatt's hosts could not be separated on Sunday, however, as the visiting manager suggested the result shows Wrexham are equal to the level of the third-tier competition.
"It was a good test and I was interested to see how we fared," said Parkinson.
"They started so quickly and we didn't quite react to that. But we grew into the game. We showed at times we have got quality. We had moments, so did they.
"It was important for us as well to show we can compete at this level, at the top end of the division. I felt we did that.
"At times in the second period, we gained some control with the ball and looked like we could go on and win it. But we had to rely on Arthur [Okonkwo] for one particular outstanding save."
Parkinson believes his faith in ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Okonkwo, who denied the impressive Dion Charles, has paid off after his successful attempts to sign him.
"I said to the owners in the summer Arthur was a key signing," Parkinson added. "He is someone who can grow with the club.
"He's not just a good keeper, he is a good character as well. Everyone saw his quality. He was immaculate."
Over 24 League One contests on home soil last season, Bolton had 15 wins, five draws, and four losses, and Evatt felt the home side should have continued that impressive record on Sunday.
Bolton were also denied a stoppage-time penalty for a shirt pull on skipper Ricardo Santos, much to the dismay of Evatt.
"I thought we deserved to win it," Evatt said. "We were the team probing and asking questions for large spells. We should have and probably could have gone ahead and we had enough chances to win it.
"For a team like them that ask you lots of questions and score a lot of goals, they didn't create a great deal. They really celebrated the draw so that shows where we are at."
Maresca claims Chelsea matched Man City despite comfortable defeat
Enzo Maresca insisted Chelsea were equal to the masterful Manchester City in the aftermath of Sunday's 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian started his Blues tenure with a loss as Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored in either half for the Premier League champions in their 2024-25 opener.
Chelsea mustered 1.23 expected goals (xG), however, to City's 0.82 and almost drew level when Nicolas Jackson had a strike ruled out for offside on the stroke of half-time.
Jackson was again denied by Ederson after the interval, while Enzo Fernandez's cross would have found debutant Pedro Neto for a tap-in if not for Rico Lewis' late intervention.
Former Leicester City boss Maresca believes his side matched City's efforts, yet the game was decided by the quality of Pep Guardiola's team in both boxes.
"I think we competed very well for much of the game," former City development coach Maresca told Sky Sports. "We were similar if not better.
"The performance was there but we didn't take the chances. Probably the big difference was inside the box. I'm quite happy in terms of performance.
"For me, the important thing is to create chances. We didn't score but we created chances. The first goal for them was almost offside, we almost scored.
"These things change results but the performance was good overall. It was quite clear, you can see a team trying to keep the ball and dominate.
"We were against the champions. We will continue and win games. They are a master in this kind of moment.
"They are a master of keeping hold of the ball. The performance was there and that is the main thing. You can see how they managed the ball.
"In terms of chances, we had the same. Keeping the ball was more or less there. We don't like to lose. We just need to continue."
Maresca's maiden match in charge at Stamford Bridge was clouded by his decision to leave out Raheem Sterling, whose representatives then issued a statement demanding "clarity" over the forward's future.
Sterling had featured on the opening matchday of the last 11 Premier League seasons for Liverpool, City and Chelsea, but was omitted from the squad along with Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku and Conor Gallagher.
Maresca insisted the decision was based off "technical" aspects before the game, and reiterated that sentiment following the disappointing defeat.
"To be honest, I didn't see the statement," Maresca said. "I have nothing to say. It was a tactical decision, no more than that.
"In the next day, we will clarify in case we need to. I have been clear, it's a tactical decision. I didn't see it."
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