Cove Rangers started life in Scottish League One on a losing note as Hamilton put their disappointment at missing out on promotion last season behind them with a 1-0 victory at the ZLX Stadium.
Hamilton’s shootout defeat to Airdrie in May condemned the Accies to at least one more campaign in the third tier, with the Toonsers dropping down after finishing last in the Championship last term.
It was Hamilton who won this season-opener, with the decisive moment coming in the 35th minute when Josh Kerr turned into his own net from Jamie Barjonas’ teasing low ball into the area.
The visitors’ defeat was compounded by Paul McGowan seeing red eight minutes from time.
Cammy Clark’s 69th-minute free-kick from 25 yards helped promoted Stirling get their season under way with a 1-0 victory over Edinburgh City.
However, Annan Athletic, who joined Stirling in League One, began their season with a humbling 3-0 defeat at Falkirk.
The Bairns took the lead in the 58th minute through Ross MacIver’s header while Callumn Morrison’s thunderbolt from distance doubled their advantage five minutes later.
Substitute Aidan Nesbitt netted on the rebound after another Morrison strike was saved to seal a commanding win for Falkirk.
Alloa got the better of a 4-3 thriller at Queen of South.
David McKay cancelled out Kieran McKechnie’s opener then Alloa stormed ahead through Bradley Rodden and Conor Sammon before the half hour.
While Gavin Reilly’s penalty pulled one back, Alloa led 4-2 at the interval through Rodden.
Reilly’s second successful spot-kick six minutes from time set up a dramatic finale but Alloa held on.
Second-half goals from Lewis Moore and substitute Botti Biabi gave Kelty Hearts a 2-0 win at Montrose.
Promoted Spartans battled back a goal down to claim a 1-1 Scottish League Two draw at home to Clyde.
Martin Rennie headed in midway through the first half for Clyde, who were relegated last season, but Jamie Dishington’s strike in the 69th minute ensured the spoils were shared.
Jack Brown’s close-range strike and Conor O’Keefe’s second-half double helped Peterhead to a 3-0 win at East Fife.
Ryan Blair struck early on for Dumbarton but they had to be content with a 1-1 draw at Bonnyrigg Rose as Luke Mahady scored nine minutes from time.
James Dolan headed home midway through the first half as Stranraer edged to a 1-0 win at Elgin – who avoided the drop last season by a point – while Stenhousemuir were held to a 0-0 draw by Forfar.
Chicago Fire 1-4 Inter Miami: Suarez on target once more in road win
Luis Suarez scored two and orchestrated another as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-1 win over Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Saturday.
His shot led to the opening own goal before his second-half double put the game out of reach as Miami stretched their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to nine points.
Suarez played a neat one-two with Diego Gomez to set up a strike from the edge of the box, and though Chris Brady did well to save it, he pushed it straight against Tobias Salquist, who chested it over the line 25 minutes in.
The Uruguayan thumped a free header against the bar minutes later, but finally got his reward just after the break – he raced in behind before slotting a neat shot in at the near post.
Alba then picked him out for his second in the 65th minute, fizzing a low cross into the six-yard box for him to guide past Brady.
Gomez was unlucky from distance as his drilled shot hit the inside of the post before Georgios Koutsias' instinctive close-range finish beat Drake Callender.
Substitute Robert Taylor then rounded off the scoring with a lovely first-time finish in stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Suarez continues to step up in Messi's absence
Miami have now been without their talisman Lionel Messi for three months due to the Copa America and an ankle injury, but Suarez has proven once again that they still pose a threat without him.
He has scored four times from a total of 12 shots since MLS resumed, with nine of those coming in this game.
The 37-year-old ran the show, leading the team in expected goals (1.4), shots on target (five), touches in the box (eight) and big chances (four).
Fonseca shrugs off talk of rift with Milan duo
Paulo Fonseca was quick to dismiss talk of any tension with Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez, who both appeared to snub him shortly after coming off the bench.
The pair came off the bench to help earn a 2-2 draw with Lazio on Saturday, being brought on in a quadruple change by Fonseca after being left out of the starting line-up.
Milan were losing 2-1 at the time of their introduction, and they immediately turned things around, with Hernandez and debutant Tammy Abraham, another substitute, involved in Leao's equaliser.
Minutes later, the game stopped for a cooling break, with both managers using the opportunity to instruct their players, but both Leao and Hernandez remained on the far side of the pitch, taking no part in the team talk.
"The situation with Theo and Leao, there is no problem and I think Theo has already explained," Fonseca told DAZN.
"We don't need to create any problems. This week I spoke with the players and they accepted my decision. There is no problem, I was concentrated, and I didn't see that they weren't there."
Hernandez had already given his reasons immediately after the game.
"We had been on for two minutes, we didn't need the cooling break," Hernandez said.
"It was nothing against the team and the coach. Then people talk, say things that aren't true. Rafa and I are always with the team to help, and that is the important thing."
Milan are still without a league win this season after three games, but Fonseca says he saw a decent performance in the opening half, giving him something to work on.
"We had a good first half. We always managed the game well with the ball. When you control the game like this, we have to have more moments to become dangerous, but it's something we have to work on," Fonseca told Milan TV.
"We must always have the courage we had in the first half because we did good things. If we had won the other two games, this could have been a good result, but it is not so. But we have to start from today's first half."
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
