Second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah allowed new Liverpool coach Arne Slot to get off to a 2-0 winning start at newly promoted Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday.

Ipswich, cheered on by new minority shareholder and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from the Portman Road stands, went toe-to-toe with Liverpool in the first half but failed to take their chances when they presented themselves.

Slot’s new side improved markedly after the break, taking the lead on the hour mark through Jota before a fine move was finished off by Egyptian forward Salah five minutes later to effectively kill off the Ipswich challenge.

Liverpool had a host of chances to make the result even more emphatic, but two goals were enough to navigate Liverpool and Slot past a tricky first game of the campaign.

“Hopefully I keep going like this for the whole season,” Salah told TNT Sports.

Coach Slot’s side clicked into gear after the break, however, carving open their opponents with two fine goals, the first finished off by Jota after a pinpoint Trent Alexander-Arnold pass set Salah free before he squared for the Portuguese.

With Ipswich still regrouping, Salah, in his 350th appearance for the club in all competitions, netted superbly after being played in by Dominik Szoboszlai to seal the victory.

Havertz and Saka fire Arsenal to opening win over Wolves

Arsenal eased to a 2-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers as goals by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka got their Premier League title challenge up and running on Saturday.

It was far from a fluent display in the summer sunshine but Mikel Arteta’s side, once again regarded as the team most likely to halt Manchester City’s domination, deserved the points.

Havertz headed in from Saka’s cross in the 25th minute but the hosts never looked completely comfortable until Saka’s clinical finish doubled their advantage in the closing stages.

Wolves had their chances with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes both failing to trouble Arsenal keeper David Raya from promising positions when the score was 1-0.

“I am really happy. With the first game you have some uncertainty in how you will respond,” Arteta said.

Arsenal, runners-up to City for the past two seasons, dominated the opening period and took the lead when Saka was given too much time to pick out Havertz who directed his header into the corner to give keeper Jose Sa no chance.

Carelessness set in for Arsenal, however, and Wolves came closest to an equaliser when Hwang Hee-chan's cross was met by Larsen with a header that Raya did well to keep out.

Arsenal laboured after the break but the points were secured when Saka, Arsenal’s top league scorer last season and most dangerous player on Saturday, cut in from the right and buried a left-foot shot.

“Saka is unbelievable. There are not a lot of players like him on the planet and he is still so young,” Havertz said.

Dominant Brighton win 3-0 at 10-man Everton

Danny Welbeck scored one goal and set up another as Brighton & Hove Albion eased to a 3-0 victory at 10-man Everton on Saturday, in a perfect start for the Premier League’s youngest-ever permanent manager.

Kaoru Mitoma scored at the back post after excellent work from debutant winger Yankuba Minteh, before Welbeck added a second and Simon Adingra a third to underline Brighton’s superiority.

Right back Ashley Young was sent off midway through the second half as Everton’s final season at Goodison Park before they end their 132-year stay and move to a new stadium on the banks of the river Mersey got off to the worst possible start.

“I thought it was a great performance, from the new manager, the fans and then onto the pitch,” Welbeck said.

The visitors took the lead against the run of play when Minteh’s low cross was finished by Mitoma.

The home side were awarded a penalty by referee Simon Hooper minutes into the second period when Lewis Dunk slid in on Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box.

But the decision was overturned after an intervention by Video Assistant Referee Darren England, who felt Calvert-Lewin had stood on the foot of the defender.

Brighton doubled their advantage shortly afterwards as Idrissa Gueye gave the ball away in midfield and Welbeck was released to score from the edge of the box.

The home side were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half when Mitoma got in behind 39-year-old Young, who held onto him, leaving Hooper with no option but to show the red card.

Adingra took advantage of the extra space to score a third, while Yasin Ayari had the ball in the back of the net on his Brighton debut but was judged to be marginally offside.

Joelinton secures victory for 10-man Newcastle over Southampton

Joelinton’s goal earned Newcastle a 1-0 win over promoted Southampton in their first game of the Premier League season at St James’ Park on Saturday, despite going down to 10 men in the first half.

Fabian Schar was sent off in the 28th minute for retaliating after a foul by Ben Brereton Diaz but the visitors failed to make the most of their numerical advantage, and Newcastle took the lead just before the break.

Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy’s poor attempted pass to Jack Stephens was pounced on by Alexander Isak who played the ball across the box and Brazilian Joelinton took one touch before drilling his shot low into the corner of the net.

“Southampton are a very good team. They made it difficult for us but I think we did well in the end,” Joelinton said.

Southampton had the better of the second half as they piled on pressure in search of an equaliser, but Newcastle held on to take all three points.

After Newcastle dominated the early stages, the visitors grew in confidence and had the ball in the net in the 10th minute but Jack Stephens was offside when he tapped in from close range.

Southampton were boosted by Schar’s moment of madness after Brereton Diaz bundled him over from behind. The Swiss defender put his head against that of his opponent who went down rather theatrically and the referee pulled out the red card.

It was Newcastle, however, who went in at the break a goal up after they took full advantage of McCarthy’s mistake when trying to play it out from the back.

Five minutes after the interval Southampton’s Adam Armstrong had a close-range effort cleared off the line by Newcastle defender Lewis Hall, and the home side's keeper Nick Pope needed to be at his best to tip over another Armstrong shot.

Semenyo salvages late draw for Bournemouth at Forest

Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo rescued a point for his side with a late equaliser as they drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.

Forest took the lead in the 23rd minute when defensive midfielder Ryan Yates’ close-range shot was parried by goalkeeper Neto and Chris Wood reacted quickly to slot the ball home.

The hosts looked comfortable but Bournemouth equalised in the 86th minute when Semenyo smashed the ball in from close range.

“I’m disappointed with how we conceded, we had the game under control. It was a tough game, a good game, both teams had momentum. We could have had more,” Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo told the BBC.

Dango Ouattara thought he had equalised for Bournemouth from a corner in the first half, but the goal was disallowed after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) confirmed Lewis Cook was offside in the build-up.

Forest had created a host of chances to double their lead but lacked quality in the final third. Morgan Gibbs-White looked lively and nearly put Forest ahead with a right-footed shot.

Forest’s Brazilian midfielder Danilo was carried off on a stretcher 10 minutes into the game with what appeared to be a serious injury following a collision with Semenyo.

Onana, Duran earn Villa 2-1 win at West Ham

Amadou Onana scored four minutes into his Aston Villa debut and Jhon Duran netted a late winner as Unai Emery’s men kicked off their Premier League season with a 2-1 victory at West Ham United on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Onana, signed from Everton, leapt high to head home Youri Tielemans’ corner in the fourth minute, easily darting away from Michail Antonio to beat keeper Alphonse Areola from three yards out.

“To come here and win is massive for us,” Tielemans said. “It gets us off to a good start. We can enjoy this win because it was a tough battle today.”

Villa squandered several excellent chances before Lucas Paqueta drew the hosts level from the penalty spot in the 37th minute, the spot-kick awarded after a VAR check showed Matty Cash had fouled Tomas Soucek.

Duran spoiled the home side’s evening, however, after Villa worked the ball down the left side and Jacob Ramsey's cross found Duran for a left-footed shot from the centre of the area through Areola's legs 11 minutes from time.

Onana matched Kevin Phillips (2005) to become the joint earliest goalscorer for Villa on their league debut.

Villa had a couple of excellent chances to double their lead earlier, first when Leon Bailey had Areola beaten before hitting the post from a tight angle and John McGinn’s shot rolled just wide.

But Paqueta equalised soon after from the spot, the Brazilian beating keeper Emi Martinez with a stop-start run-up before calmly side-footing the ball into the bottom left corner.

After Duran’s late goal, West Ham were close to equalising again seconds before the final whistle, but Soucek’s header was cleared off the line by Ezri Konsa.