Premier League top moments: Son Heung-Min, Spurs upset Manchester City
The first weekend of English Premier League action is in the books.
Spanning three days, Matchweek 1 delivered thrillers of all sorts on Friday and Saturday — and Sunday was no different.
The day started with a six-goal thriller between Newcastle United and West Ham United in northeast England, and it wrapped up with a sensational battle between Tottenham and the reigning champs, Manchester City.
The big buzz of the day dropped before Spurs and City kicked off, when it was revealed that Tottenham's superstar striker, Harry Kane, didn't make the matchday squad.
The official stance from new Spurs manager Nuno Espírito Santo was that Kane was held out due to fitness concerns. However, with rumors abounding about an exit for Kane, eyebrows were certainly raised.
Here are the biggest moments from Sunday's matches:
TOTTENHAM 1, MANCHESTER CITY 0
Man City started on the front foot, nearly earning a penalty in the third minute. Jack Grealish, for whom City spent a British-record transfer fee of £100 million to acquire just weeks ago, wasted little time making an impact.
The former Aston Villa standout picked up a foul just on the edge of Tottenham's box, and referee Anthony Taylor looked dangerously close to pointing at the penalty spot.
The push was ruled to have occurred outside the area, though, and Tottenham were able to keep City off the board on the subsequent free kick.
Tottenham settled in and had a few chances of their own throughout the first half, primarily on the counter-attack.
Son Heung-Min, starting at the top of the attack in Kane's absence, came closest to breaking the 0-0 deadlock in Tottenham's favor.
Son delivered a gem to end the stalemate, finishing off an excellent counter for Spurs. Lucas Moura found Steven Bergwijn with a deft flick to start the attack, with the ball working its way to Son.
He did the rest, putting Man City's defense in a blender before rifling off a gorgeous, left-footed shot to put Spurs up 1-0 in the 55th minute.
City nearly got an equalizer from Ferran Torres on a well-designed set piece, but the midfielder couldn't corral the fizzed ball to get off a serviceable look on goal.
The end-to-end action carried all the way until the final whistle, but Spurs held off the title-holders for an unforgettable win in front of their home fans.
It's rare that the defending champions suffer a defeat in their opening match. Sunday's loss for City is just the third instance of that in Premier League history.
WEST HAM UNITED 4, NEWCASTLE UNITED 2
While Sunday's later contest garnered most of the headlines coming into the weekend, the day's appetizer between Newcastle and West Ham didn't disappoint in the slightest.
If you were late catching the 9 a.m. ET kickoff, you might have missed Newcastle taking the early lead. Callum Wilson opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a header right in the face of West Ham's goal, sending the Toon Army in the stands at St. James' Park into a frenzy.
The Hammers responded quickly, as Aaron Cresswell finished off a delightful passage of play from West Ham to find the back of the net. VAR stepped in to give Newcastle a glimmer of hope, but the goal was eventually confirmed and the score leveled 1-1.
The hosts then took a 2-1 lead into the break after Matt Ritchie's 40th-minute cross found the head of Jacob Murphy.
The good fortune for Newcastle did not carry into the second half. Rather, West Ham blitzed the Magpies with a flurry of three goals in a 13-minute stretch.
First, Michail Antonio lofted a last-ditch cross into the box to connect with Said Benrahma, who nodded home the equalizer in the 53rd minute.
Then Tomáš Souček broke the deadlock after a controversial penalty decision against Newcastle. Murphy appeared to get the ball when going in for a tackle on West Ham's Pablo Fornals, but the Newcastle player was adjudged to have gotten enough of his opponent to pick up a foul.
Antonio's penalty was stopped by Freddie Woodman, but Souček was quickest to react to the rebound and followed up to make it 3-2 in the 63rd minute.
Moments later, Antonio made up for his miss with a right-footed goal in the 66th minute, putting the Hammers comfortably ahead.
Newcastle battled to keep things interesting, but the soccer gods decided six goals were enough for this one, as West Ham left with a 4-2 victory.
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