Arsenal lit up the opening day of the Premier League season with a 6-1 demolition of Everton and Didier Drogba struck in stoppage time to give Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti a winning start Saturday. Big-spending Manchester City won 2-0 at Blackburn Rovers and six of the eight fixtures produced away victories but Arsenal's rout at Goodison Park against a side that finished fifth last season was the standout result. Arsenal midfielder Denilson began the football lesson and defenders Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas were also on target before the break. Captain Cesc Fabregas bagged two in the second half and Eduardo chipped in with a sixth before Louis Saha earned Everton a crumb of consolation. “You have to accept that one game is only one game, what is important is that we have the desire and believe in our qualities,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the BBC. Manchester City, tipped to challenge Arsenal for a top-four place, paraded its expensive signings at Blackburn and striker Emmanuel Adebayor capped his debut with a goal after just three minutes. Stephen Ireland grabbed a late second. Burnley's top-flight return went flat as they slumped 2-0 at Stoke City, fellow new boys Wolverhampton Wanderers lost 2-0 at home to West Ham United and Darren Bent scored on his debut to give Sunderland a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers. Roberto Martinez, making his debut as a Premier League manager, watched his Wigan Athletic side win 2-0 at Aston Villa and Fulham triumphed 1-0 at Portsmouth. Drogba's double earned Chelsea a 2-1 home win over Hull City after the visitors had taken a shock early lead. Bremen holds Bayern Bayern Munich remained without a win in the new Bundesliga season, coming from behind Saturday to earn a 1-1 draw at home against Werder Bremen. Hamburger SV scored three goals in the first 12 minutes and beat Borussia Dortmund 4-1 to take the provisional lead in the standings on goal difference over Eintracht Frankfurt, which drew 1-1 at home with promoted Nuremberg. In other matches, Stuttgart beat promoted Freiburg 4-2, Hannover drew 1-1 at home with Mainz, another promoted team, and Bayer Leverkusen edged Hoffenheim 1-0. Bordeaux wins Two headers by Marouane Chamakh led champions Girondins Bordeaux to a 3-2 win at Sochaux in Ligue 1 Saturday. Olympique Lyon bounced back with a 1-0 home win over Valenciennes. Rangers begin with a bang Rangers opened the defense of its Scottish Premier League title Saturday with a 4-1 win over visiting Falkirk. Celtic began its attempt to regain the title from its fiercest rival with a 3-1 win at Aberdeen. Also Saturday, Hibernian beat St. Mirren 2-1, Kilmarnock beat Hamilton 3-0 and St. Johnstone drew 2-2 with visiting Motherwell.
