LONDON — Arsenal put to bed talk of an early season crisis with a fluent 3-1 win at Fulham to register its first Premier League points of the season Saturday. Lukas Podolski scored twice after Olivier Giroud had grabbed the opener for the visitor, while Darren Bent tapped in a consolation goal on his debut for Fulham. In the match, Daniel Sturridge scored with a superb finish in the first half to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over Aston Villa and maintain the team's strong start to the season. There were first wins of the season for Stoke City, which came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1, and Hull City, which beat Norwich City 1-0 despite having 10 men for most of the match. Everton drew its second successive game after failing to break down West Bromwich Albion in a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park, while Newcastle United's match at home to West Ham United was also scoreless. Sunderland took the lead at Southampton through Italian Emanuele Giaccherini, but Jose Fonte equalized with two minutes to play to grab a 1-1 draw for the host. It is the second time in four days Arsenal has scored three goals, following Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Fenerbahce in its Champions League playoff. Saturday's win and the manner of the performance will go some way to making up for its opening day slip-up at home to Aston Villa, while the names on the scoresheet might make fans think twice about demands for a new marquee striker. “Yes, I'm pleased because we played like a real team. It is never easy to play away in the league and we did it convincingly,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told BT Sport. Both teams have three points from their first two Premier League games after Fulham beat Sunderland in their first match of the season. Despite their resounding midweek win, the pre-match talk still focused on Arsenal's need for reinforcements and the club's perceived failure to land a signing to excite frustrated fans. “You can get people to focus too much on who you will buy and forget how good the players are here,” Wenger added. Giroud, who is often touted as one of the men Arsenal needs to upgrade if it is to chisel out a title challenge, had his say in the debate with his third goal in as many games this season on nine minutes. Aaron Ramsey tried his luck with a shot from distance that struck Giroud's heels and fell neatly into the Frenchman's path. He lifted it delicately over keeper David Stockdale, standing in for the injured Maarten Stekelenburg, and into the net. In atrocious conditions that made Arsenal's intricate passing game difficult, the visitor doubled its advantage four minutes before the break. Santi Cazorla sent Theo Walcott free down the right, his shot from the angle was pushed out by Stockdale, but Podolski followed up and blasted his effort into the net from the edge of the area. The German made sure of the points midway through the second half when he latched on to Cazorla's cross and fired in from the edge of the area for his second of the match, before Bent grabbed a consolation with a poacher's finish on his debut. Everton found West Brom keeper Ben Foster in inspired form in front of the watching England manager, Roy Hodgson. West Ham manager Sam Allardyce returned to former club Newcastle and frustrated his old employers in another goalless draw. There was no place for Yohan Cabaye in the Newcastle lineup for the second match in a row after Arsenal's bid for the player drew the ire of Magpies manager Alan Pardew. Hull City supporters staged a protest against a proposed change of the club's name to Hull City Tigers shortly before kickoff. The fans would have been satisfied with the result, however, as they became the first of the promoted teams to find the net this season. Yannick Sagbo was brought down in the box and Robbie Brady stepped up find the net from the spot on 22 minutes. Sagbo was then sent off five minutes later for a headbutt, but Steve Bruce's side held on. — Agencies
