Andreas Weimann gave Aston Villa a perfect start as they beat Stoke City 1-0, whilst West Bromwich Albion held Sunderland to a 2-2 draw.
In truth, Stoke City started the better on Saturday afternoon at the Britannia with both Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic coming close as they tested Brad Guzan’s goal.
Gabriel Agbonlahor was as lively as ever and he had Villa’s best chance early on but the striker failed to slot the ball into an open net after Asmir Begovic made a mistake.
Paul Lambert’s side did take the lead shortly after the restart through Andreas Weimann, who tapped the ball past Begovic and the score would stay the same until the final whistle, giving Villa all three points.
Meanwhile, their cross-city neighbours West Brom were in action against Sunderland and striker Saido Berahino started the season well with a superb double, one coming from the penalty spot.
His double however was unable to stop Sunderland from scoring two aswell, through Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson, giving both sides an opening day point.