Dream comeback: Sunderland defeat West Ham in top-flight opener

For the past two seasons, all three promoted teams have gone down. However, big-spending Sunderland enjoyed a dream return to the top-flight with a second-half demolition of West Ham.

Former Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka is among pool of new signings attracted to the Stadium of Light. But it was three players key to their promotion back to the Premier League for the first time since 2017 who scored. 

Eliezer Mayenda's looping header gave the Black Cats lift off on the hour mark. Centre-back Dan Ballard headed in the second before Wilson Isidor rounded off a huge win in stoppage time.

Elsewhere, Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz struck in the 96th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw at Brighton after Matt O'Riley's penalty put the Seagulls in front.

Manchester City begin their campaign away to Wolves later on Saturday, hoping to bounce back into contenders for the title after a season to forget in 2024/25. Arsenal are not in action until Sunday when they travel to face a transformed Manchester United attack.

Defending champions Liverpool began their title defence with a dramatic 4-2 win over Bournemouth on Friday thanks to late goals from Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa.