Late Chopra strike sinks Tottenham

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- New signing Michael Chopra scored a dramatic winner in the fourth minute of stoppage-time as promoted Sunderland beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in Saturday's opening match of the Premier League season.

Chopra, who joined Roy Keane's side in July from Cardiff City, came off the substitutes' bench to rifle home a low shot from inside the penalty area at the Stadium of Light.

His side had looked destined to settle for a point after creating few chances but working hard to keep a strong Spurs line-up in check.

Spurs manager Martin Jol threw on new £16.5 million ($33.37 million) forward Darren Bent after the break in a vain attempt to secure victory.

Chopra, the second division's second-highest scorer last season, collected a high cross from Ross Wallace and had time to tee up his shot before finding the bottom right-hand corner.

Keane, who steered Sunderland from the relegation zone to the second division title after taking over last season, said: "I thought the best team won.

"Another late goal -- we had plenty of them last season and hopefully there are more to come. It's a happy dressing room in there."

Meanwhile, a stunning 87th-minute free-kick by captain Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a late 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.

Liverpool's opening match seemed destined to end in frustration when their 31st-minute lead, courtesy of an own goal by Villa's Danish defender Martin Laursen, was cancelled out by Gareth Barry with an 85th-minute penalty after a handball by Jamie Carragher.

But Gerrard curled home an inswinging free-kick two minutes later, dipping the ball into the top right-hand corner after deftly bending it around the Villa wall.

Over the last couple of seasons we've been very frustrated with the starts we've made," said Gerrard. "We've dropped silly points and been playing catch up with the big boys early on.

"The idea this year is to get a solid start and try to stay in the (title) race all the way."

Elsewhere, Sam Allardyce took his new club Newcastle to former club Bolton and came away with a superb 3-1 victory.

French midfielder Charles N'Zogbia's free-kick sailed in after 11 minutes and Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins soon added a second before smashing in another from outside the area in the 27th minute.

French striker Nicolas Anelka pulled one back for Bolton on the break, five minutes after the restart.

"It's a great start to the season for me and the lads," Allardyce said. "The players' application was terrific in the way we went about the job, in the first half particularly, punishing a Bolton side who were obviously really up for it.

"The quality of the finishing was the difference."

Sven-Goran Eriksson's new-look Manchester City side got off to a flying start with a 2-0 victory at West Ham.

City, with a host of new signings in their side, won courtesy of goals from Italian striker Rolando Bianchi and Brazilian midfielder Geovanni in each half.

"Absolutely perfect," was Eriksson's verdict after the former England coach's debut as a Premier League manager. "We played 40 minutes of good football in the first half, the next 20 were very good, then West Ham played well and we suffered," said the Swede.

"But I suppose in the Premier League you suffer, you can't dominate for 90 minutes. I'm very happy. The boys did an excellent job and showed we can play good football."

Matt Oakley gave promoted Derby a dream start to their Premier League season, firing home after five minutes at home to Portsmouth. Zimbabwe's Benjani Mwaruwari struck a 27th minute equaliser off a pass from new England signing David Nugent.

New Nigerian striker John Utaka drove in Portsmouth's second in the 82nd minute but the lead lasted only two minutes before Andy Todd levelled with a close-range header as the match finished 2-2.

Everton were comfortable 2-1 winners against Wigan, scoring in each half at Goodison Park.

Leon Osman's header looped over Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland after 26 minutes and Nigerian forward Victor Anichebe made sure of the points off a pass from England striker Andy Johnson. Antoine Sibierski got Wigan's consolation goal.

Two shrewd substitutions by Blackburn manager Mark Hughes gave his side a 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough. England winger Stewart Downing had given Boro a first-half lead with a free-kick.

Rovers received an early payback on Roque Santa Cruz's move from Bayern Munich when the Paraguay striker headed a 63rd minute equaliser and Matt Derbyshire curled home a superb winner from just outside the box with 10 minutes to go. E-mail to a friend

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