Manchester United star Wayne Rooney will miss significant time after suffering a hairline fracture on the top of his left foot late in United's 0-0 draw with Reading at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Rooney, who scored a career-best 23 goals for the Premier League champions last season, sustained the injury trying to touch in a cross late in the first half. He limped noticeably a few moments after play resumed and was later diagnosed with the break.
Despite dominating much of the action against the scrappy visitors, United nonetheless opened defense of their Barclays Premier League title with a disappointing result at home, as peers Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all managed close wins in their EPL openers.
Losing Rooney won't help matters much. Man U is already nursing injuries to regulars Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Louis Saha. Any time missed by Rooney will likely speed up the debut of recently acquired Carlos Tevez, who comes over from West Ham.
Arsenal 2-Fulham 1
Pushed to the brink by a game Fulham squad, Arsenal stole three points when Alexander Hleb put home a 90th minute strike from just inside the box to give the Gunners the 2-1 win at Emirates Stadium.
Fulham led for nearly the entire match after forward David Healy was gifted a score on a Jens Lehmann botched kick only 52 seconds into the match. Despite a furious attack, Arsenal couldn't break the spell until Robin van Persie's penalty kick evened things up in the 84th minute.
Chelsea 3-Birmingham 2
Chelsea set the English record for unbeaten league matches on their home ground Sunday when Michael Essien tallied the game-winner to down Birmingham in a high-scoring affair at Stamford Bridge.
With the victory, Chelsea have now gone 64 consecutive home league games undefeated.
In other EPL action, recently promoted Sunderland got off to a fast start to the new season with a 1-0 road win at Tottenham. West Ham began the year much as they ended the last with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a rebuilt Man City. Steven Gerrard's gorgeous free kick into the upper corner gave Liverpool a stunning 2-1 win against Aston Villa. Everton, Newcastle and Blackburn also prevailed in their league openers.
French Ligue 1
Croatian midfielder Marko Maric's header helped Lille squeak past just promoted Metz, 1-0. Paris Saint-Germain managed a 0-0 draw at Lens, while defending league champions Olympique Lyonnais, aiming for a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title, were dumped by 1-0 at Toulouse on Saturday. Meanwhile, Marseille and Rennes ended in a scoreless draw.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich dominated promoted Hansa Rostock on Saturday, riding a pair of Miroslav Klose goals and a Luca Toni strike to the 3-0 victory.
Manasseh Ishiaku tallied a double as recently promoted MSV Duisburg shocked league power Borussia Dortmund. Another recent promotion, Karlsruhe, stunned German Cup winners Nuremberg 2-0.
Around Europe
The Scottish Premier League saw Aberdeen tie Hearts 1-1, Rangers top St. Mirren 2-0 and Celtic thump Falkirk by 4-1.
In Serie A, Brazilian star Ronaldo was ruled fit to play in AC Milan's league opener, set for Aug. 26 against Genoa. Ronaldo has been battling a hamstring injury, but his team and coach Carlo Ancelotti are confident he will be ready to go.
After some confusion, Ajax Amsterdam have apparently accepted Real Madrid's 27 million Euro offer ($36.98 million) for midfielder Wesley Sneijder. But while one star may be heading to Spain, another is seemingly on his way out, as Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen is being shopped and told his time might be short for the club.
