Nathan Redmond

Leicester smoke Sunderland; Villa, Crystal Palace opening day winners

Published Aug. 8, 2015 11:53 a.m. ET

foxsports

Leicester opened its Premier League season with three goals in the first 25 minutes, beating Sunderland 4-2 Saturday.

Jamie Vardy struck first in the 11th minute with a header to the bottom right corner and Riyad Mahrez scored in the 18th and from the penalty spot in the 25th.

Former Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri made a triumphant return to the league after 11 years away as Leicester continued its strong finish from last season when it managed to avoid relegation. Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher grabbed second-half goals for Sunderland, while Marc Albrighton got Leicester's fourth at the King Power Stadium.

Bournemouth's first ever game in the English topflight ended in a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday as the newcomers were given a painful introduction to Premier League football.

The much-awaited game at Vitality Stadium was decided by Rudy Gestede's header in the 72nd minute for last season's FA Cup finalists.

A seaside club with a stadium capacity of less than 12,000, Bournemouth has made a remarkable rise through the professional ranks after nearly going out of business and just avoiding relegation from the fourth division six years ago.

Bournemouth, whose fortunes were rescued by Russian investor Maxim Demin, had chances in the first half with Marc Pugh being denied by Villa keeper Brad Guzan and Dan Gosling firing high and wide, both opportunities from a dozen meters.

Norwich had an equalizing goal harshly ruled out before Crystal Palace finished off a 3-1 win at the promoted side Saturday on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Substitute Cameron Jerome though he'd made it 2-2 when he stretched his boot up for an acrobatic overhead kick into the net in the 74th minute but referee Simon Hooper whistled for his foot being too high. Norwich also appealed for a penalty when Sebastien Bassong was pushed over by Connor Wickham in the area in the 89th minute, before new signing Yohan Cabaye netted Palace's third on a counterattack in stoppage time.

Wilfried Zaha and Damien Delaney gave Palace a 2-0 lead before Nathan Redmond pulled one back in the 69th.