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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 AUGUST 2015 51 Sport FOOTBALL SPORTTODAY Foxes top after Upton Park victory CLAUDIO Ranieri's perfect start to life as Leicester boss continued as his side beat 10-man West Ham 2-1 to win at Upton Park for the first time in 15 years. Both sides started the new season with opening weekend victories but it was the Foxes who extended that run to top the early Barclays Premier League table on Saturday evening, as first-half goals from Shinji Okazaki and Riyad Mahrez were enough for the visitors. Slaven Bilic had seen his side im- press in winning at Arsenal but tasted his first league defeat as manager of the Hammers, who re- duced the deficit through Dimitri Payet's first goal for the club only to have goalkeeper Adrian sent off in the closing stages. Sunderland head coach Dick Ad- vocaat witnessed another horror show as Norwich were 3-1 winners at the Stadium of Light. The victory was Norwich's first on Wearside since 1997 against the opposition which had pre- sented the Canaries with their last Barclays Premier League victory. First-half goals from defend- ers Russell Martin and Steven Whittaker and a third after the break from Nathan Redmond left the home fans among a crowd of 41,379 singing: "Are you watching, Ellis Short?" It was Wes Hoolahan's invention - he played key roles in the second and third goals - which repeat- edly tore the home side apart and helped to pave the way for Nor- wich's first win of the new season despite substitute Duncan Wat- more's late consolation strike. Mame Biram Diouf headed home a late equaliser as Totten- ham threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Stoke. Spurs, who lost both league games against the Potters last sea- son, looked on course to secure their first three points of the cam- paign after first-half goals from Eric Dier and Nacer Chadli had given the hosts a commanding ad- vantage. Stoke, however, came storm- ing back with Marko Arnautovic converting a 78th-minute penalty before Diouf headed in seven min- utes from time to complete an un- likely comeback. Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew both scored for the second game running as Swansea com- fortably saw off 10-man Newcastle 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium. Gomis opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a composed fin- ish before Ayew, who was also on target in the opening-day 2-2 draw at Chelsea, scored with a powerful second-half header after Newcas- tle full-back Daryl Janmaat had been sent off for a second bookable offence by referee Mike Jones. Janmaat was booked after clat- tering into Jefferson Montero twice and the Dutchman's luck ran out in the 41st-minute when he pulled the Ecuadorian back to stop him launching a Swansea at- tack from deep. The defender's departure left Newcastle with a mountain to climb and Steve McClaren's deci- sion to withdraw Moussa Sissoko - the Magpies' best player in the first half - and Papiss Cisse revealed a preference for damage limitation rather than offering any real hope of getting back into this Barclays Premier League contest. Romelu Lukaku's brace set Ever- ton on course for an impressive first win of the season as Roberto Martinez's side secured a surpris- ingly comprehensive 3-0 victory at Southampton. Both sides started their Premier League campaigns with 2-2 draws, although Saints' result at New- castle brought a far more positive reaction than the Toffees' under- whelming comeback draw at home to promoted Watford. Some disgruntled fans called for chairman Bill Kenwright and the board to leave Everton in a banner flown over St Mary's, but those frustrations were forgotten for 90 minutes at least as Lukaku's dou- ble and a classy Ross Barkley effort secured an impressive win. West Brom registered their first point of the season after frustrat- ing Watford in a goalless stalemate at Vicarage Road. Tony Pulis' side put their 3-0 opening defeat by Manchester City behind them with a typically belligerent display against the newly-promoted Hornets. They very nearly nicked all three points towards the end but Saido Berahino, still being linked with a move away before the end of the month, fluffed his lines in front of goal. Shinji Okazaki heads Leicester in front Norwich defeated Sunderland 3-1