Blackpool beats Wigan 4-0 on topflight return

Blackpool won its first game in England's topflight since 1971 when it won 4-0 at Wigan on Saturday's opening day of the Premier League season.

Gary Taylor-Fletcher put the Tangerines ahead in the 16th minute and Marlon Harewood scored twice before halftime. Alex Baptiste then rounded off the scoring with 15 minutes left with a 30-meter (yard) shot.

Newcastle makes its Premier League return at Manchester United on Monday and the other promoted side, West Bromwich Albion, plays defending champion Chelsea in Saturday's late match.

Also Saturday, big-spending Manchester City escaped with a 0-0 draw after being dominated at Tottenham, Aston Villa beat West Ham 3-0, Blackburn beat Everton 1-0 and Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Stoke 2-1.

Manchester City has spent more than 100 million pounds ($156 million) on players since Tottenham edged it to fourth place and a Champions League qualifying berth last season. But none of its newcomers made an impact at White Hart Lane and young goalkeeper Joe Hart won the man-of-the-match award for a string of saves.

Hart stopped a close-range volley by Jermain Defoe, a spectacular side-footed volley from outside the area from Tom Huddlestone and a long-range shot by fullback Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

"The young kid had a great day today," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "I thought it was a great performance from us. We were fantastic but we just couldn't get the two extra points.

"But if we play like this all season we will be right up there."

Tottenham plays the first leg of its Champions League qualifier at Switzerland's Young Boys on Tuesday before meeting Stoke next weekend. Manchester City, which is close to signing England midfielder James Milner from Aston Villa, has a midweek Europa League playoff with Timisoara before playing at Liverpool.

Milner started for Villa against visiting West Ham and scored his team's third goal. Stewart Downing and Stiliyan Petrov put Villa 2-0 ahead before Milner's low shot from the edge of the area in the 66th.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had tipped Everton for a top-four finish this season but the Toffees lost to a 14th-minute goal by Nikola Kalinic at Blackburn.

Also Saturday, Sunderland lost Lee Cattermole to a 44th-minute red card but held on for a 2-2 draw with Birmingham, and Mark Hughes guided Fulham to a 0-0 draw at Bolton in his first game as manager.

Arsenal is at Liverpool in Sunday's match.

Queens Park Rangers and Millwall are tied at the top of the second-tier League Championship.

QPR scored three times in the first 23 minutes to win 3-0 at Sheffield United and newly promoted Millwall beat visiting Hull, which was a Premier League side last season, 4-0.