By admin 
Hull made a dream return to the Premier League after a nine-year absence, beating Manchester United 2-0 on Saturday to puncture any preseason optimism surrounding the 20-time champions.
Read more Man arrested in Durham murder of Morrisville man earlier this month, police say
First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy at set-pieces consigned United to a tepid loss to a team that was promoted via the second-tier Championship playoffs at the end of last season and is widely expected to be among the relegation candidates.
United finished third last season to secure a return to the Champions League, rewarding interim manager Michael Carrick with a fulltime contract as well as a new midfield in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos. Marcus Rashford has come back from a loan spell at Barcelona and came on as a halftime substitute.
They struggled to impress along with many other players in a lackluster team display that showed United — last a Premier League champion in 2013 under Alex Ferguson — still has far to go to recapture its former glories and is unlikely to challenge for the title, at least on this evidence anyway.
Read more ‘Sleeper issue’: Leaked GOP memo warns of data center backlash in Senate races
There are four more games Saturday, including big-spending Tottenham at Brentford and another promoted team, Ipswich, at home to Sunderland.
Arsenal began its title defense by beating Coventry, the second-tier champions last season, 3-0 on Friday.
Read more Florida shows how to adapt as coastal cities face growing threats from sea level rise and storms
___
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
___
See AP’s full soccer coverage here