Gervinho off as Arsenal start season with a stalemate

Ah, welcome back the Premier League! After a summer illuminated by the quality of England's cricket and the sportsmanship of their Indian opponents, Arsenal and Newcastle conspired to show us sport's ugly side during their drab goalless draw at St James' Park.

The instigator of the ugliness – perhaps not surprisingly – was Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton, who took exception to an apparent dive from Arsenal striker Gervinho 14 minutes from time. The Gunner, on his Premier League debut, was looking for a penalty after a tackle from Cheikh Tiote but what he got instead was a furious Barton bearing down on him. The Magpies player grabbed Gervinho by the shirt and a tussle ensued – with the pair's teammates joining the fracas – until suddenly Barton fell to earth as if shot by a bullet. Replays showed it was in fact a light slap from Gervinho that had felled the self-styled hard-man, but Newcastle's Steven Taylor indicated to referee Peter Walton it was an elbow not a palm that had done the damage and off went Gervinho. Barton received a yellow – why, only Walton knows – but it was a fitting end to a match that was a pale imitation of the 4-4 thriller in the corresponding fixture last season.

"Why does Joey Barton go over there and grab him up?" mused Arsene Wenger afterwards, no doubt mindful that last season Barton was involved in an incident that earned Arsenal's Abou Diaby  a red card. "It is a yellow to the two or a red to the two." As for Taylor's part in getting a fellow professional dismissed, the Arsenal manager said simply: "I don't think it gives any credit to the Premier League."

Predictably Barton, a recent convert to the powers of Twitter, replied to the barrage of criticism he received from pundits  by issuing a defiant statement on the social networking site: "'Cheats dive to win pens. If there's contact go down but don't blatantly try to con the ref. Refs have it hard enough," he wrote, adding: "Hopefully, today proves my commitment, if it was ever in doubt?"

As for the match itself, it was a poor game with neither goalkeeper called upon to make a decisive save. While Arsenal undoubtedly missed Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in midfield, they were well served by their centre-back pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen. Aaron Ramsey also showed some deft touches and Gervinho looked a threat down the left flank though his final pass often let him down. "They organised not to concede goals, defended well and it was very difficult for us because we played a team who was highly focused to defend," was Wenger's assessment. "I can't remember giving Newcastle a chance at goal and, away from home, you have to give credit to our team for that."

Elsewhere, Liverpool failed to get their season off to a winning start after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland. Striker Luis Suarez put the Reds in front on 12 minutes when he headed home Charlie Adam's cross (Adams being one of four Liverpool players making their debut) but the South American had earlier missed a penalty. Suarez was felled by Kieran Richardson on six minutes but he sent his spot kick high and wide.

Sebastian Larsson equalised for the Black Cats on 57 minutes for a draw that left Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish asking the Kop to give the new boys time to find their feet. "It's a big ordeal to come out and play a first game at Anfield," said Dalglish. "The new boys all did something you'd remember them for in the game and all things considered, we're happy with them."

In other results Wolves won 2-1 away at Blackburn despite going a goal down on 20 minutes to Mauro Formica's strike. Steven Fletcher levelled the scores two minutes later with a fine header and Stephen Ward scored the winner two minutes into the second half. Fulham and Aston Villa played out a goalless draw at Craven Cottage while it also finished all-square (1-1) between Wigan and Norwich.

Queens Park Rangers return to the top flight got off to the worst possible start as they were thrashed 4-0 at home by Bolton. Arsenal target Gary Cahill opened the scoring with a great strike on the stroke of half-time and the floodgates opened after the break with an own goal from Danny Gabbidon and efforts from Ivan Klasnic and Fabrice Muamba. "I can't blame the players," reflected QPR boss Neil Warnock. "We just need to learn quickly." ·