• Millwall win 3-0 in first match back in Championship
• Hull and Burnley open with home victories

Millwall celebrated their return to the Championship by subjecting David James to a torrid afternoon in a 3-0 victory over Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The England goalkeeper was beaten by Darren Ward and Danny Schofield either side of half-time before Paul Robinson’s goal sealed a magnificent opening day for the south London side on the hour mark. However, there was a sour note to Millwall’s day as Darren Carter was sent off for two bookable offences.

Chris Iwelumo marked his Burnley debut with the winning goal as Brian Laws’s side began life outside the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. The Scotland international, a summer signing from Wolves, headed in on the stroke of half-time to score the only goal of the game.

The teenager John Bostock inspired Hull City to a 2-0 victory over Swansea as Hull made a winning return to the Championship after their relegation from the top flight. Bostock, signed on the eve of the campaign on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, laid the foundations for victory by rattling in a stunning 30-yard drive to help Nigel Pearson mark his first game in charge with a victory. The returning captain Ian Ashbee made the points safe in the 49th minute, punishing Dorus De Vries’s error.

Two second-half goals inside a minute from Tamas Priskin and Tommy Smith helped Ipswich Town to a superb 3-1 win away at pre-season favourites Middlesbrough. The hosts were given an early lead by Scott McDonald but never managed to assert their authority as Roy Keane’s team fought back with their quick double before Jon Stead added a third late on.

Crystal Palace put a summer of financial uncertainly behind them to edge a thrilling opening-day contest against Leicester City 3-2. Last season’s play-off semi-finalists were put to the sword in the first half at Selhurst Park thanks to goals from Wilfred Zaha, Darren Ambrose and Alan Lee. Leicester dominated the second period and goals from Andy King and DJ Campbell put them back in contention but they fell just short.

QPR’s forgotten men Heidar Helguson and Fitz Hall combined with the new signings Jamie Mackie and Adel Taarabt to secure a 4-0 victory over Barnsley. The Icelandic forward Helguson, whose days in west London appeared to be numbered when he was loaned to Watford last season, was composed from the penalty spot in the first half and Hall, who spent the end of the last campaign on loan at Newcastle, tapped in the fourth.

In between, the former Plymouth Argyle forward Mackie opened his account with a predatory strike and Taarabt, who completed his permanent move from Tottenham on Thursday, capped a sparkling display by tucking away the home side’s second spot-kick.

Portsmouth’s struggles continued on the pitch as they fell to a 2-0 defeat against impressive Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena. Cash-strapped Pompey, relegated from the Premier League in May after seven seasons in the top flight, were undone by two goals from Freddy Eastwood.

A new-look Preston North End side endured a bitterly disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of 10-man Doncaster at Deepdale. Rovers established an early 2-0 lead with goals from James O’Connor and James Hayter to secure victory before the late dismissal of the debutant midfielder Simon Gillett.

Garry Thompson’s controversial goal helped Scunthorpe on their way to an impressive 2-1 win at Reading. Thompson appeared to have been flagged offside as he gave the Iron an early lead but the goal stood, to the fury of the Reading manager Brian McDermott. Gylfi Sigurdsson drew the home side level with a typically emphatic shot but the centre-half Rob Jones was able to head in a second-half winner for the visitors.

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Sir Alex Ferguson admits he is “clutching at straws” in the hope Manchester United can overtake Chelsea on the final bend of the season. He may have to lower those expectations should Vladimir Stojkovic stand between the Wigan posts and the destiny of the Premier League trophy at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

The Serbian international goalkeeper produced, in the kindest terms, an erratic display in the absence of the injured Chris Kirkland as Hull City’s relegation was mathematically sealed in stoppage time at the DW Stadium. Despite needing a six point and 24 goal swing over West Ham United to avoid the drop before kick off, Iain Dowie’s team – plus a sizable travelling support – refused to go quietly and should have taken survival to the final day with a first away win since March 2009.

Headed goals by Will Atkinson and Mark Cullen, the first after an erroneous offside decision was overturned by referee Phil Dowd and the second from an offside position that wasn’t identified, placed Hull on the cusp of their first away win for 425 days until Steve Gohouri’s overhead kick salvaged a draw for Wigan and sparked a mass pitch invasion. The Latics’ late joy will not be shared by anyone of an Old Trafford persuasion, however, as Wigan and Stojkovic in particular offered little to suggest they can spoil the coronation of Carlo Ancelotti’s team in west London next weekend.

Robert Martinez’s men – who have beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal at the DW this season and deserve more respect than they have received since the league leader’s win at Anfield yesterday – had suggested the opposite in a dominant start that brought a first Wigan goal for Victor Moses. The talented winger cut inside two Hull defenders and sent a measured finish in off Matt Duke’s far post after being sent clear down the left following a mistake by George Boateng. But it was Stojkovic’s errors that altered the course of the contest.

The Wigan keeper, who once had a trial with Everton abruptly halted after just one training session, had already spread unease through his defence when he needlessly punched a harmless Boateng cross into the path of Kevin Kilbane. Two Hull strikers were offside when Kilbane crossed into the area but Atkinson arrived from an onside position to head beyond the static Serb. Dowd correctly overruled his assistant who had disallowed the goal for offside.

Hull’s second was offside, but this time there was no flag as Cullen ghosted in behind Mario Melchiot to glance another Boateng cross past Stojkovic. The ironic cheers whenever the Wigan keeper caught a cross – from his own supporters – must have sounded like a death-knell to Ferguson.

Premier LeagueWigan AthleticHull CityAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

• Frenchman claims there is no ill feeling with Hull manager
• Victory could move London club to Premier League summit

Arsène Wenger will offer Phil Brown his hand prior to kick-off at the KC Stadium tomorrow afternoon despite confrontations between Arsenal and Hull City having proved fractious over the last two seasons.

Both clubs were fined by the Football Association in December for failing to control their players as tension boiled over into a 21-man brawl at the Emirates after Samir Nasri appeared to tread on Richard Garcia’s ankle. That followed on from last season’s fractious FA Cup quarter-final when Brown accused Cesc Fábregas, sidelined with injury at the time, of spitting at his assistant Brian Horton at the end of the game. The Spaniard later admitted he had possibly spat on the ground. The FA found the allegations unproven.

Wenger had refused to shake Brown’s hand at the end of that fixture – “He never does,” the Hull manager said at the time – though the Frenchman maintains there is no antipathy lingering between the clubs. Asked whether he would shake Brown’s hand, Wenger replied: “Yes, of course. We have had tight games and the tension has been higher. That is my only explanation [for the incidents]. I have nothing against Phil Brown. I feel there is respect there.

“We do not focus on bad blood. We just focus on our game and try to play well. In fact, if you look at what happened, there was not a lot. Nobody was injured. There was a little brawl at one stage and we got punished, them as well, but the game itself was not dirty. Hull are fully committed and they play as well as they can.”

Arsenal travel to Hull two points from Manchester United at the top of the table having reasserted their challenge in stunning fashion since losing to the top two in successive games at the end of January and beginning of February. Wenger’s side has conceded all the points in collisions with those above them this term, with the basis of their challenge built on an ability to capitalise in contests with the also-rans. Only seven points have been shed to clubs in the bottom half of the table, their former vulnerability in meetings with the lesser lights apparently a thing of the past.

That bodes well given the Londoners’ run-in, with Arsenal’s most daunting remaining fixtures arguably against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, currently fourth and fifth in the table. “We have done exactly the opposite to last year,” said Wenger. “We lost against Chelsea and Manchester United because we didn’t turn up and, against the rest of the teams, we have been quite consistent. We have lost six games – four against United and Chelsea – so, overall, we have been quite consistent against the other teams. That’s why it’s important that we continue to achieve that until the end of the season.

“The consistency is down to a bit more maturity. It was important, for example, that we won at Stoke. That we won at places where we used to have big problems. That is a sign that belief is in the team and that we can deal better with the physical side of the game. But we need to perform at our best. Hull are a team that can play very well against anybody and that’s everywhere in the Premier League. People say we have easier fixtures than Chelsea and United because they play each other but Chelsea lost at Wigan. So did Liverpool. It is like that in this league.”

ArsenalArsène WengerHull CityPhil BrownPremier LeagueDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk