The 2007-08 Premier League season (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the sixteenth since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season is scheduled to end on 11 May 2008. Manchester United are the defending Premiership champions, having won their ninth Premiership title and sixteenth league championship overall the previous season. The first goal of the season was scored by Michael Chopra, who scored a 94th minute winner for Sunderland against Tottenham in the early kick-off. The first red card of the season was given to Reading's Dave Kitson after a challenge on Patrice Evra in their opening game against Manchester United. The first hat-trick was scored by Emmanuel Adebayor in the match between Arsenal and Derby County.
The first manager to part company with his team was José Mourinho of Chelsea, leaving by reported mutual consent following the club's disappointing 1-1 Champions League draw with Rosenborg.
On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth beat Reading 7-4 in the highest scoring match in English Premier League history. On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn) and Marcus Bent (Wigan) scored hat-tricks during Wigan's 5-3 home win over Blackburn. This was the first occasion in Premier League history that two players on opposing teams had scored hat-tricks during the same match.
