FOOTBALL – ERLING Haaland bagged a double to fire Manchester City to a perfect start in a 4-0 rout of Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Tottenham Hotspur kicked off the Thomas Frank era with a 3-0 win over Burnley on the first Saturday of the Premier League season.
Sunderland celebrated their return to England’s top flight with a 3-0 victory over West Ham United, while Aston Villa survived defender Ezri Konsa’s dismissal to salvage a 0-0 draw against Newcastle United with the visitors missing want-away striker Alexander Isak.
On the south coast, Rodrigo Muniz’s last-gasp goal gave Fulham a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pep Guardiola’s revamped City got the season off to a flying start, with Haaland – who has scored in the opening game in all his four seasons in the league – striking in each half, and newcomers Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki scoring debut goals in what City will hope was the first step towards erasing last season’s third-place disappointment.
“(Reijnders) is an incredible, big signing for us,” Guardiola said. “His work ethic, a holding midfielder occupies a lot of spaces and then after the control with the ball and his movements, and then he is trying to get in behind and score – really pleased.”
Wolves supporters paid heartfelt tribute to former striker Diogo Jota throughout their first league outing since he and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in July.
At Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs gave Frank a comprehensive victory in his first home match in charge thanks to a dazzling double from Richarlison, while it was a harsh welcome back to the league for Burnley.
Richarlison slotted home Mohammed Kudus’s cross in the 10th minute, and the Brazilian linked up with Kudus again on the hour mark when he dived to fire home Kudus’s cross with a stunning acrobatic volley.
“Fantastic finish and the way it was set up, and Mohammed Kudus brilliant too,” Frank told the BBC.
Brennan Johnson added a third goal on the counter-attack six minutes later.
The victory was notable for a Premier League first as Burnley keeper Martin Dubravka conceded the first corner kick of the season under new rules after holding the ball for more than eight seconds.
Sunderland had a dream start to their return to the top flight after eight years at a jubilant Stadium of Light.
The opening half saw the hosts still finding their rhythm against a disjointed Hammers side but they grew into the game, and Eliezer Mayenda broke the deadlock in the 61st minute.
Sunderland kept up the momentum and Daniel Ballard scored 12 minutes later, while Wilson Isidor had the home fans in a frenzy with another goal in injury time.
“Happy, happy for the club, the organisation, the players and our fans,” Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris told Sky. “To come back into the Premier League with this connection with our fans is impressive.
At Villa Park, the home side were thrown into disarray in the 66th minute when Konsa was shown a straight red card for pulling down Newcastle forward Anthony Gordon while he was in hot pursuit of a through ball from Anthony Elanga.
Newcastle continued to fire crosses into the box but without a recognised centre-forward such as Isak, who wants to leave amid interest from champions Liverpool, they could not convert them and the game ended in stalemate.
Brighton appeared to be heading for a victory after Matt O’Riley’s goal from the penalty spot early in the second half, but Fulham salvaged a draw from a corner in the 96th minute when substitute Muniz lashed in from close range.
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