Haaland Nets Twice As Man City Open Premier League Season With 4-0 Victory Over Wolves

Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City began their Premier League campaign with a commanding 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

New signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki scored on their debuts for Pep Guardiola’s revamped squad, signalling hopes of improving on last season’s disappointing third-place finish.

Haaland, who has scored in all four season-opening games during his time in England’s top flight, opened the scoring in the 34th minute. Reijnders chipped a pass through to Rico Lewis, who delivered a low cross for the Norwegian to tap home.

Reijnders doubled the advantage three minutes later after Oscar Bobb, returning from a broken leg last season, seized a loose pass and set up the Dutch midfielder to fire into the far corner.

Haaland completed his brace in the 61st minute when Bobb pulled the ball back for him to strike a low drive past Jose Sa.

“Erling is in a good tone, we felt it in the training sessions, the rhythm,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “Really satisfied with that.”

Haaland was substituted midway through the second half, with Cherki coming on to eventually score in the 81st minute, completing a dominant start to the season for City, who won four consecutive titles between 2021 and 2024.

A summer of changes followed City’s trophy-less season, with the arrivals of Reijnders, Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford, while Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne departed.

The impressive debuts of Reijnders and Cherki suggested a promising campaign, and goalkeeper Trafford looked confident replacing Ederson, who missed the match due to illness.

“It’s a really nice start, of course, to start with a goal and an assist,” Reijnders told Sky. “And especially in the Premier League, it’s a thing you always dreamed about, starting like this. The first game of the season you don’t know what will happen, how the opponent will play. We did quite good. Of course, they put some good pressure on us but we stayed calm. A good four-nil win.”

Wolves manager Vitor Pereira acknowledged City’s superiority. “We played with bravery, tried to score goals and we had our chances to score. In the end each time we committed a mistake they punished us with a goal,” he told BBC Radio.

The match also featured an emotional tribute to former Wolves forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who died in a car crash in July. Fans observed a minute of applause and a banner read: “We’ll remember you when you walk in fields of gold”. Wolves supporters chanted “Diogo, Diogo” in the 18th minute — Jota’s shirt number — and laid his shirt on the pitch after full time.

Faridah Abdulkadiri 

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