Erling Haaland struck his third goal of the season to seal Manchester City's 1-0 victory over Coventry at Etihad Stadium
New Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca preserved his 100% league start
Deadline-day arrivals Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye both featured in the starting line-up to keep City three points clear
Manchester City stayed top of the Premier League after Erling Haaland’s first-half header sealed a 1-0 win over Coventry at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The Norway striker scored in the 26th minute for his third goal of the season, as City extended its 100% start and Maresca maintained his perfect run.
Haaland provided the familiar edge. Manchester City invested over $600mn to overhaul the roster for new manager Enzo Maresca, yet the Norwegian remains the central force. The victory moved City three points ahead of title holder Arsenal before its Sunday fixture against Chelsea.
Action elsewhere shook the early standings. Promoted Hull climbed into second place on seven points following a scoreless tie against Aston Villa, while Tottenham secured its opening point of the term. Newcastle salvaged a draw through a late strike as Crystal Palace twice overturned deficits to collect its initial points.
City's New Era
City’s spending did not stop until deadline day. Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye both arrived late in the window and both started against Coventry as Maresca continued his reshaped post-Guardiola project.
“It’s an important win, different from the first two," Maresca said. "I’m very happy. I know the players day-by-day, we know each other. It means we will get better and better.”
Ndiaye was pleased with the start. “(We) started with a win, so it couldn’t get any better," Ndiaye said.
Hull's Surprise Run
Hull kept rolling. The promoted side drew 0-0 with Aston Villa to stay unbeaten on seven points and hold second place in the table.
The start has turned Hull into the early surprise package. After coming up through the playoffs, Hull stunned Manchester United in its opening game and then beat Coventry. It nearly made it three wins in a row, but Mohamed Belloumi’s curling second-half effort hit the bar.
Villa’s problems continued after a summer of heavy change. Unai Emery’s side lost Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emi Martinez, has yet to score this term and collected its first point only after back-to-back losses.
Late Drama Elsewhere
Newcastle snatched a point late. Jacob Ramsey came off the bench and scored in the 88th minute in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at St. James’ Park, keeping Newcastle unbeaten under new coach Matthias Jaissle.
Bournemouth had led 2-0 through Marcus Tavernier’s ninth-minute goal and a Malick Thiaw own goal in the 35th. Harvey Barnes pulled one back two minutes later with a solo effort. Ramsey’s equaliser meant Bournemouth had now let late leads slip for the third time this season after similar collapses against Manchester City and Everton.
Tottenham also stopped the slide, but only just. Spurs drew 0-0 at Nottingham Forest for their first point of the season and are still without a league goal despite summer signings Omar Marmoush and Savio, while on-loan Mykhailo Mudryk also failed to find a breakthrough after coming on to make his debut.
“The problem is the last third, not because we have not the quality. We have great players,” Spurs coach Roberto De Zerbi said. “We have to be better in the last decision, to keep calm when we are in the last third and take the best decision."
Forest thought it had won through Neco Williams, but VAR ruled the goal out for handball.
Crystal Palace fought back twice to beat Fulham 3-2 at Craven Cottage for its first points of the campaign. Josh King and Cesar Palacios put Fulham ahead, but Tyrick Mitchell twice equalised before Ben Chilwell scored the winner in the 77th minute. The defeat left new Fulham coach Alvaro Arbeloa with three straight league losses.
There was late drama in the other draws too. Sunderland earned a 1-1 result at Brentford through Enzo Le Fee’s 82nd-minute penalty, while Brighton drew 1-1 with Leeds after Luka Vuskovic levelled in the 71st minute. Leeds had led through Jayden Bogle and was chasing a third straight win.
