Haaland stars as City begin title race with win; Man United lose opener

New joinee Erling Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut as Manchester City opened their title defence with a confident 2-0 win at West Ham on Sunday. Haaland took responsibility from the penalty spot to open his Premier League account and later added one more goal to his kitty. Meanwhile, Manchester United was beaten 2-1 by Brighton in Erik ten Hag’s first game in charge.

It’s not good enough. We huffed and puffed to get one back and we had chances to equalise the match. It’s a bad start for us – Harry Maguire, Manchester United

West Ham started the second half with more intent but Kevin De Bruyne split open their defence with one pass on the counter-attack for Haaland to gallop clear on goal and slot low past Areola. Manchester City retained their Premier League title for the second time in their history in 2021 after a closely fought title race with Liverpool. They won the league by a point in the final matchday by coming from two goals behind after 75 minutes against Aston Villa to score three goals in five minutes.

Meanwhile, United suffered another defeat in Ten Hag’s first competitive game in charge. Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench for the Red Devils due to his lack of pre-season training. Brighton thrashed United 4-0 when the sides last met in May and despite losing Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella, Brighton was again too hot to handle for United’s weak defence.

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“This is the worst possible start, to be 2-0 down at half-time at Old Trafford,” said United captain Harry Maguire. “It’s not good enough. We huffed and puffed to get one back and we had chances to equalise the match. It’s a bad start for us,” he added with a wry smile.