Haaland double fires City to thumping victory over Wolves

Manchester City signalled their intent to take back the Premier League title as Erling Haaland struck twice in a 4-0 win at Wolves on Saturday to begin their campaign.

After four consecutive titles, City finished a distant third last season as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to win any trophy for the first time in eight years.

New signings Tijjani Reijnders, who was the star of the show at Molineux, and Rayan Cherki were also on target to give Guardiola hope his side will be back in the title race this season.

Guardiola made a bold call amid ongoing uncertainty over City’s goalkeeping situation.

James Trafford made his first senior appearance for the club after returning for a second spell at the Etihad from Burnley.

Ederson was not in the travelling squad as he is reportedly close to a move to Galatasaray, which could see City pursue a deal for out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Wolves are among the favourites to be relegated after losing talisman Matheus Cunha to Manchester United.

Vitor Pereira’s were ultimately well beaten, but the outcome could have been very different had they made the most of an uncertain City start.

Marshall Munetsi powered a header into the bottom corner but was flagged offside.

Instead, the game swung decisively in City’s favour with two goals in three minutes, thanks to Reijnders creativity and goal threat from midfield.

The £46.5 million ($63 million) signing from AC Milan jinked through the Wolves midfield before dinking a pass into Rico Lewis, who squared for Haaland to tap in at the back post.

Moments later Oscar Bobb released Reijnders to arrow in a precise finish on his left foot.

Trafford did not have many saves to make, but showed his ability with his feet to begin a flowing move for City’s third.

The England goalkeeper cushioned a long pass into Reijnders, who played a one-two with Bobb, before cutting the ball back for a clinical Haaland finish.

Haaland was denied the chance to net a hat-trick as he was replaced by Cherki 17 minutes from time.

The French international took just another eight minutes to make his mark by picking out the bottom corner from outside the box.

Tougher tests of this new-look City are around the corner with Tottenham, Brighton, Arsenal and Manchester United in their next four league games.

But the convincing nature of victory was more like the City of old, which will strike fear into their title rivals.

Earlier, Richarlison scored twice to give Tottenham manager Thomas Frank a dream home debut with a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Frank was seconds away from launching his era in charge with a trophy until a late Paris Saint-Germain revival won the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday.

The former Brentford boss replaced Ange Postecoglou despite the Australian ending Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought by lifting the Europa League last term. Postecoglou was undone by Tottenham’s worst domestic season since 1976-77 as they finished just above the relegation zone in 17th place.

Frank’s bid to revive Tottenham’s league fortunes got off to the perfect start in north London.

Richarlison made the most of the faith shown in him by Frank as the Brazilian turned in Mohammed Kudus’ cross to open the scoring.

The pair combined again on the hour in more spectacular fashion as Richarlison’s bicycle kick converted the Ghanaian’s delivery.

Brennan Johnson was Tottenham’s Europa League final hero with the only goal against Manchester United and he began the new season by racing clear to slot in the third.

“Perfect start or dream start. A good performance against a difficult opponent. I will just enjoy it and I hope the players, the club and the fans enjoy it because that is important,” Frank said.

Hoping to buck the trend, Sunderland shocked West Ham 3-0 on their return to the Premier League.

Newcastle missed the unsettle Alexander Isak as they failed to find the breakthrough against 10-man Aston Villa in a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.

The Magpies were the dominant side even before Ezri Konsa’s red card for bringing down Antony Gordon 24 minutes from time.

Isak had not been involved during Newcastle’s pre-season as he appears determined to force through a move to Liverpool, who reportedly saw a £110 million ($149 million) offer for the Swedish striker rejected. The two clubs face off in their next league match at St. James’ Park on August 25.

Agencies