A Stroll for Manchester City with a Haaland Hat-trick and a Crushing Blow for United

Reigning champions Manchester City had an easy outing on Saturday in their home debut, securing a big 4-1 win over newly promoted Ipswich Town, thanks to a hat-trick from Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. Meanwhile, their neighbors, Manchester United, suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton in the second round of the English Premier League.

With German midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who returned from Barcelona, on the bench, and with the absence of Rodri and Phil Foden due to injury, City celebrated in front of their fans with the Premier League trophy they won for the fourth consecutive time, along with the Community Shield, in their first appearance of the season at “Etihad Stadium.”

City entered the match as the heavy favorites for a second win of the season, against a team they last faced in the Premier League back in May 2001, when they lost 2-1.

Saturday’s match was the first between the two sides since January 2002, when City won 4-1 away in the FA Cup.

As expected, City dominated from the start, but the visitors surprised them in the seventh minute with a quick counter-attack that ended with a precise through ball from Ben Johnson to Irishman Sammy Szmodics, who went one-on-one with Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson, who failed to stop the ball, allowing it to roll into the net.

This goal served as a wake-up call for the giant, as City quickly responded with three goals. The first came from a penalty awarded after VAR review for a foul by Leif Davis on new Brazilian signing Savinho, which Haaland converted successfully in the 12th minute.

Kosovo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric then made a mistake under pressure from Savinho, allowing his former team the chance to score a second goal through Belgian Kevin De Bruyne in the 14th minute.

Haaland then broke the offside trap with a brilliant pass from De Bruyne, rounded Muric skillfully, and scored into the empty net in the 16th minute.

Brazilian João Pedro led his team Brighton to a second consecutive victory, this time with a dramatic 2-1 win over visiting Manchester United in stoppage time.

Danny Welbeck opened the scoring for Brighton against his former team in the 32nd minute, and Ivorian Amad Diallo equalized for United in the 60th minute, before Pedro snatched the three points in the 95th minute.

Brighton raised their tally to 6 points after their 3-0 win over Everton in the first round, while United suffered their first defeat after a 1-0 win over Fulham.

After both teams exchanged threats on goal at the start of the match, Welbeck, who played for United from 2008 to 2014, scored following a pass from Japanese player Kaoru Mitoma amid poor defensive coverage in the 32nd minute.

Despite United’s attempts, Dutch coach Erik ten Hag’s team failed to find an equalizer in the remaining minutes of the first half, and Diallo leveled the score in the second half after a pass from Moroccan player Noussair Mazraoui. Diallo dribbled into the penalty area, evaded a defender, and shot, with the ball deflecting off the defense into the net in the 60th minute.

After a disappointing start away from home with a 1-1 draw against newly promoted Leicester, Tottenham had a strong home debut, inflicting a second straight defeat on Everton with a 4-0 win. Malian Yves Bissouma scored from outside the box in the 14th minute, followed by goals from South Korean Son Heung-min (25 and 78) and Argentine Cristian Romero (71).

West Ham secured their first win at their London neighbor Crystal Palace’s stadium since October 2016, beating them 2-0. Nottingham Forest won 1-0 at Southampton, and Fulham defeated visiting Leicester City 2-1.