Manchester City made it two Premier League wins from two under Enzo Maresca, beating Crystal Palace on Friday, 28 August 2026 with a brace apiece from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki enough to propel the Citizens top of the League.
With Pierre Sage in the Palace hot seat for the first time at Selhurst Park, the Eagles nearly made a dream start inside two minutes, as Eddie Nketiah’s angled effort was saved at the near post by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
That sparked the visitors into life, and they went close themselves shortly after, with Elliot Anderson seeing a long-range strike parried away by Dean Henderson before Haaland’s rebound was blocked in the six-yard box.
Not to be denied, the Norwegian talisman broke the deadlock in the 17th minute, as Antoine Semenyo’s inswinging delivery was expertly directed into the top corner by Haaland for his first goal of the new campaign.
The Cityzens should have doubled their lead before the half-hour mark, only for Phil Foden to twice miss the target with glorious chances in the box.
Palace remained a threat at the other end, though, and Sage’s men went close to an equaliser before half-time, as Tyrick Mitchell glanced a free header wide at the back post.
City started the second period on the front foot, and their attacking intent was rewarded with a second goal in the 54th minute when Foden picked out Cherki, who jinked his way past a couple of challenges before rolling a composed finish beyond Henderson.
The visitors’ two-goal advantage was short-lived, however, as a stunning long-range free-kick from Yéremy Pino cannoned off the post and against the back of Donnarumma to give Palace a route back into the contest.
Undeterred, Maresca’s side restored their cushion shortly before the hour mark, with Cherki’s powerful strike from range taking a nick off Chris Richards and flying into the top corner.
That proved to be a killer blow for the hosts, as City took control of proceedings, introducing new signing Ayyoub Bouaddi for his debut in the final 10 minutes.
The visitors added late gloss to the scoreline through Haaland, who finished emphatically into the roof of the net from a clever Foden pass.
Man City are back in action next Saturday as they host newly-promoted Coventry City, while Crystal Palace go across London to face Fulham on the same day, with Pierre Sage still searching for his first point.
LIVERPOOL 2-2 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Liverpool's Victor Munoz struck a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, but Andoni Iraola's side were left still searching for their first Premier League win of the season after his first home league game in charge.
It was Oliver Glasner's Forest who were the more clinical side in the first half. Despite Liverpool dominating possession, Forest opened the scoring in the 24th minute through Dan Ndoye.
The goal was pure counter-attacking football. Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels launched a long ball upfield, Morgan Gibbs-White took it down brilliantly and slipped Ndoye through, and the Swiss forward finished coolly into the bottom corner past Alisson.
Anfield was stunned, but Liverpool responded quickly. Florian Wirtz thought he had equalised just before half-time, but the goal was chalked off after a VAR review determined Jeremie Frimpong was offside in the build-up.
Iraola cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as his side went into the break 1-0 down, despite having 68% possession and 11 shots.
Liverpool finally got their reward on the hour mark. The move started with Cody Gakpo on the right, who twisted away from his marker and whipped a low ball across the face of goal. Two Forest defenders failed to make contact, and Alexander Isak was there to tap into an empty net from six yards.
It was Isak's first competitive goal in a Liverpool shirt since his £125 million summer move from Newcastle United.
Just as Liverpool looked to be taking control, Forest hit back again. In the 68th minute, Neco Williams burst into the box and was brought down by Alisson, who came rushing out and clipped the Welsh full-back. Referee Michael Oliver pointed straight to the spot.
Captain Morgan Gibbs-White stepped up and sent Alisson the wrong way to make it 2-1 to Forest in the 70th minute.
For ten minutes, Forest defended heroically, with Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic throwing their bodies in front of everything.
Then came the moment that saved Liverpool's afternoon. With eight minutes left, a clearance fell to Victor Munoz on the edge of the box. The 22-year-old Spanish winger, signed from Real Madrid Castilla this summer and making his first start, took one touch to spin away from Elliot Anderson and then blasted an unstoppable shot that crashed in off the crossbar past Sels.
Liverpool pushed for a winner in the final minutes but Forest held on for a deserved point.
Liverpool are next in action on Friday in the Premier League against Ipswich Town, before beginning their Champions League campaign on September 8 against Porto. Forest will host Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday, before travelling to face Aston Villa on September 12.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0-2 NEWCASTLE UNITED
Tottenham's nightmare start to the Premier League season continued as goals from Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa condemned them to a 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle United.
Roberto De Zerbi's team were much-improved from last week's 3-0 defeat to Brentford in the first half of Saturday's game, but they were kept at bay by the impressive Lukas Hornicek before Newcastle stormed to victory in the second period.
Elanga got Newcastle off to a lightning-fast start against Liverpool last week, and he threatened an immediate impact again here, worrying Antonín Kinský with a cross that looped dangerously toward the far post. At the other end, Mathys Tel had the first effort of note for Spurs, cutting in and forcing a decent save from Horníček.
The FIFA World Cup-winning defender Pedro Porro looked in the mood and flashed a volley narrowly over after the ball broke to him on the edge of the box from a corner. Two new signings then came close to combining from another corner, and Omar Marmoush should have done better after being picked out by Andrew Robertson’s wicked delivery.
Spurs pressure continued after the restart, and Malick Thiaw could count himself fortunate not to concede a penalty for a rash lunge on Marmoush, before Rodrigo Bentancur nearly made something of the follow-up.
However, the breakthrough finally came from Newcastle, and fellow debutant Nico González was instrumental. The former Manchester City man’s raking cross-field switch found Amar Dedić, who knocked the ball into the path of Elanga. The Swede still had plenty to do, but swivelled beautifully beyond former teammate Sandro Tonali, before guiding his strike in off the post.
De Zerbi’s side responded, and Horníček was required to keep out another long-range Porro effort. But an acrobatic Yoane Wissa effort from yet another corner all but settled the contest, with a big miss from Marmoush in the closing stages dooming Spurs to a seventh defeat in their last nine Premier League meetings with Newcastle.
It’s also the first time in 15 years the north London side have lost both of their opening league fixtures, a worrying omen on the back of consecutive 17th-placed finishes.
