Man City make it three wins in a row as Palace earn first points

Manchester City kept their perfect record, but their 1-0 victory over promoted Coventry City offered little comfort until the final whistle. Coventry, still searching for its first point, finished strongly and forced goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into a series of saves.

Erling Haaland settled the match in the 26th minute, heading in Antoine Semenyo’s cross after Enzo Fernandez slipped a pass through to the forward. The goal was Haaland’s 300th in top-flight club football. He later had another effort ruled out.

City dominated possession and completed 803 passes to Coventry’s 217, yet an equaliser would not have flattered Frank Lampard’s side. Manager Enzo Maresca had handed debuts to Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye, while Elliott Anderson also started after City’s expensive rebuild continued with deadline-day arrivals.

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I really liked today for different reasons. First half we could have scored one or two more but we worked together to win so I am happy.

“I really liked today for different reasons. First half we could have scored one or two more but we worked together to win so I am happy,” Maresca said. He added that supporters’ anxiety was normal in such matches and that teams also need to win during “ugly moments.”

City lead the table with nine points. Arsenal and Chelsea, the other teams with perfect records, meet on Sunday. Hull City dropped their first points after an impressive return to the top flight but have not conceded, while Aston Villa remain without a goal and have one point from three matches.

Crystal Palace claimed their first league win of the campaign by recovering from two deficits to beat Fulham 3-2. Newcastle came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home against Bournemouth, who scored first for the third consecutive game but remain without a win. Tottenham earned their first point in a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest after failing to register a shot on target. Brighton drew 1-1 with Leeds, Brentford drew 1-1 with Sunderland, and Hull held Aston Villa 0-0.

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Anxiety from the fans is normal. Nine out of 10 of these games you end with a bad feeling but it’s important to win 1-0. Not all the performances are going to be nice, you also need ugly moments.