Arsenal Cruise, But Real Drama Waits Elsewhere
The defending Premier League champions opened their title defence in style on Friday night, as Arsenal delivered a one-sided win over Coventry City, who are tipped to go straight back down after their promotion. Kai Havertz struck inside 15 minutes, Bukayo Saka doubled the lead on 23 minutes, and Martin Ødegaard added a third just after the break as Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners at the Emirates. The result cements Arsenal’s status as bookmakers’ preseason favourites heading into the new campaign.
Manchester United’s Nightmare Start
While Arsenal impressed, it was a horror show at the other end of the table for Manchester United. Newly promoted Hull City confounded the doubters, securing a shock 2-0 victory over United on their return to the Premier League after a nine-year absence. Semi Ajayi opened the scoring after United failed to deal with a corner, before debutant Nobel Mendy nodded home from a Regan Slater free-kick to double the lead. The result leaves Michael Carrick’s side under pressure after just one game, with calls already growing for further reinforcements in the transfer window.
Newcastle And Liverpool Share The Spoils
Sunday’s headline fixture at St James’ Park lived up to the billing. Anthony Elanga fired Newcastle into an early lead inside five minutes, sending the home crowd into raptures as Matthias Jaissle’s reign began brightly. But Liverpool responded through Cody Gakpo and Joe Willock either side of the hour before Dominik Szoboszlai converted a stoppage-time penalty to make it finish 2-2, denying Newcastle a winning start.
Maresca’s Dramatic Debut At The Etihad
Enzo Maresca’s first game in charge of Manchester City had everything. City marked his first Premier League match with a stirring late rally, scoring twice in the final ten minutes to grab a 2-1 win over Bournemouth. Josko Gvardiol struck in the first minute of stoppage time for the winner, initially flagged offside before being awarded on VAR review, after Marc Guehi had equalised with an 84th-minute header following Marcus Tavernier’s first-half opener for the visitors. Notably, Erling Haaland failed to score in a league opener for City for the first time since joining the club in 2022.
Chelsea close out the round with a London derby away at Fulham on Monday night.
Mourinho And Flick Make Their Statements In Spain
La Liga’s biggest names were held back from the true opening weekend, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both permitted to delay their season starts to August 25-27 as a concession for players involved deep into the 2026 World Cup. But both clubs’ true bows — moved forward as Matchday 2 fixtures, still provided plenty of drama.
Real Madrid 2-1 Espanyol: Jose Mourinho’s second spell in charge of Real Madrid began with a last-gasp victory, as Jude Bellingham opened the scoring before substitute Carlos Espi pounced in the 90th minute to grab the winner after Alex Calatrava had levelled for the hosts.
Elche 0-5 Barcelona: The reigning champions made their intentions clear. Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scored twice apiece as Barcelona romped to a 5-0 thrashing at Elche, with Raphinha converting an early penalty and new signing Karim Adeyemi marking his La Liga debut with a goal. The win marked Barcelona’s 13th consecutive victory in all competitions, while Elche suffered their 11th straight league defeat to the Catalans.
Quick-fire summary:
- Arsenal 3-0 Coventry City
- Hull City 2-0 Manchester United
- Newcastle United 2-2 Liverpool
- Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth
- Espanyol 1-2 Real Madrid
- Elche 0-5 Barcelona
- Chelsea vs Fulham, still to play (Monday night)
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