Tijjani Reijnders delivered a superb Premier League debut and Oscar Bobb offered a reminder of his great ability as Erling Haaland scored twice to help Manchester City sweep aside Wolverhampton Wanderers in their opening game.
Wolves paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota before kick-off with a stand-sized display of him celebrating one of the 44 goals he scored across three years at the club before he joined Liverpool in 2020. Both teams observed a minute’s applause for the forward and his brother Andre Silva, who died in July.
When the game began, Wolves thought they had taken an early lead but Marshall Munetsi’s header was ruled out for offside. From there, City took advantage, scoring two goals in three minutes before half-time through Haaland and the impressive Reijnders.
Haaland, who has scored on the opening day of the Premier League in each of his four seasons, added a third for City on 61 minutes with a powerful finish at the end of another fine move. Rayan Cherki also scored on his league debut for City, firing in a fourth after a clever exchange of passes.
Here, The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell breaks down the key talking points.
Did Bobb make Savinho’s future a non-issue?
Anyone still talking about Savinho? Much of the discussion in the build-up to City’s opening game centred on the future of the Brazilian winger amid transfer interest from Tottenham Hotspur, but Bobb produced a display that suggested he may make the right-wing slot his own, regardless of Savinho’s future.
The 22-year-old Norwegian looked destined to break into the team this time last year when he starred in pre-season and won man of the match in the Community Shield.
A leg break days later put paid to that notion and when he returned to the team at the tail end of last season, there was a rustiness that suggested the window of opportunity might have closed.
However, if the level he produced at Molineux is anything to go by, he could establish himself as a regular starter.
He brought everything Pep Guardiola demands from his wingers. Time after time, Bobb received the ball on the touchline and gradually took City up the pitch, showing a maturity to understand when to retain the ball and when to drive at the full-back.
Oscar Bobb tries to wriggle clear from Hugo Bueno (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
There is a delicacy and flow to the way he dribbles that makes him so hard to read. In the 33rd minute, he dazzled three or four Wolves defenders inside the penalty area, snaking in so many different directions that they were left chasing shadows.
But it wasn’t just the flashy stuff he did well. He was decisive. For the second goal, he led a City counter-attack where he had Reijnders to his left and Haaland to his right. It would have been easy to rush but he took his time before picking the perfect weight of pass to Reijnders to finish first time.
What did Reijnders do?
Just as it felt like City might be wilting under the intensity of Wolves’ pressure, Reijnders decided it was time to take things down a notch or two.
By that, he meant luring in two players, producing Andres Iniesta’s famous ‘croqueta’ skill to glide through two defenders — all while moving at barely more than walking pace.
Rico Lewis reacted by making a run behind Wolves’ defence but there was no clear route through to him, so Reijnders chose to deliver the ball via the aerial route.
Scooping the pass while on the run, he took out three Wolves defenders and allowed Lewis to cross the ball for Haaland to tap home.
It was a continuation of the classy touches he showed in the Club World Cup after joining from Milan, but this was the day the Dutchman introduced himself to the Premier League.
He also scored a beautifully taken goal to make it 2-0 and then cut the ball back for Haaland to notch his third. Not a bad first day at the new office.
Did Trafford show he can be No 1?
This was a day 10 years in the making for James Trafford, who joined the academy as a 12-year-old.
Having only made his return from Burnley two weeks ago, Guardiola confirmed on Friday that Ederson would continue as his No 1 if fit.
The Brazilian was not in the squad, though, so Trafford made his long-awaited senior debut.
His first act in City’s friendly against Palermo last week saw him caught on the ball, but at Molineux, it took until the 75th minute for the first hint of hesitancy.
Nerves would have been natural but he was assured throughout, aside from one slack pass that was almost intercepted in the first half.
He was not required to make big saves but several times, he aggressively came off his line to intercept a cross or ball over the top.
Guardiola said Ederson would be No 1 if fit but Trafford started against Wolves (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
The only times he was called into action were in the first half when the ball broke to Munetsi at the back post, which saw Trafford block the ball with his foot after sprinting out to close the angle with both arms and legs splayed wide.
He tipped a deflected shot over the bar in the second half and parried another shot from Jorgen Strand Larsen, but both were comfortable.
Trafford’s main nervous moment came when an awkward back pass came his way and he took a little too long on the ball. In the end, the goalkeeper got a pass away, but only just before the closing attacker could make contact.
What does Guardiola still need to sort?
There was a 15-minute spell midway through the first half when it looked like City could crumble.
Munetsi scored a goal that was disallowed and Wolves were buoyed by how often they counter-attacked from slack City passes.
Assistant coach Kolo Toure was out on the touchline, urging the players to calm down, but they could not get control of the game in the way they used to do so easily.
Two quickfire goals helped dampen the home crowd’s spirit but the lack of security on the ball in the first half could easily have seen them trailing.
John Stones shone in his first competitive appearance since February and the understanding between him and Ruben Dias helped make City look much more assured than they did for much of last season.
Finding a way to incorporate so much attacking talent into the starting XI is never going to be easy and Omar Marmoush and Cherki both starting on the bench, with Phil Foden not fit to make the squad, highlighted Guardiola’s challenge this season.
Guardiola did not want to be in a situation where he was forced to leave out so many players.
What did Guardiola say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for City?
Saturday, August 23: Tottenham (Home), Premier League, 12.30pm UK, 7.30am ET
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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