Haaland and Reijnders give Man City statement victory

Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki scored on their Premier League debuts as Manchester City thrashed Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 at Molineux to kickstart their 2025/26 campaign.

Erling Haaland maintained his perfect goalscoring record in Premier League Matchweek 1 fixtures with a 34th-minute tap-in, then made it a brace just after the hour.

Reijnders supplied the assist for Halaand’s second goal, having opened his account for Pep Guardiola’s side with a confident first-time finish just three minutes after City’s opener.

Substitute Cherki then got in on the act to cap a statement win for City. Wolves, who paid a moving tribute to their former forward Diogo Jota before kick-off.

How the match unfolded

Man City should have gone ahead in the 20th minute, but Haaland mistimed his jump and nodded Bernardo Silva’s cross over with the goal gaping.

Marshall Munetsi was caught offside when nodding Matt Doherty‘s cross home in the 26th minute, and City struck eight minutes later. After a chipped pass from Reijnders, a low cross from Rico Lewis gave Haaland the simplest of finishes.

Man City did not need long to make it 2-0, with Reijnders drilling a wonderful strike into the right-hand corner after Emmanuel Agbadou‘s loose pass put Wolves in trouble.

Wolves improved at the start of the second half with Jorgen Strand Larsen twice going close, but Haaland killed their hopes of a comeback in the 61st minute.

Reijnders was involved again as he played a one-two with Oscar Bobb before cutting back for Haaland, who side-footed beyond Jose Sa.

Jhon Arias‘ introduction briefly injected some impetus into Wolves’ attacks as James Trafford denied Strand Larsen again, but Cherki had the final say in the 81st minute, finding the bottom-left corner with a pinpoint finish from the edge of the area.

Reijnders stars for revamped City

Not since 2017/18 have City entered a season without a single major trophy to defend, with Guardiola’s men cast in the unfamiliar role of challengers this campaign.

The end of City’s four-year reign as Premier League champions has hastened an overhaul of their squad, and with Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol, Phil Foden, Ederson and Savinho all absent for a variety of reasons, there was a fresh look to Guardiola’s starting XI.

Reijnders was the pick of their four debutants. The former AC Milan midfielder brilliantly weaved between Joao Gomes and Andre in the build-up to City’s opener, bypassing Wolves’ midfield single-handedly before finding Lewis with a clever pass over the top.

And when Wolves surrendered possession cheaply three minutes later, Reijnders made a lung-busting run to Bobb’s left, then finished across Sa with aplomb.

One position City have not looked to fill in the transfer market is right-back, and though Lewis has been linked with Nottingham Forest in recent days, he stated his case for a regular starting berth with an excellent assist for the first goal.

With all the changes behind him, Haaland remains a constant threat up front. He has now scored on all four of his opening-weekend appearances in the Premier League. Ahead of a home opener against Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday, Man City look the real deal.

Quickfire double leaves Wolves beaten

Vitor Pereira had a transformative effect after taking the reins at Molineux midway through last season, leading Wolves away from the relegation zone in style.

However, with flair players Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri – who made his City debut in the Premier League here – joining dependable duo Nelson Semedo and Pablo Sarabia in seeking pastures new, there are a few question marks.

Wolves enjoyed a positive spell after Haaland’s early miss, but Munetsi was caught offside both for his disallowed header and when the ball fell kindly for him at the far post moments later.

They were made to regret their failure to make the most of those opportunities when two goals in 180 seconds swung the game City’s way. Pereira will be particularly irked by the second, which came after Agbadou sold Gomes short.

Wolves enjoyed another bright spell early in the second half, but Sa arguably should have done better for City’s third goal after getting a hand to Haaland’s strike.

With the game gone, Pereira introduced new signings Arias and Fer Lopez, and the former looked particularly lively, offering some encouragement ahead of next week’s trip to AFC Bournemouth.

For most Wolves fans, however, the enduring image of Saturday’s game will be the emotional pre-match tribute to Jota, who was honoured with a stunning tifo covering the South Bank.

Club reports

Wolves report | Man City report

What the managers said

Pep Guardiola: “First half good, second not. The attitude was good but in the second half we punished them in transition but they were better. It’s good to improve though.

“All of them [new signings] have been unbelievable. In the second half we dropped too much but maybe that’s normal at the beginning of the season.”

Vitor Pereira: “We faced a strong team. Technically strong, individual quality they have better options. We did things well in my opinion, we were brave, we didn’t go in just to defend – I don’t believe in that kind of game – we had some chances.

 “If you didn’t watch the game and just see the result it’s like they created a lot of chances and we created nothing and it’s not true. Every time we made a mistake they scored. We created maybe four chances to score and nothing. Of course they have a lot of merit and quality but in my opinion the result doesn’t express what happened on the field.”

Next fixtures

Key facts

Man City have won 14 of their last 15 games on Matchweek 1 in the Premier League (one loss), scoring 41 goals in total, with today their second-largest opening day win in the competition after their 5-0 victory against West Ham United in August 2019.

Wolves have lost 58 per cent of their opening day matches in the Premier League (7/12 – three wins, two losses), the highest percentage among sides to play in more than 10 seasons in the competition, while they’re the first team since West Ham in 2020/21 to lose five consecutive opening day games.

Haaland has scored in each of his four appearances on Matchweek 1 in the Premier League, only Mohamed Salah (six successive seasons between 2017/18 and 2022/23) has enjoyed a longer run in the competition’s history.

Reijnders became just the second player to both score and assist on their Premier League debut for Man City after Sergio Agüero in August 2011 v Swansea City.