New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Manchester City reached a 2000-goal milestone, while Bruno Fernandes’ hat-trick in Manchester United’s maiden win of the season headlined the major takeaways from the second week of the Premier League 2026/27.
The English top flight is off to a riveting start, with Manchester City leading the table and the newly promoted Hull City side doing wonders with twin wins, while Xabi Alonso’s start with Chelsea saw the Blues earn victories as well.
The second week started with City thrashing Palace at Selhurst Park in a 4-1 win as Erling Haaland, in his new look, scored a brace while Rayan Cherki netted twice in a stellar away outing. The game saw City reach a landmark of 2000 Premier League goals, making them the sixth team in the English top flight to reach the feat.
Haaland’s love affair with the month of August also continued as he now has 24 Premier League goals in the month in 16 appearances and stands behind Andrew Cole’s 25.
Hull’s return to the top flight has now seen them register successive wins as they defeated Coventry 2-0 in their away game after having stunned United at home. Liam Miller’s strike made them become just the fourth promoted side in English top-flight history to have won their first two games, alongside Bolton in 2001/02 and Huddersfield in 2017/18. Hull themselves did it before in 2016/17.
Meanwhile, Portuguese star Bruno had a stellar outing for United in their first home game of the season. His hat-trick saw Michael Carrick’s side beat Ipswich Town at Old Trafford 5-2. Bruno is now the first Portuguese player with a Premier League hat-trick since Cristiano Ronaldo did so in 2022 against Norwich.
This was also his second Premier League hat-trick after he scored thrice in the game against Leeds United in 2021-22. Coincidentally, both have come in United’s first home game of the season.
Andoni Iraola’s first season in charge of Liverpool has not begun in the best of fashions, as The Reds have two consecutive draws in their opening two matches this season. However, their come-from-behind 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest has made them only the second Premier League side to start a season with two straight 2-2 draws.
This has also kept Iraola’s unbeaten streak going as he has not lost a Premier League match in 20 outings. He is the 12th manager to have seen a 20-game unbeaten run.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have also started with two wins as they emerged victorious in a seven-goal fest by 4-3 against Brighton after having beaten Fulham 3-2. This has made manager Xabi Alonso only the fourth manager whose team has scored seven or more goals in the first two games in charge.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin cancelled Kevin Schade’s goal for Leeds United in their clash against Brentford for a draw in their second outing. This made Calvert-Lewin the only player who has scored in each of his last 11 Premier League outings, a run from 2016/17 to 2026/27.
–IANS
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