Super City make blistering Premier League start at Wolves

Haaland tapped home at the back post for the opener just past the half hour mark after a pinpoint cross from the left by Rico Lewis.

Reijnders doubled our lead moments later after moving onto an Oscar Bobb through ball and producing a classy finish.

Our No.9 Haaland, who has now scored on each of his four Premier League opening days, put the game beyond Wolves with a mesmeric move involving Reijnders and Bobb which ended with the clinical Norwegian firing past Jose Sa.

Cherki completed the scoring on a wonderful afternoon with a bullet drive just eight minutes after coming on.

THE GAME IN 250 WORDS

New boys Tijjani Reijnders, James Trafford and Rayan Ait-Nouri all started for City in the 2025/26 season opener at Molineux.

And all three played their part in an impressive victory over Wolves in their own backyard – with former AC Milan ace Reijnders really hitting the ground running on his Premier League debut.

Substitute Rayan Cherki didn’t do too bad either!

The game came alive on 34 minutes when Erling Haaland put us one-up.

Reijnders played in Rico Lewis down the right who produced a pinpoint cross for our centre-forward to fire home.

With Wolves reeling from that body blow, matters got worse for the hosts shortly after as Reijnders doubled our lead – and what a goal it was!

Oscar Bobb broke free and astutely played in the Dutch dynamo.

Despite being on his weaker left foot - PS it didn’t look weaker to us! – our No.4 blasted home to send the away fans into raptures.

That was all she wrote in the first half but it got better after the break for the sky blues and it was that man Reijnders again involved.

Trafford played a perfect pass to Reijnders who picked out Bobb down the right.

Bobb played a clever return pass to Reijnders who pulled it back for Haaland to fire home just past the hour.

Rayan Cherki was introduced as a second half sub late on and the playmaking midfielder, gifted with pace and grace, completed the scoring nine minutes from time with a scorching drive which gave goalkeeper Jose Sa no chance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Top man Tijjani

Tijjani Reijnders spoke pre-match of his excitement at playing in English football this season.

“Everyone always talks about the Premier League. To now play in it, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to the pace of the game and the quality of the players. I’m really excited – I can’t wait.”

Well based on his goalscoring performance against Wolves, we’re excited too.

He was masterful at Molineux showing confidence, courage and class to help see off Wolves.

Great start!

Haaland is inevitable

You can take two things to the bank – Erling Haaland to score on the opening day and score against Wolves.

If you’re looking for goals on Matchday One, look no further than star striker Haaland.

The Norwegian has now scored in all four of his opening day appearances since arriving at City from Borussia Dortmund.

In 2022/23, as we started our Treble-winning adventure, Haaland bagged a brace against West Ham in a 2-0 win at the London Stadium.

The following season, in our Four-in-a-Row campaign, he again scored two as the Blues saw off Burnley 3-0.

Then, last season, the ferocious forward bagged the opener in a 2-0 away triumph at Chelsea.

And it was another goal-den performance this afternoon as he hit a double in a comfortable triumph over Wolves.

Haaland has also now scored an astonishing 10 times in just six appearances against the men from Molineux.

He obviously loves playing against the old gold and black.

The Cherk of it

Rayan Cherki scored just eight minutes after coming on in his Premier League debut.

What a baller.

That’s the takeaway.

Jota remembered

All sides of Molineux came together to pay respect to Diogo Jota this afternoon and it was a fitting tribute to a much-missed footballer.

Jota, a hero at Wolves during his three-season spell in these parts, died in tragic circumstances alongside his brother Andre Silva this summer.

Fans, players and staff of both Wolves and City joined together for a moment of applause just before kick-off with a magnificent tifo in honour of the Portuguese playmaker unfurled by home supporters during the dedication while one of his favourite songs ‘Fields of Gold’ by Sting played across the loud speaker in the build-up.

It’s fair to say the pre-match tributes demonstrated to one and all just how precious life is. 

TEAMS

WOLVES XI: Sa, Doherty, Agbadou, Toti Gomes, Hoever (Rodrigo Gomes 73’), Joao Gomes, Andre (Lopez 72’), Wolfe (Hugo Bueno 72’), Bellegarde (Arias 73’), Larsen (Hwang 82’), Munetsi

Subs: Johnstone, Santiago Bueno, Mosquera, Kalajdzic

CITY XI: Trafford, Lewis (Nunes 66’), Stones (Khusanov 82’), Dias, Ait-Nouri, Nico, Bernardo (C) (O’Reilly 66’), Bobb, Reijnders, Doku (Marmoush 66’), Haaland (Cherki 73’)

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Ake, Gundogan, Akanji

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

SNAPSHOT

GUARDIOLA VERDICT

“Many things were good, especially in the first half.

“In the second half, we dropped too much but maybe that is normal in the beginning of the season.

“Last season, we also started with hunger and energy.

“But we will see, it is just the first game so there are many points still to play.”

REIJNDERS REACTION

“It’s a really nice start of course, to start with a goal and assist, especially in the Premier League.

“It’s something I’ve always dreamt about.

“We did quite good, we stayed calm and a good 4-0 win.

“I’m always going on the pitch with a smile, I love playing football and enjoy every minute on the pitch.

“This is what I want to show to the fans. Starting like this is unbelievable.”

AS A RESULT

This was our ninth consecutive away game to open the Premier League season – and our eight triumph in that time.

It also represented our 14th opening day win across the last 15 seasons, the exception being a 1-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur in 2021/22.

It’s early days but the win today puts us top of the Premier League. Not a bad place to be.

UP NEXT

We’re back on home soil in our next assignment as we host Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.

We face new manager Thomas Frank’s Spurs on Saturday 23 August with a 12:30 (UK) kick-off at the Etihad for TNT Sports coverage.