Premier League Opening Day: Hull City Stuns Manchester United
Michael Carrick walked into the new season promising calm, not chaos. Hull City promptly tore up the script.
Manchester United’s campaign began with a thud at the MKM Stadium, a 2-0 defeat that felt heavier than the scoreline and raised early questions about a side tipped to challenge champions Arsenal.
Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy struck in the first half to stun a United team that never really found its rhythm. Hull, back in the Premier League for the first time since 2017 and missing 10 players through injury, played like the ones with something to prove. United played like they already had.
The hosts were sharper, hungrier, quicker into tackles and braver on the ball. United were simply overrun.
Amid the noise, one debut stood out. Teenage Socceroos defender Lucas Herrington, signed from Colorado Rapids in a deal worth a reported $A33 million, came off the bench in the 64th minute. At 18, in front of a raucous home crowd and with United chasing the game, he looked anything but overawed, delivering the kind of assured cameo that will only fuel calls for a regular starting role.
For Carrick, there was no hiding place, but there was no public hairdryer either.
“We came here to win so to not take anything away is hugely disappointing. It is not a nice feeling but it is not going to change our direction as a team or a club,” he said, refusing to turn on his players. “You have to carry on as normal. We just don’t all have to shout and scream and create some chaos. Calmness doesn’t mean there is not emotion.”
United finished third last season. On this evidence, going toe to toe with Arsenal looks a long way off.
Spurs spend big, Brentford bite back
If United’s defeat stung, Tottenham’s was downright embarrassing.
More than £200 million ($A380 million) poured into a rebuild after a brush with relegation last term. New faces, new optimism, same old problems. In west London, Brentford dismantled them 3-0 with a performance full of energy and clarity that made a mockery of the financial gulf between the clubs.
Roberto De Zerbi threw four of his new signings straight into the starting XI. Sandro Tonali, Andrew Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke all began the game, with Mateus Fernandes introduced after the break. The names were big. The cohesion was not.
Brentford smelled weakness and went for the throat.
Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring, Vitaly Janelt doubled it before half-time, and Tottenham never recovered. When Michael Kayode added a third after the interval, the scoreline finally matched the pattern of the game.
It might have been even uglier. Igor Thiago stepped up from the spot with a chance to make it 4-0, only to miss the penalty and spare Spurs an even more brutal headline.
Brentford, assembled on a fraction of Tottenham’s budget, looked like the finished article. Tottenham looked like an expensive work in progress that has barely left the drawing board.
Sage’s Palace era starts with a stumble
At Goodison Park, another new project began with frustration.
Pierre Sage arrived at Crystal Palace with a glittering résumé from France: a second-place finish in Ligue 1 and a French Cup triumph with Lens last season. He also inherited the shadow of Oliver Glasner, the man who delivered the FA Cup in 2025 and the UEFA Conference League last season before departing for Nottingham Forest.
Everton showed little interest in sentiment.
Against the run of play in the 42nd minute, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall robbed Daniel Munoz and unleashed a fierce drive into the far corner past Dean Henderson. One mistake, one ruthless finish, and Palace were chasing.
The response never really came. Thierno Barry rose to meet an Iliman Ndiaye cross with a thumping header in the 53rd minute, doubling Everton’s lead and deepening Sage’s early misery. Palace pushed, but Everton held firm. The Frenchman’s new chapter in England starts with a 2-0 defeat and a reminder of the unforgiving nature of this league.
Glasner’s Forest also hit early trouble
While Sage struggled at Everton, Glasner’s first outing as Nottingham Forest manager brought no comfort.
At the City Ground, Leeds dug in, waited, and struck late. In the 88th minute, Anton Stach’s free-kick squirmed past Matz Sels to seal a 1-0 away win and leave Forest empty-handed. The two sides will meet again on Tuesday in the League Cup second round, with Glasner already needing a response.
Ipswich announce their return in style
If some established names stumbled, Ipswich Town made sure their Premier League return was anything but quiet.
At a packed Portman Road, Gary O’Neil’s first game in charge ended in a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sunderland. Emersonn set the tone with a debut goal in the 24th minute, a sharp finish that released years of pent-up top-flight frustration in the stands.
Sunderland hit back before the break. In the 39th minute, Nilson Angulo bent a fine free-kick into the net, silencing the home crowd and reminding Ipswich that the margins at this level are thin.
The game seemed destined to drift towards a draw. Then came the 90th minute.
Jack Clarke found space, opened his body and curled home a winner that sent O’Neil sprinting down the touchline and Portman Road into delirium. For a club fighting its way back into the elite, there are few better ways to announce you are here to stay.
New eras at City and Liverpool
The weekend still has more questions to pose.
On Sunday, Manchester City step into life after Pep Guardiola. Enzo Maresca takes charge for the first time against Bournemouth, tasked with maintaining a dynasty that has defined the league for a decade.
Liverpool also begin a new chapter. Mohamed Salah has gone, Andoni Iraola has arrived, and Newcastle provide the first examination of how quickly the former Bournemouth boss can reshape a side in transition.
Arsenal, at least, started like a team that know exactly who they are and what they want. Their title defence opened with a commanding 3-0 home win over promoted Coventry on Friday.
The champions have set the standard. United, Tottenham, Palace, Forest and the rest now know just how far they have to travel.
