Manchester City got their Premier League season off to the perfect start thanks to Erling Haaland 's debut goals against West Ham.
Haaland was the only one of City's three summer signings to start at the London Stadium, and scored from the penalty spot to hand his new side all three points. Pep Guardiola's men dominated the game, restricting the Hammers to just 25 per cent of the possession.
The win was secured with 25 minutes to go when Haaland latched onto Kevin de Bruyne's through ball before finishing past Alphonse Areola. The win means City sit above expected title rivals Liverpool, though they barely had to break a sweet to secure the three points.
Here, Mirror Football looks at five of the talking points from City's opening day win over David Moyes' side.
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City capitalise on Liverpool slip
City were one of the pre-season favourites to challenge for the Premier League title having won the last two in succession. They were handed an early boost in this year's race as Liverpool were held to a draw at newly-promoted Fulham.
And Pep Guardiola's men took full advantage of the Reds' slip-up on Sunday afternoon. City dominated possession at the London Stadium, though did struggle to break down the resilient hosts before Haaland won and scored his penalty.
City continued to hold West Ham at arms' length after that goal, with the Hammers failing to have a shot on target in the first-half. In truth, Ederson's goal was barely threatened as City picked up their first three points of the new campaign.
Perfect start for Haaland
Erling Haaland showed exactly why Manchester City signed him from Borussia Dortmund this summer with a goalscoring Premier League debut. For the first half-hour, he was eerily quiet, with his biggest contribution being his flying attempt to reach a cross, which ended up injuring West Ham keeper Lukas Fabianski.
But he burst into action with 10 minutes of the first period remaining when he latched onto a through ball, before poking it past the on-rushing Alphonse Areola who tripped him up to concede a penalty. Haaland duly dispatched the resulting spot-kick to put his side ahead.
He followed up that penalty with a second goal after the break, this time showing how dangerous his link up with De Bruyne will be to Premier League defences. The Belgian sent an inch-perfect pass through to Haaland, who beat the offside trap before finishing low past Areola to get his City career off to the perfect start.
Grealish struggles continue
Following last season's title win, Jack Grealish had admitted that he needed to improve his performances. But the winger again struggled to show why City spent £100m to sign him from Aston Villa last summer.
He failed to complete a dribble or succeed to find any of his team-mates with his three crosses in the first period. Valdimir Coufal kept him suitably quiet, with Grealish failing to make an impact on the game.
Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville tipped the England international to receive a half-time rollicking from Guardiola for his sloppiness. But if that did happen, it was to little effect, with Grealish again struggling after the break.
City show defensive credentials
West Ham had spent most of the opening 45 minutes camped in their own half as City enjoyed total control. But the hosts pushed forwards after the break, putting City under serious pressure at times.
Nathan Ake had been favoured to John Stones to partner Ruben Dias at centre-back, with Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo taking their normal places at full-back for City. Despite the Hammers throwing on new signing Gianluca Scamacca, the visitors maintained their clean sheet.
It is a positive sign for the champions, who have only lost Oleksandr Zinchenko from their corps of defensive options. The Hammers were kept from seriously troubling Ederson, with City's offside trap also working well against Scamacca.
Guardiola far from happy
At several points in the game Pep Guardiola retreated to his seat in the dugouts with a look of anger on his face. Though his side were on top for much of the opening game of the season, it was far from a perfect performance from the reigning champions.
While they dominated possession, they struggled to open up the visitors, with Guardiola appearing to be unhappy at their sloppiness, particularly in the first-half. While the Spaniard will be delighted to claim all three points, there is work to do ahead of the visit to Bournemouth next week.
