Haaland goal keeps Manchester City perfect as Tottenham held at Nottingham Forest

Erling Haaland scored the only goal as new-look Manchester City maintained their 100% start to the Premier League season with victory over Coventry, while Tottenham were held to a goalless draw by Nottingham Forest.

Haaland headed his third goal of the campaign in the first half after a significant contribution from another of Manchester City’s new arrivals, Enzo Fernandez.

Fernandez, who joined from Chelsea on transfer deadline day for £125m ($170m), matching the British transfer record, supplied Antoine Semenyo. The forward sent a cross into the area for Haaland to finish.

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca handed Fernandez his first start after Nico O’Reilly suffered an injury during the warm-up. Iliman Ndiaye also made his debut for the club.

The result gives Maresca three wins from three Premier League matches since taking charge at the Etihad Stadium following the emotional departure of long-serving manager Pep Guardiola.

Manchester City are attempting to reclaim the title after finishing behind Liverpool and Arsenal in the past two seasons. Maresca has inherited a substantially reshaped squad, with former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, Bernardo Silva and John Stones among the high-profile departures.

Fernandez and Ndiaye are part of an expensive recruitment drive that has also brought in England midfielder Elliot Anderson and Morocco teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi. Both players featured in Saturday’s match.

The home side moved ahead in the 26th minute but could not extend their advantage, and Frank Lampard’s team were left to regret a series of missed opportunities.

Manchester City’s perfect record sets up a trip to Old Trafford for next week’s Manchester derby.

Tottenham still waiting for first league goal

Tottenham’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest leaves them without a Premier League goal after three matches. They have lost to Brentford and Newcastle in their other league fixtures.

Spurs spent heavily during the summer as they seek to avoid a repeat of their 17th-place finishes in each of the past two seasons. Their latest opponents had beaten them convincingly twice last term, and Forest were also looking for their first victory of the new campaign.

Forest appeared to have scored midway through the second half when Neco Williams took advantage of poor defending. However, the goal was disallowed after a video assistant referee review.

The draw means Forest, who like Tottenham were involved in a relegation battle last season, remain without a win.

Mykhailo Mudryk came off the bench in the 74th minute for his first competitive appearance since November 2024. The Ukrainian forward joined Tottenham on loan this week after serving a doping ban.

Elsewhere, high-flying Brentford took the lead against Sunderland through Vitaly Janelt, but Enzo Le Fee equalised from the penalty spot late in the match to secure a 1-1 draw.

Leeds also drew 1-1 away to Brighton, while Crystal Palace claimed a 3-2 victory at Fulham after twice coming from behind. Tyrick Mitchell scored twice for Palace and Ben Chilwell netted the winning goal.

In the early kick-off, Newcastle fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth. They remain unbeaten in all competitions under new manager Matthias Jaissle.

Hull host Aston Villa in Saturday’s late match, while champions Arsenal face in-form Chelsea on Sunday.

On Friday, Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool secured their first win of the season by beating Ipswich 2-0.