Haaland header keeps Manchester City top as Tottenham’s scoring drought continues

Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory over Coventry City, while Tottenham Hotspur were held to a goalless draw by Nottingham Forest.

Erling Haaland’s first-half header moved Manchester City to the top of the table with nine points from three games. Coventry City remain bottom without a point or a goal.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have scored none in their opening three matches and sit 17th with one point. Forest are one place above them on two points after extending their wait for a first league win under Oliver Glasner.

Haaland strike enough for Manchester City

Manchester City preserved their impressive record against newly promoted teams, although Frank Lampard’s Coventry side made life difficult for the champions and created several opportunities.

Coventry could have gone ahead in the early stages after errors from Manchester City. Gianluigi Donnarumma nearly allowed the visitors to score when the ball slipped beneath his foot, while another misplaced pass presented Taiwo Awoniyi with a clear chance. The Coventry striker’s effort, however, drifted narrowly wide.

Manchester City took the lead in the 26th minute. Antoine Semenyo showed determination to keep the ball in play near the byline before delivering a testing cross, which Haaland met with a powerful header.

The goal did not weaken Coventry’s resolve. The Sky Blues defended with discipline and made important blocks to deny Enzo Fernandez and Haaland further chances.

Haaland appeared to have doubled the advantage shortly before the hour when Fernandez kept the ball alive inside the penalty area. The effort was ruled out, though, after Fernandez was judged to have been offside earlier in the move.

Coventry continued to threaten despite spending much of the match under pressure. Loum Tchaouna forced Donnarumma into an important save with a fierce shot from the edge of the area.

The Manchester City goalkeeper was required again with 10 minutes remaining. He denied Ellis Simms from close range, taking the forward’s attempt directly in the face as he preserved his team’s lead.

Manchester City held on through a tense closing period to claim a third successive league victory. Coventry’s defeat leaves them with no points and no goals after three matches.

Spurs held as Forest goal is disallowed

Tottenham’s troubled start continued at Nottingham Forest, where they were unable to find a way past their opponents in a 0-0 draw.

The result means Tottenham have collected just one point from a possible nine and have failed to score in all three of their opening league fixtures.

Ange Postecoglou’s side controlled much of the first half but struggled to turn possession into clear chances. Omar Marmoush came closest for Tottenham, using his strength to create shooting room before sending his attempt wide.

Forest improved as the game progressed. Jair Cunha fired over, while Liam Delap, making his first start for the club, created an opportunity for Morgan Gibbs-White. His shot was saved by Antonin Kinsky.

Forest thought they had taken the lead shortly after the hour mark when Gibbs-White escaped behind the Tottenham defence and attempted to lift the ball over Kinsky.

The goalkeeper got a hand to the effort and slowed its progress, but Neco Williams followed up to put the ball in the net. The celebrations ended when a VAR review found that Williams had handled the ball.

Tottenham then had a chance to snatch victory on the counter-attack. Kinsky sent a long pass towards Marmoush, who had options including the unmarked Mohammed Kudus, but chose to shoot and lifted the ball well over the crossbar.

The miss reflected an afternoon in which both teams lacked the required quality in front of goal.

Tottenham avoided a third consecutive league defeat at the start of a season, a run they had not suffered since 1979, but they remain without a win or a goal.

Forest have now gone six Premier League matches without victory and are still waiting for their first league win under Glasner.

Related: Rodri is set to start for Barcelona in their match against Valencia.