Manchester City began their Premier League campaign in memorable fashion as Erling Haaland struck twice in a crushing 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
New signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki also netted debut goals for Pep Guardiola's revamped team as they look to improve on last season's disappointing third-place finish.
Haaland, who has scored in all four season-opening games during his spell in England's top flight, struck in the 34th minute when Reijnders chipped a ball through to Rico Lewis who sent in a low cross for the Norwegian to tap home.
Reijnders scored three minutes later and Haaland completed his brace in the 61st minute when Oscar Bobb pulled the ball back for him to fire a low drive past Jose Sa.
Cherki completed the rout after 81 minutes to cap an emphatic start to the season for City, who won the title four years in a row from 2021-24.
It was a great day for City's new signings as Reijnders played a part in the first three goals.
Coach Guardiola made Reijnders a priority signing from AC Milan after playmaker Kevin De Bruyne's departure. He also snapped up the technically gifted Cherki from Lyon, where he made his debut at the age of 16.
Reijnders opened up the Wolves defence with a delightful flick to allow Lewis the space to pick out Haaland to score his first from a low cross in the 34th minute.
Three minutes later, Bobb played Reijnders in down the left and the Netherlands midfielder arrowed a superb first-time shot into the bottom right corner from just inside the penalty area.
City's third in the 61st came when Reijnders expertly took down a high ball, swapped passes with Bobb down the right and pulled the ball back for Haaland to finish with a crisp drive.
Just six minutes after going on, France international Cherki flummoxed the Wolves defence and picked his spot from 20 metres out.
While it may be premature to suggest City have found the ideal replacement for De Bruyne, it was a very promising showing from Reijnders.
His presence brought dynamism to a City side that also raised eyebrows in other areas.
Most notably, goalkeeper James Trafford was handed a debut and Ederson - described as "number one" by manager Guardiola this week despite speculation over his future - was missing from the squad altogether.
The club, however, later confirmed the Brazilian's absence was due to illness, with the 31-year-old suffering from gastroenteritis.
John Stones returned in defence for his first appearance since February and another new recruit, Rayan Ait-Nouri, featured against the club he left in the summer.
It was an emotional occasion for Wolves as they paid a series of tributes before and during the game to Diogo Jota, their former striker who died last month following a car accident.
Before facing City, Wolves fans displayed a giant tifo of Jota, who played two seasons in the Premier League with the West Midlands club before joining Liverpool in 2020.
A banner under the tifo in his memory read “We’ll remember you when you walk in fields of gold,” and fans at Molineux Stadium chanted his name after a moment's applause was held while a Portuguese flag was flown.
