LONDON: Erling Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut as Manchester City opened their defense of the title with a 2-0 win at West Ham on Sunday.
Haaland lived up to the hype since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to give the champions a perfect start to the season in the searing heat of East London.
West Ham nearly derailed City’s title chances when they led 2-0 at half-time in the penultimate game of last season before Pep Guardiola’s men battled back for the point that ultimately edged out Liverpool at the top of the table.
But they were no match this time as Haaland immediately proved the value of City adding a proven goalscorer to their arsenal.
The Norwegian has been signed as the long-term successor to Sergio Aguero and started his City career just like the club’s all time record goalscorer with a double on his league debut.
Haaland had missed chances in City’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield, but Guardiola’s warning that the goals would soon flow proved to be correct.
City’s patient possession game wore the Hammers down as temperatures in the English capital soared above 30 degrees celsius on Sunday.
Haaland took responsibility from the penalty spot to open his Premier League account after he had been brought down by Alphonse Areola.
West Ham started the second half with more attacking intent but that simply played into the hands of City’s new weapon as Kevin De Bruyne split open their defense with one pass on the counter-attack for Haaland to gallop clear on goal and slot low past Areola.
Haaland scores twice in Man City’s 2-0 win at West Ham
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Haaland scores twice in Man City’s 2-0 win at West Ham
- Haaland lived up to the hype since his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to give the champions a perfect start to the season
- Kevin De Bruyne split open the West Ham defense for Haaland to gallop clear on goal and slot low past Areola for his second
Irate Carlsen pushes away camera after World Blitz Championships loss
- Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, had a frustrating second day at the championships in Doha on Saturday
DOHA: Magnus Carlsen pushed away a camera after losing to Vladislav Artemiev at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Qatar, the latest example of the former world champion letting his vexation boil over.
Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, had a frustrating second day at the championships in Doha on Saturday, splitting a point with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave before he was beaten by Artemiev.
When a photographer followed as Carlsen stormed out of the venue, the Norwegian pushed away the camera.
Carlsen attracted attention for slamming his fist on the table after losing to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju at the Norway Chess 2025 tournament.
Also last year, he briefly quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York when governing body FIDE barred him from a round for wearing jeans.
FIDE does not plan any action against Carlsen for Saturday’s outburst but will review the incident if a complaint is launched, CEO Emil Sutovsky told Reuters.
Despite his defeat, Carlsen is still in contention for the title at the championships and sits in joint second with seven points alongside Alexey Sarana, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Artemiev and Hans Niemann share the lead in the open category on 7.5.
