Manchester United made a nightmare start to the new season as promoted Hull confounded their many doubters by securing a shock 2-0 victory on their Premier League return on Saturday.
Sergej Jakirović’s play-off winners were written off by nearly every pundit before a ball was kicked, with former England international Joe Cole saying an immediate second-tier return is certain, causing anger among the home fans.
Such naysayers will have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief on Saturday as the unfancied Tigers roared to a remarkable, and thoroughly deserved, opening weekend win courtesy of a pair of first half set pieces.
Semi Ajayi opened the scoring after United failed to deal with a corner and Michael Carrick’s men were again found wanting when Regan Slater sent in a free-kick for debutant Nobel Mendy to nod home.
The Red Devils boss, handed the permanent job in May, warned of a challenging start in East Yorkshire but he could not have foreseen such a meek display from his side months after finishing third.
Carrick has plenty to mull over following United’s first ever Premier League loss to Hull, whose first top-flight match since 2017 will live long in the memory.
“There are issues playing against different systems and we have to find answers to that,” Carrick said.
Tottenham’s expensive pre-season rebuild was shaken to its foundations by rampant Brentford on an alarming opening day for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
New-look Spurs showed the same old flaws as goals from Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode saw them dismantled 3-0 by the hosts.
Jack Clarke fired promoted side Ipswich to an opening-day 2-1 victory with a 90th-minute winner to down old club Sunderland.
A new era at Portman Road got under way with Gary O’Neil in the dugout for a competitive fixture for the first time since he replaced long-serving boss Kieran McKenna in June and with six full debutants on display.
This first day fixture looked set to finish all square after Nilson Angulo produced a superb 39th-minute free-kick for the Black Cats to cancel out Emersonn‘s opener after 24 minutes following excellent play from Julio Enciso.
Substitute Clarke had other ideas and made the most of Omar Alderete‘s wayward pass on the stroke of full-time to curl into the bottom corner.
Thierno Barry scored in Everton‘s comfortable 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace to give manager David Moyes one less thing to worry about – for now.
The Frenchman took until December last season to score his maiden goal for the club but with no reinforcements for a strikeforce – together with Beto – which netted only 18 goals in 2025-26, an early breakthrough for the 23-year-old was a welcome boost for Moyes.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall opened the scoring late in the first half as Everton celebrated season ticket-holder Andy Burnham’s first visit as UK prime minister.
Leeds‘ Anton Stach has gone from stacking burgers to cooking up a set-piece special, with his late free-kick earning a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
The German recently launched his own burger at a restaurant in Leeds city centre with proceeds going to charity and he was in sizzling form at the City Ground as his effort in the 88th minute earned a curtain-raising three points.
Stach has a reputation for scoring free-kicks, bagging four direct efforts last season, and boss Daniel Farke was confident as his player stood over the ball.
“I trust him with everything. He has even released a burger right now, he had the launch a few days ago, and I never expected him to do this,” he said.
“He’s a bit of a weird and crazy guy, I expected when he was over the free-kick that he could do something special.”
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