Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus gave Man City an opening 3-1 win at Wolves, who briefly provided the visitors with a late scare through Raul Jimenez’s header.
De Bruyne’s emphatic penalty inside Rui Patricio’s left-hand post after 20 minutes set City on their way to victory at a ground where they had been beaten last season, following Romain Saiss’ clumsy challenge on the Belgian.
When Phil Foden doubled the advantage from a lovely one-touch move 12 minutes later, it looked like Guardiola’s men would end up cruising to victory in their first Premier League game of the season.
But in the second half, Daniel Podence went close with two moments of quality from the hosts before Jimenez sidefooted wide from 12 yards – but the Mexican was not to be denied, and nodded in from the former’s cross to reduce the deficit.
However that proved the only time the hosts could find the beating of Ederson, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side unable to recreate their heroics of last season’s last-gasp 3-2 win, as Gabriel Jesus’ late finish after De Bruyne won the ball back on the edge of the penalty area ensured a good evening’s work for the visitors.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was delighted with the performance of his players in the difficult opening fixture.
“It was a good performance. We know how difficult it is. The game was good.
“The plan is always to try and start fast. Sometimes the opening is good and sometimes we need more time to get our best conditions but the start was good.
“The goal and in the second half – Phil Foden played incredibly well. We are tired in our legs but in general we did a good game.
“The period that we are in and the situation that we had in these last two weeks, I expect that in some moments we suffer, but in general we controlled the game.”
Ezri Konsa’s second half-goal ensured Aston Villa also got their Premier League campaign underway with a win following a 1-0 victory over 10-man Sheffield United.
Chris Wilder’s side were on the back foot as early as the 12th minute when John Egan, who grappled with Ollie Watkins as the Villa forward looked to latch onto a loose ball, was adjudged to have denied a goal-scoring opportunity by referee Graham Scott.
However, the 10 men had the best opportunity of the first half when Matt Targett fouled Chris Basham in the penalty area. John Lundstram stepped up for the visitors, but his spot kick was brilliantly saved by debutant Emiliano Martinez.
With Villa starting to run out of ideas, it was the unlikely source of Konsa who headed home in the 63rd minute to hand Dean Smith’s side a winning start.
It was a cruel blow for Sheffield United, who put in a spirited performance, as they start with back-to-back defeats. Meanwhile, Villa are up to ninth after their opening win.
