English Football Weekend: Coventry End 25-Year Wait, Bradford Go Top & Hull Finally Lose

Coventry City waited 25 years for this.

Five Premier League matches into their return to the top flight, the Sky Blues finally have a goal.

More importantly, they finally have a win.

While Coventry supporters celebrated at the City Ground, Hull City's excellent unbeaten return to the Premier League came to an end at Newcastle.

Further down the divisions, Bradford City replaced Sheffield Wednesday at the top of League One, Swansea opened a small gap at the Championship summit, Doncaster finally won, and Barnet's unbeaten League Two start rolled on.

September is beginning to sort the tables out.

Here's what mattered.

Coventry finally have their Premier League moment

Coventry's first four Premier League matches had produced four defeats and no goals.

That changed at Nottingham Forest.

Jay Dasilva scored in the 55th minute to give Coventry a 1-0 victory at the City Ground.

One goal.

Three points.

And Coventry City's first Premier League victory since 2001.

That alone makes it one of the stories of the season so far.

The Sky Blues had endured a brutal opening run against Arsenal, Hull, Manchester City and Brighton without scoring.

At Forest, they finally found a way.

Dasilva controlled a long pass from goalkeeper Carl Rushworth before finishing the move himself.

Forest thought they had rescued a point late on when Igor Jesus scored, only for VAR to rule the equaliser out after a pitchside review.

Coventry held on.

For supporters who waited through years outside the top flight, this is the result that makes promotion feel real.

Not simply being back.

Winning there.

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Hull's unbeaten start finally ends

Hull have spent the opening month making almost everybody look silly.

Manchester United beaten.

Coventry beaten.

Aston Villa held.

Chelsea held.

Then came St James' Park.

Newcastle scored twice inside the opening seven minutes through Joe Willock and Lewis Hall.

That left Hull chasing the game almost before it had properly settled.

Mohamed-Ali Cho pulled one back in the 67th minute, but Newcastle held on to win 2-1.

Hull's first Premier League defeat has therefore arrived in match number five.

That should not take anything away from the start.

The Tigers still have eight points from five games and sit comfortably in the middle of the early table.

For a promoted side, that is excellent work.

The bigger test now is what comes after the first defeat.

Promoted clubs often discover that confidence is easy to build when everything is going right.

The trick is keeping it when the first bad Saturday arrives.

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Brighton end Arsenal's perfect start

Arsenal arrived at Brighton with four wins from four.

They left with their first defeat.

And not a narrow one.

Brighton 3-0 Arsenal.

Pascal Gross opened the scoring before Charalampos Kostoulas made it two.

Chema Andres completed the result after half-time.

It ended Arsenal's perfect league start and handed the champions their heaviest defeat in three years.

Brighton, meanwhile, continue to look like one of the most awkward teams in the division to play.

If Arsenal needed reminding that retaining a title is different from winning one, the Amex provided it.

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City keep winning — although not quietly

Manchester City had no interest in making Sunday comfortable.

They beat Sunderland 5-3.

City led three times before finally making the result safe.

Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick, repeatedly dragging his side back into the match.

City still found another answer each time.

Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki, a first-half-and-second-half double from Antoine Semenyo, and Erling Haaland got the goals as Enzo Maresca's side made it five Premier League wins from five.

Fifteen points.

Perfect record.

And now a clear lead at the top after Arsenal's defeat.

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Ipswich brought back down again

A week ago Ipswich were celebrating a 90th-minute winner at Crystal Palace.

This Saturday was less enjoyable.

Everton beat Ipswich 1-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Thierno Barry scored the only goal after 11 minutes.

Ipswich's afternoon became harder still when Abdul Fatawu was sent off for a second booking in the 67th minute.

Everton actually thought they had added another goal, only for VAR to intervene.

Ipswich therefore have six points from five Premier League games.

The wins against Sunderland and Crystal Palace show they can compete.

The next challenge is producing that sort of result more often.

Swansea take control of the Championship

West Ham started the weekend top.

Swansea finish it there.

The Swans came from behind to beat Lincoln City 2-1.

Reeco Hackett-Fairchild gave Lincoln the lead from the penalty spot.

Then Swansea struck twice in four second-half minutes.

Moussa Yeo equalised.

Stephen Eustaquio scored what proved to be the winner.

Swansea now have 17 points from eight matches, two clear of West Ham and Middlesbrough.

It is still early.

But this is no longer simply a good opening couple of weeks.

Swansea are putting together a proper start.

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West Ham fight back in the derby

West Ham's four-match Championship winning run ended at The Den.

It could have ended much worse.

Millwall went 2-0 ahead through Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli.

West Ham had a job on.

Mohamadou Kante pulled one back in the 74th minute.

Konstantinos Mavropanos equalised six minutes later.

Millwall 2-2 West Ham.

Then Kante was sent off in the 89th minute after bringing down Kyrell Lisbie.

West Ham survived.

Considering they were two goals down in one of English football's most intense derby fixtures, a point probably feels considerably better than it did before kick-off.

The result leaves West Ham second on 15 points, behind Swansea.

Seven goals at Norwich

If you like defending, look away.

Norwich City and Bolton Wanderers produced the Championship match of the weekend.

Norwich 3-4 Bolton.

Norwich led.

Bolton equalised.

Norwich led again.

Bolton levelled again.

Bolton then went ahead.

Norwich equalised.

And finally Atsuki Ito scored the winner in the 72nd minute.

Seven goals.

Three equalisers.

One winner.

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Norwich, remarkably, have now lost 4-3 in consecutive Championship matches.

Somebody at Carrow Road might want to make the next one boring.

Burnley still cannot find a win

Burnley thought this might finally be the day.

Zeki Amdouni gave them the lead against Derby.

The score remained 1-0 into stoppage time.

Then Mohammed Fuseini equalised in the 93rd minute.

Burnley 1-1 Derby County.

Burnley remain without a Championship victory.

For a club relegated from the Premier League and expected to challenge towards the top, the pressure is already building.

Jamie Vardy's arrival created plenty of attention.

Results now need to follow.

Bradford take top spot from Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday began Saturday top of League One.

They end it second.

Wednesday drew 0-0 with Stockport County at Hillsborough for a second consecutive goalless home draw.

Stockport actually created the better chances, with Ryan Glover hitting the post.

Wednesday struggled to build much attacking momentum.

A point took the Owls to 14 points from seven games.

Normally, that would still be enough to stay top.

Bradford had other ideas.

The Bantams won 1-0 at Luton Town, Bobby Pointon scoring after only four minutes.

That was Bradford's third straight league victory.

They now lead League One with 15 points, one ahead of Wednesday.

This season's early Yorkshire battle is becoming interesting.

The live Sheffield Wednesday T-Shirts & SWFC collection now has 40 products, including terrace, trainer and Northern Monkeys-inspired designs.

Doncaster finally get their first win

There was good news for another South Yorkshire club.

Doncaster Rovers went to Peterborough and won 2-0.

Alfie May opened the scoring after 15 minutes.

Isaac Hutchinson made the game safe in the 88th.

It was Doncaster's first League One victory of the season.

And it had consequences beyond the result.

Peterborough sacked manager Luke Williams shortly afterwards, with the club second from bottom after seven matches.

Williams had taken Peterborough into the Carabao Cup fourth round only days earlier.

Football management rarely gives anyone long to enjoy anything.

Barnet stay unbeaten and stay top

League Two's best start continues to belong to Barnet.

The Bees beat Fleetwood Town 3-1.

Kabongo Tshimanga scored from the penalty spot before Fleetwood equalised through Will Davies.

Charlie Lakin restored Barnet's lead.

Two minutes later Idris Kanu made it three.

Barnet then went down to ten men late on but saw the match out.

Seven League Two games.

Four wins.

Three draws.

No defeats.

And 15 points at the top of the table.

For a division that usually changes shape every week, Barnet are beginning to look remarkably consistent.

September is making the stories clearer

The first couple of weekends are always chaos.

By late September, the picture starts sharpening.

Manchester City really are flying.

Coventry really do have something to build on now.

Hull's excellent start really was more than an opening-day fluke.

Swansea really are setting the Championship pace.

Bradford really have taken top spot from Wednesday.

Barnet really are unbeaten.

And Doncaster finally have that first win.

The routine around it all is properly established again too.

Wet platforms.

Early trains.

Away pubs.

Watching your club ruin your entire mood before five o'clock.

Or, occasionally, produce one of those days where the train home feels like the best place in the world.

That is the part of football the Football Casual T-Shirts & Terrace Clothing collection is built around.

And if the grounds matter as much as the football, the Stadium Series celebrates the places where all of it happens.

Coventry supporters waited 25 years for Saturday.

That is worth remembering the next time somebody tells you football is only a game.