Premier League Weekend: Hull Win Again, Man Utd Hit Five & Wednesday Score Seven

Two Premier League matches played. Six points.

Hull City supporters could probably get used to this.

After beating Manchester United on the opening weekend, the newly promoted Tigers went to Coventry City and won again on Saturday. Two of last season’s promoted clubs met, but only one of them left looking completely at home in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Manchester United responded to that Hull defeat by putting five past Ipswich, Manchester City scored four at Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday produced the scoreline of the Football League weekend with a 7-2 demolition of Bromley.

The Championship also reminded everyone why early tables can be dangerous, while League Two already has five clubs locked together near the top.

Here are the stories worth talking about.

Hull’s dream start continues

Hull’s opening-day 2-0 win over Manchester United could have been dismissed as one of those brilliant promoted-club afternoons.

Huge crowd. Big opponent. Adrenaline everywhere.

Saturday suggested there might be rather more to Hull than that.

The Tigers travelled to Coventry and won 1-0, Liam Millar scoring the decisive goal in the 82nd minute.

That leaves Hull with two wins from their first two Premier League matches.

For a promoted side, six early points are enormously valuable. Not because anyone should start making wild predictions after two games, but because every point collected now is one you do not have to desperately chase in April.

The contrast with Coventry is already striking.

The Sky Blues were given the hardest possible opening assignment away at champions Arsenal and lost 3-0. Hull at home looked like a far more realistic opportunity to get their first Premier League points.

Instead, Hull took them.

Coventry have therefore started with two defeats and no goals scored.

Again, it is August. Nobody is relegated in August. But promoted clubs know there are certain matches where points feel particularly important, and a home game against another promoted side is definitely one of them.

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Manchester United respond with five

Manchester United needed a reaction.

They got one.

Ipswich actually struck first at Old Trafford, Leif Davis putting the promoted visitors ahead after 29 minutes.

Then Bruno Fernandes took over.

United eventually won 5-2, with Fernandes scoring a hat-trick as the home side turned the match around.

It was quite a response after losing 2-0 at Hull a week earlier.

For Ipswich, the scoreline was a reminder of how quickly a Premier League game can get away from you. They had started with an encouraging home win over Sunderland, then took the lead at Old Trafford, but left with nothing.

Ipswich have three points from their first two games. Coventry have none. Hull have six.

The promoted-club story is already becoming one of the most interesting parts of the new season.

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Manchester City look ominously comfortable

There was rather less drama surrounding Manchester City.

City went to Selhurst Park and beat Crystal Palace 4-1, with Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both scoring twice.

That makes it two Premier League victories from two under Enzo Maresca.

Cherki’s contribution was particularly eye-catching, while Haaland opening his league account with two goals will surprise absolutely nobody.

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Liverpool held, Tottenham beaten

Not everybody expected to be near the top has started cleanly.

Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest at Anfield, while Tottenham’s afternoon was worse.

Newcastle went to Spurs and won 2-0.

Two games are not enough to diagnose a season.

They are more than enough for football supporters to start worrying about one.

That is how August works.

Seven at Hillsborough

If you support Sheffield Wednesday, Saturday was considerably more enjoyable than the previous weekend.

Wednesday had lost 1-0 at home to Bradford in their previous League One fixture.

Against Bromley, they responded by scoring seven.

Sheffield Wednesday 7-2 Bromley.

Callum Slattery opened the scoring before Mason Burstow and Jamal Lowe helped Wednesday build a 3-0 half-time lead.

Louie Barry then scored twice after the break, Lowe added his second and Gabriel Otegbayo made it seven before Bromley pulled two late goals back.

After the disappointment against Bradford, it was exactly the sort of response supporters wanted.

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Bradford finally stopped

Bradford had been one of the stories of the opening fortnight.

They had started strongly in League One, won at Hillsborough and then knocked Championship Burnley out of the Carabao Cup on penalties.

Plymouth brought the run to a halt.

Argyle beat Bradford 2-0 at Home Park on Saturday.

Elsewhere in League One, Blackpool beat Peterborough 4-0, Huddersfield won 2-1 at Cambridge and Stockport put five past Wycombe.

Wednesday’s seven-goal afternoon has moved them back into the early leading group too.

Three games played. Already plenty happening.

Charlton are the Championship’s early pace-setters

Last week we were talking about Millwall’s perfect start.

A few days later, football has rearranged the picture.

Southampton beat Millwall 5-1 at St Mary’s, with Cyle Larin scoring twice.

Charlton Athletic are now the Championship’s only side with a 100 per cent league record after three matches.

They beat Preston 1-0, Karlan Ahearne-Grant scoring the winner.

Three matches. Three wins. Nine points.

Wolves also produced one of the Championship performances of the weekend, coming from behind to beat Stoke City 4-1.

Norwich matched that scoreline against Burnley, winning 4-1, while Swansea went to Derby and won 3-0.

Birmingham followed their cup hammering by Brentford with something much more useful: a 2-1 Championship win at Wrexham, Phil Neumann scoring both Birmingham goals.

This division rarely allows anybody to feel comfortable for long.

Cardiff draw again

Cardiff City have now played three Championship matches this season.

All three have ended level.

The latest was Cardiff City 2-2 Sheffield United.

That means Cardiff remain unbeaten in the league, but are still waiting for their first Championship win of the season.

There are worse ways to settle into a division.

There are also more productive ones.

At some point, one of those draws needs to become three points.

League Two: five clubs locked on seven points

League Two remains wonderfully congested.

Barnet, Walsall, York City, Colchester United and Crewe Alexandra all sit on seven points after three matches.

Barnet are currently top, but there is almost nothing between the leading group this early in the season.

Crewe’s 0-0 draw at Port Vale also preserved a particularly impressive record: they have opened the League Two season with three consecutive clean sheets.

Three games is a tiny sample.

Three clean sheets is still three clean sheets.

August has already given us plenty

This is the stage of the season when nobody really knows anything.

Hull might be brilliant.

Coventry might simply have had a horrible first two fixtures.

Charlton might stay near the top of the Championship.

Sheffield Wednesday might score seven one week and leave everybody tearing their hair out the next.

That is the appeal.

There is no established pattern yet. Every Saturday changes the picture.

And for supporters, the routine surrounding it is properly back: railway platforms full of shirts and jackets, pub tables covered in phones checking other scores, away ends making themselves heard and everyone studying league tables we are all pretending are far too early to matter.

For more of that side of football, the Football Casual T-Shirts & Terrace Clothing collection covers the trainer and terrace culture surrounding British matchdays.

And if the grounds and matchday memories matter as much as the results, explore our Stadium T-Shirts collection.

One Premier League match remains before the weekend round is complete, with Aston Villa hosting Arsenal on Monday night.

For now, though, Hull supporters have the simplest job.

Enjoy looking at the table.

They have earned it.