Erling Haaland scored once and missed a penalty for Manchester City on Sunday, continuing the champions’ flawless start to the Premier League campaign. Rodri then completed a thrilling 2-1 victory against Sheffield United for the league leaders.
At Bramall Lane, Haaland missed a first-half penalty attempt against the post before scoring with a header to give City the lead after the interval.
Five minutes remained when Jayden Bogle tied the score against the flow of play, preventing City from blowing the opportunity to win.
Three minutes later, though, Rodri rescued City with a thunderous goal, propelling Pep Guardiola’s team to the top of the standings with a third straight triumph.
Guardiola was watching television when City’s most recent victory was being accomplished as he recovered from back surgery in Barcelona.
The City manager spoke often with Juanma Lillo, his assistant who took over at Bramall Lane and will also be in charge of the champions’ match against Fulham on Saturday.
The awareness that City can succeed without Guardiola will have assisted in his recovery.
It was a historic triumph for Guardiola, who now has 200 league victories with City in only 269 games, breaking Jose Mourinho’s previous Premier League record of 326 games to reach that milestone in 2020.
For the first time since 2016, City has started a season with three straight league victories, sending a chilling message to their championship rivals that their hunger for victory has not been satisfied by last season’s triple-double.
When John Egan’s outstretched arm denied Julian Alvarez’s cross in the 36th minute, City could have taken the lead.
Haaland, though, hit the post with his penalty. The moment the ball bounced to safety, the Norwegian remained still with a shocked expression on his face.
After converting his previous seven attempts, Haaland missed his first penalty attempt in the Premier League.
Haaland seemed to be having a bad day as he headed another golden opportunity wide from Kyle Walker’s cross.
Rodri saves the day
After receiving a feed from Mateo Kovacic, Haaland was once again stopped as Wes Foderingham swiped away his close-range chip.
But in the 63rd minute, Haaland eventually gave City’s control of the field some credit, rising above Jack Robinson at the far post to head in his third goal of the year from Jack Grealish’s enticing cross.
In the 85th minute, Blades replacement Bogle salvaged a shocking equalizer when City was dominating.
Walker made a foolish backheel inside his own area while playing against the team he loved as a youngster, extending a United assault that culminated with Bogle’s ferocious shot bouncing in off Nathan Ake.
After Walker atoned for his mistake by regaining control outside the United area, City reacted well and took the lead once more three minutes later when Rodri slammed into the top corner from 12 yards.
With Matty Cash scoring twice, Aston Villa defeated Burnley 3-1 to continue Unai Emery’s team’s incredible goal scoring run.
Villa bounced back from their season-opening 5-1 loss at Newcastle by thrashing Everton 4-0 and smashing Hibernian 5-0.
In only three games, they scored 12 goals.
Burnley’s first two games this season have ended in losses.
Ollie Watkins was assisted by John McGinn in the eighth minute, and his cross was well weighted for Cash to convert expertly from close range.
In the 20th minute, Cash scored again, blasting in a goal after a quick ball exchange with Moussa Diaby.
Lyle Foster of Burnley scored a goal in the 47th minute to become the first South African to do it in the Premier League since Steven Pienaar did so for Everton in 2013.
But in the 61st minute, Diaby put an end to Burnley’s uprising with a precise finish off of Lucas Digne’s cutback.
Later on Sunday, an exciting matchup between two teams vying for the crown takes place at St James’ Park between Newcastle and Liverpool.