Hull City Stuns Man United 2-0 in Season Opener; Carrick Keeps Cool

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick maintained his composure despite his team's disappointing 2-0 loss to newly-promoted Hull City in their Premier League season opener. The defeat, which also saw Crystal Palace's new coach Pierre Sage suffer a debut loss against Everton, set a challenging tone for the Red Devils.

At the MKM Stadium on Saturday, Hull City, making their return to the top flight since 2017, surprised United with two first-half goals. Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy found the back of the net, handing the Tigers an unexpected lead. Remarkably, Hull achieved this vibrant display despite missing 10 players due to injuries. This result marks a difficult beginning for United, a club widely tipped for a title challenge after finishing third last season, with little initial evidence of their capability to compete with reigning champions Arsenal.

Carrick, known for his calm demeanor, expressed his disappointment but stressed the importance of avoiding the kind of emotional outbursts that characterized the tenure of his predecessor, Ruben Amorim. "We came here to win so to not take anything away is hugely disappointing. It is not a nice feeling but it is not going to change our direction as a team or a club," Carrick stated. He acknowledged areas for improvement, adding, "It can happen, we can be better. There are issues playing against different systems and we have to find answers to that. You have to carry on as normal. We just don’t all have to shout and scream and create some chaos. Calmness doesn’t mean there is not emotion."

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace's new French manager, Pierre Sage, also had a rough start, overseeing a 2-0 defeat at Everton. Sage, who joined Palace after leading Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 and a French Cup victory last season, took over from Oliver Glasner. Glasner had guided the Eagles to an FA Cup triumph in 2025 and the UEFA Conference League last season before moving to Nottingham Forest.

Everton's goals against Palace came from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who dispossessed Daniel Munoz in the 42nd minute before striking a powerful shot into Dean Henderson's net, and Thierno Barry, who netted a bullet header from Iliman Ndiaye's cross in the 53rd minute.

Oliver Glasner's debut as Nottingham Forest boss also ended in a loss, a 1-0 home defeat against Leeds at the City Ground. Anton Stach secured the points for Leeds in the 88th minute with a free-kick that squeezed past Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels. Leeds is set to face Forest again in the League Cup second round on Tuesday.

In another thrilling encounter, Ipswich celebrated their return to the Premier League with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Sunderland at Portman Road. Emersonn opened the scoring for Ipswich in the 24th minute on his debut, converting after Julio Enciso capitalized on a mistake by Sunderland's Luke O’Nien. Nilson Angulo leveled for Sunderland in the 39th minute with a superb free-kick that bounced in off the crossbar. However, Jack Clarke sealed a winning start for new Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil (who replaced Kieran McKenna) in the 90th minute, curling home after intercepting Omar Alderete’s wayward pass.

Looking ahead, big-spending Tottenham will visit Brentford in Saturday's late fixture. Sunday's matches include Manchester City, now under new boss Enzo Maresca following Pep Guardiola's departure, hosting Bournemouth. Liverpool, with former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola now at the helm after Mohamed Salah's exit, will face Newcastle. Europa League winners Aston Villa travel to Brighton with a reshuffled squad after selling several key players. Arsenal, the defending champions, began their title defense convincingly on Friday with a 3-0 home win against promoted Coventry.