Phil Foden admits Manchester City have a big hole to fill after influential midfielder Rodri picked up a three-game ban in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.

The Spain international was sent off early in the second half of City’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium for raising his hands towards the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

The treble winners now face being without Rodri for their midweek Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle, next Saturday’s game at Wolves and – most crucially – the encounter at Arsenal on October 8.

Foden said: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss, but we have players to step up now and we are going to need them.”

Rodri’s dismissal dramatically changed the mood of a game City had been cruising to victory in following goals from Foden and Erling Haaland in the first 14 minutes.

A tame affair became fractious and City lost some of their composure before switching to a defensive mindset.

Attacking players Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez were sacrificed for Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake as manager Pep Guardiola took a pragmatic approach to secure three points.

“I thought we showed a different side to the team,” Foden said.

“It was not ideal with Rodri getting a red card so early in the second half, but I thought we showed heart and desire – a different side to the team that we sometimes need to show.

“I am really happy with the performance. We dug deep.”

Despite making their latest victory unnecessarily complicated, the champions’ 100 per cent start to the season remains intact.

In an ominous warning for the rest of the competition, Foden believes there is plenty more to come.

The 23-year-old said: “I would say it is a perfect start, but there are still a couple of gears for us to go. We are happy with the start, but we still know we can get better.”

Forest manager Steve Cooper was pleased with his side’s response in the second half and felt they should have got more from playing against 10-man City.

He said: “When you play a game and you get presented an opportunity, you really want to recognise that you have to take that.

“I’m not angry with the players. I’m not disappointed in any way, shape or form, and I’ve told them that.

“But I’ve just challenged them, like, ‘Come on boys, really back yourselves, because I do’.

“Hopefully we’ll reflect on the game and be motivated that we can play in these really tough games and do some good things.”

Erik ten Hag praised “massively important” Jonny Evans after the defender was drafted into the starting line-up and helped Manchester United to a 1-0 victory against Burnley.

The 35-year-old made his first start for the club since 2015 and, as well as helping secure a much-needed clean sheet, set up Bruno Fernandes for the only goal after having an earlier header ruled out.

Evans re-signed for the club earlier this month following his release by Leicester, and boss Ten Hag said: “We have problems and in this moment a lot is against us: injuries, decisions and we have all seen the examples.

“We are very happy to have a player like Jonny Evans in the squad. He comes in and he is calm, composed, he has character and a good skill-set. Even when you have things against you, you can bounce back and then you have the character in the team to do that.

“In the summer, I heard he was in to train with the under-23s, I said ‘Fletch (technical director Darren Fletcher), come bring him in with the first team. Maybe he can help us’.

“I already saw in pre-season with the schedule, the problems with the numbers in the squad. We decided to sign him because I think he can really contribute to the squad and today you have seen how massively important he can be.”

Fernandes’ first-time volley from Evans’ ball over the top was a moment of real quality in a game where Ten Hag knew United could not afford another slip-up after three losses in a row.

“This was a must-win and we knew that,” said the Dutchman, who had no complaints about the disallowed goal with Rasmus Hojland deemed to be offside and interfering in front of goalkeeper James Trafford.

“The team responded on the pitch. You could see the togetherness in the dressing room. It was a squad performance.”

Burnley are still looking for their first win following promotion back to the Premier League and have picked up only one point from their first five games.

But manager Vincent Kompany was pleased with the performance of his side, who hit the post in the first half through Zeki Amdouni and had several other good opportunities.

“We had two or three massive chances, really big,” said the Clarets’ boss. “The one from Jay Rod (Rodriguez) where he is controlling the ball in front of the keeper and then slices it, the one from (Jacob) Bruun Larsen, one-on-one with the keeper, just takes his touch a little bit too far.

“Then obviously the one from Zeki Amdouni that hits the post and rolls out. I don’t think you get many more big chances against a team like United. We have to take the positives from it and learn from the things we could do better.

“I am a rational mind, I thought 14 new players, and you see City, United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham all within the first 10 games and you know this might be a difficult start but, if I look at the performance today, our moment will come.”

Mauricio Pochettino thinks the 18 months he spent in charge of Paris St Germain kitted him out to tackle the complicated task of turning Chelsea’s fortunes around.

Under the Argentinian, PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions in 2022 having missed out to Lille the previous campaign after he had replaced the sacked Thomas Tuchel mid-season.

Crucially he failed to land the club’s Qatari owners the prize they most coveted, the Champions League, losing in the semi-final to Manchester City in 2021 and to Real Madrid in the last-16 the following year.

It was reported that Pochettino never felt that he enjoyed full authority over the club’s star-studded squad, and was kept by the hierarchy from reining in the erratic behaviour of certain big-name players.

He left in the summer of 2022 and did not work in football again until accepting the job of piecing together Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s expensively assembled side in June.

He said the experience of managing in the famously chaotic environment of the French champions helped him as a coach, but acknowledged that the challenge he faces at Stamford Bridge is of a different order.

“I think it helps,” said Pochettino. “It helps to take things in a different way. Of course, experience is a really important point in football, in how you are going to deal with things.

“It would be arrogant to say that because I was there, now I can manage everything. The demands always are completely different.

“But when you add experience and experience of different clubs, different countries, different cultures, I think it gives us the capacity as a coaching staff to help in a better way the players and then the club that wants to develop some new ideas or new projects, like we are now doing.”

Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Pochettino will come up against another coach who knows intimately the unique demands of life at PSG, Unai Emery.

Emery managed the club for two seasons between 2016-18, winning the title in his second year but joining the list of coaches unable to fulfil the club’s frustrated Champions League ambitions, twice going out in the last 16.

He returned Villa to Europe for the first time in 12 years last season, finishing seventh in the Premier League after taking over from Steven Gerrard in October.

“For myself and for Unai, (the job) is not to prove anything,” said Pochettino. “I think it is to try to help (our) clubs to achieve what the clubs want. I never feel that I need to prove something.

“We (Pochettino and assistant Jesus Perez) arrived at PSG and in one year and a half we won three (trophies). We proved that we can win.

“But you can win with a team that normally wins when you are in a project ready to win. In that case, Unai and myself are building something. He is building at Aston Villa a very nice project, and we are starting to build a very good project for the long-term at Chelsea.

“I think it’s not easy to win with PSG, it’s not easy to win with different clubs. We need to give the credit for the coaches and players that win with different teams, because for different reasons, you feel the pressure in a club like PSG. You cannot (have) any excuses.

“But the Premier League is the most important competition and the most competitive, and if you can win here, I think the feeling for sure that the credit is bigger.”

Bruno Fernandes’ stunning volley secured absentee-hit Manchester United a much-needed victory as Burnley’s wait for a Premier League win continued.

Injuries and off-field issues have been compounded by poor performances in some tough fixtures, with the Red Devils losing four of their opening six matches in all competitions for the first time since 1986.

United ended a run of three successive defeats at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, where Erik ten Hag’s team were not entirely convincing but ran out 1-0 victors thanks to Fernandes’ moment of magic on Saturday night.

The Portugal midfielder showed exceptional composure and technique when providing a fitting finish to a brilliant pass from Jonny Evans, who was making his first start for the club since 2015.

The 35-year-old recently rejoined the club and thought he had scored shortly before Fernandes’ goal, only for the VAR to intervene in a first half that Burnley had held their own in.

Zeki Amdouni struck a post during the opening period and Kompany’s side threatened towards the end of the second half, but the Manchester City great was unable to celebrate a late equaliser.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin took a swipe at the Everton boo boys after marking his return from injury with a goal in the 3-1 win at Brentford.

The England striker was jeered by some fans after he went off with a fractured cheekbone during the 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa at the start of the season.

But he showed the Toffees what they have been missing by climbing off the bench to wrap up their first win of the season.

“Football is a funny old game,” Calvert-Lewin told Sky Sports.

“When I came off against Aston Villa my own fans booed me off. Today they cheered me. I’ll relish this and take the rest with a pinch of salt.”

James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener before half-time.

Then Calvert-Lewin grabbed only his second goal since last October when he collected James Garner’s through-ball and slotted home.

.
Boss Sean Dyche insisted a vastly improved display had been on the cards for a while despite picking up just one point from their first five matches.

He said: “I don’t think it came from  anywhere. The signs have been there but you have to change the storyline, you have to take your chances.

“To come in at 1-1 was a bit of a head-scratcher, so to come out in the second half and be so calm again was very pleasing.

“I’m very pleased with the whole performance. My job is to look at the performances, win or lose. We’ve deserved more but you’ve got to force it and today we did.

“We had a good chat in the week with the players and said it’s us who have to change the story.

“It’s tough playing well and not getting results. That’s where you should grow and have on-pitch maturity and play under pressure and that’s what we did today.”

The Bees, by contrast, were distinctly off-colour and are still without a win at home this season.

Boss Thomas Frank said: “It was a very bad day. Everton deserved to win, we performed badly.

“We performed very well in our first first five games, but today was a bad one.

“It was very unlike this group of fantastic players, but we are good at bouncing back from a bad performance and I expect us to bounce back.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin climbed off the bench to kick-start Everton’s season in a 3-1 win at Brentford.

The England striker grabbed his first goal of the campaign to wrap up a first Premier League win for Sean Dyche’s side.

James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener.

It was a vastly improved display by Everton, although the Bees were not at their best.

They were not helped by a late reshuffle after Kevin Schade limped off during the warm-up and was replaced by Keane Lewis-Potter.

Ashley Young immediately fell foul of a surging Lewis-Potter run, the 38-year-old’s tackle earning him a booking after just 38 seconds, the fastest of the season so far.

But Everton went ahead in the sixth minute after James Garner’s corner was initially cleared.

When the ball was laid back to Garner, the England under-21 midfielder swung in a cross towards Tarkowski.

The former Bees defender knocked the ball down and Doucoure lashed it home on the volley for what was only Everton’s third league goal of the season.

They should have been further ahead, but when Dwight McNeil raced on to Beto’s flick-on he dragged his effort just wide, before Doucoure crashed a shot against the crossbar.

Brentford were uncharacteristically giving the ball away at every opportunity, but when they finally managed to string a few passes together, they equalised.

Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and then Vitaly Janelt fed the ball out to Jensen, who took a touch before lashing his shot across goal and in off the far post.

Everton almost hit the front again when Idrissa Gueye’s through-ball found Beto, who dinked it over the advancing Mark Flekken only to see it float the wrong side of the post.

Then Brentford missed a golden chance to go ahead after Gueye gave the ball away and Lewis-Potter just failed to convert Mbeumo’s cross-shot at the far post.

Dyche sent on Calvert-Lewin for Beto with half an hour to play, but it was Tarkowski who struck first with a towering header from McNeil’s corner.

There was no chance of a muted celebration from the centre-half, who was booed by the home fans throughout, as he gleefully ran off with his fingers in his ears.

Calvert-Lewin, who is finally fit again after a string of injuries, then grabbed only his second goal since last October when he collected Garner’s through-ball and slotted home to secure a much-needed victory.

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admitted he “feels sorry” for referees challenged with incorporating a host of new Premier League rules and regulations implemented before the start of this season.

The 76-year-old returned to the dugout at Selhurst Park after illness caused him to miss last weekend’s trip to Villa Park, and disagreed with Fulham boss Marco Silva that the Cottagers were the superior side in Saturday’s goalless draw.

Among the changes this season is a crackdown on having more than one coach inside the technical area, a decision Hodgson will still need some convincing to embrace.

The former England coach said: “I feel so sorry for the referees. All these new directives, which to most of us who have been in football for a long time can’t really make an awful lot of sense, but they feel obliged to follow it through.

“Little things annoy you. Why can’t somebody from the bench, one of the coaches, come and stand by me for 30 seconds to shout instructions with you before being told immediately you’ve got to go back to the bench?

“It’s our job to do that, our job is to coach the players, work with the plan. I can understand if people are crowding in the bench in that area and making a nuisance of it.

“But if you’re talking about someone who comes out from time to time to say a couple of words, where is the problem? How does football benefit from that?”

The two London sides entered Saturday’s contest with almost identical records to start their season, Hodgson’s men having scored just one more goal than Silva’s to separate them in the table.

Both teams had chances, Eberechi Eze firing just wide late in the first half of his 100th appearance for Palace while both Raul Jimenez and Willian were denied by Eagles keeper Sam Johnstone.

Fulham squandered a second-half chance with an overpowered pass, while Hodgson’s introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta to play up front alongside Odsonne Edouard failed to break the deadlock.

Hodgson said: “I’ve seen many games like today lost by just one goal. We didn’t do that, so the positive is we can be better, we will be better and we got one more point in our bid to move up the table.”

Fulham boss Silva, however, felt his side did enough to deserve more.

He said: “I think overall during the game we were the team that created more chances to win. I think I’m pleased with the performance, just we have to be much more effective in our attack, when we’re in certain areas of the pitch.

“I think we were strong enough with good organisation, very good work from our two midfielders and our two central defenders. Good work from our two full-backs as well.

“I think overall we were the best team on the pitch and deserved three points, even if the game was balanced, of course, but the team that created more was ourselves.”

Rob Edwards was frustrated Luton did not get the result he felt their performance deserved in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Wolves at Kenilworth Road.

Luton claimed their first point since earning promotion to the Premier League after Carlton Morris’ penalty cancelled out Pedro Neto’s opener.

But Edwards believes the Hatters should have converted more of their 20 shots after they failed to take full advantage of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s first-half sending off.

“I’m pleased but I think it should have been all three points,” Edwards said.

“I’m really proud of the players, the performance was excellent, it’s a great day for the club, the supporters were great and the players did everything we asked for to engage the fans.

“We started the game so well, it was probably the best we’ve played since I’ve been at the club. I think the level of the game, the fact Wolves couldn’t get out of their half we completely dominated the game.

“Overall I’m really happy and proud but we should’ve won.

“We were really aggressive on the front foot and tried to provoke them and that’s what Kenilworth Road can do.

“When they get a man sent off you really want to try and find a way to win but they’ve got quality and Neto’s a top player and we lost the ball cheaply. We gave away a goal but to get something from the game after it’s a positive.

“The lads are flat and deflated because we feel that there was a win there for us today.”

Luton are still searching for their first Premier League win and still sit at the foot of the table.

Edwards highlighted the difficulty of the league after a lapse of concentration by Tom Lockyer in the 50th minute was punished by Neto, who scored his first of the season.

“It shows how good the Premier League is, you have to be almost perfect to get anything from it and today we were close with how we wanted to play but we haven’t won,” Edwards added.

“It’s like a different sport (Premier League) in every way. Everyone is way better (than the Championship), the decision making, the quality, the speed that things happen and the execution is hard to comprehend.

“If people look at us as a small club in the Championship then they’ll look at us as a small club in the Premier League.

“We’re up against mammoths, giant clubs and in a way we probably shouldn’t be here.”

Gary O’Neil was disappointed with Wolves’ first-half performance which saw them on the back foot.

He said: “I’m extremely disappointed with the first 25 minutes.

“We knew today would be a test of mentality and Luton were aggressive and we lost every duel, they were faster in midfield.

“We had to change the shape and get a foothold which I thought we then did.”

Pep Guardiola admitted he was angry with Rodri after the influential midfielder was sent off in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

The Spain international was dismissed early in the second half of Saturday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium after raising his hands to the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

Rodri protested at the time, and there was a delay before referee Anthony Taylor’s decision was upheld by VAR, but Guardiola claimed there could be no excuses for his conduct.

The City manager said: “Hopefully Rodri will learn. The game was perfect with 35 minutes gone and after it became chaos.

“That’s not our responsibility, that’s for sure, but Rodri has to control himself and his emotions. I can get a yellow card but Rodri can’t. I don’t play. The guys inside (the pitch) have to be careful.

“I said at half-time, ‘Be careful guys, relax, control your emotions’. Unfortunately, Rodri could not do it. Now we have to accept the decisions.”

Asked if he was angry with Rodri, Guardiola said: “Yes. I don’t like to play with 10 for our faults. He has apologised.”

Despite being critical of Rodri, Guardiola was not happy with the way the game was controlled by Taylor.

As well as Rodri’s red card, there were 11 bookings during the game, including one for Guardiola himself.

Guardiola said: “The referee changed the game.

“For the first 35 minutes, it was absolutely not (a bad game). What changed? What happened after 2-0, it’s not down to us. You have to ask the other ones but I don’t know if they will hang up the phone.”

City had put themselves into a comfortable lead with goals inside the first 14 minutes from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland.

After Rodri’s departure, the hosts needed to change approach and Guardiola was pleased with the outcome.

He said: “Our game in the first 35 minutes was beyond good, how we find our men free, it was really, really good.

“It was a lot of minutes we had to defend, and we conceded one chance in the 94th minute. We didn’t concede anything else, against a team who won at Stamford Bridge and created problems at Arsenal and Old Trafford.

“I’m really satisfied and pleased for all of us.”

Forest manager Steve Cooper had conflicting thoughts about his side’s performance.

He said: “We had a really poor start in terms of goals conceded. We knew the level of the challenge we faced here – it doesn’t get any tougher – and the two City goals were of great quality, typical City goals.

“But we’d planned for that. It was a repeat tactic and to let it happen as easily as they did – if they were going to score I wanted it to be with real difficulty.

“The game changes with the red card. That we had a second half played in City’s half I have mixed feelings about.

“You rarely get an opportunity to have that territory here. Even more experienced teams don’t get anywhere near that but we need to make more of these opportunities. We have got to be more productive.”

Manchester City overcame the dismissal of Rodri to beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 and maintain their perfect start to the new Premier League season.

Phil Foden gave City the lead in the seventh minute when he fired home from Rodri’s lay-off, before Erling Haaland headed in a second in the 15th minute from Matheus Nunes’ cross.

Midfielder Rodri was shown a straight red card soon after the restart for squaring up to Morgan Gibbs-White and putting his hands on the throat of the Forest midfielder.

The Spaniard’s three-match suspension is set to add to Pep Guardiola’s selection problems, with the City boss only able to name eight substitutes – two of them goalkeepers.

City saw out the closing stages to make it six straight Premier League wins and move five points clear with their rivals all not in action until Sunday.

Luton fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against 10-man Wolves and pick up a first point in the Premier League.

Wolves had midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde sent off in the 38th minute for kicking out at Luton captain Tom Lockyer after sliding in for a tackle.

Pedro Neto gave the visitors the lead five minutes into the second half after latching onto a long ball.

The Hatters, though, were back on level terms in the 65th minute when Carlton Morris converted a penalty following handball from Joao Gomes.

Luton thought they have scored a late winner through Chiedozie Ogbene, but he was flagged offside.

Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a goalless draw at Selhurst Park.

Raul Jimenez went close for the visitors late in the first half when he forced Sam Johnstone into a good save.

Willian spurned a great chance late on, but sent his low shot too close to the Eagles keeper.

Crystal Palace and Fulham walked away with a point apiece after their Selhurst Park encounter ended in a goalless draw.

Eagles boss Roy Hodgson was back in the dugout after missing last weekend’s loss to Aston with Villa due to illness.

The evenly-matched contest saw Eberechi Eze fire just wide late in the first half, while the visitors were unable to capitalise on their best chance after the restart.

The result ensures the London rivals will share almost identical Premier League records for another week, with Palace only ahead on goal difference.

Sam Johnstone did well to parry away Andreas Pereira’s early effort from the left corner of the penalty area, later diving to deny Willian as the first period ticked past the 10-minute mark.

Fulham picked up two bookings in quick succession before Eze floated in a dangerous free-kick which the visitors were able to clear, and boss Marco Silva breathed a sigh of relief after Joao Palhinha was deemed fit to continue after knocking heads with Jordan Ayew in an aerial challenge – for which the Palace man was booked.

The hosts earned another free-kick and this time Eze aimed straight for the visiting net, where Bernd Leno was alert to grab the ball.

At the other end, Johnstone stooped to first collect Timothy Castagne’s close-range effort at his near post, then was called in to action soon after to turn away Raul Jimenez’s good opportunity to break the deadlock of an increasingly physical contest.

Eze looked to do the same when he patiently swerved his way through a cluster of white shirts, unleashing a strike that sailed just wide of the right post, while Leno picked Ayew’s cross out of the air to ensure it remained level at the break.

Will Hughes, who was involved throughout the first half, started off the second by forcing Leno into a simple save with an attempt from his preferred left foot.

Eze, who had just slipped a fine pass to the Odsonne Edouard, who was caught offside, then saw an effort of his own saved, while Jimenez could only nod Antonee Robinson’s cross wide of Johnstone’s right post.

The Cottagers should have taken the lead when Bobby De Cordova-Reid dispossessed Hughes in midfield and worked his way down the pitch.

The opportunity was wasted when the Jamaica international slipped in Jimenez, who overcooked his pass to the awaiting Pereira and the chance skipped past his foot.

Hodgson made a 70th-minute substitution, replacing Jeffrey Schlupp with Jean-Philippe Mateta, who has so far this season proven a productive partner with the in-form Edouard.

Joachim Andersen headed Eze’s corner over and Silva made his first change, swapping Pereira with Alex Iwobi and Fulham enjoyed one of their longest spells inside Palace’s final third, Willian forcing Johnstone into another good save with a sharp effort.

Palace had a late chance of their own through Mateta, who saw his weak left-footed shot stopped shortly before four minutes of stoppage time were added to the clock.

Hodgson elected to bring on 20-year-old Jesurun Rak-Sakyi for Edouard to see out the final few minutes, where Fulham staged a late rally but were not able to find the finishing touch.

Luton claimed their first point of the Premier League season with a 1-1 draw against 10-men Wolves at Kenilworth Road.

Carlton Morris’ penalty cancelled out Pedro Neto’s earlier strike to share the spoils in a positive Hatters performance.

Rob Edwards will be proud of his side’s display but will leave thinking his side should have used the extra-man more effectively after Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was sent off in the 39th minute.

Edwards experimented with a 4-4-2 and the change in shape worked in the early stages as the Hatters enjoyed possession and space out wide through Chiedozie Ogbene and Jacob Brown, who nearly got on the end of a dangerous cross in the fifth minute.

Kenilworth Road’s vocal support set the tone and striker Morris nearly rewarded it in the 10th minute when his thunderous long-range effort cannoned off one of Jose Sa’s posts.

Edwards would have wanted a response after a poor second half against Fulham last week and he got that through midfield duo Marvelous Nakamba and Albert Sambi Lokonga who relentlessly pressed, tackled and played dangerous passes as the hosts began to ramp up the pressure.

Wolves began to work their way into the game after 30 minutes and strung neat passages together before the creative Bellegarde produced a stunning through ball in behind, but there was no one there to get on the end of it.

But the Frenchman undid his positive work when he was shown a straight red card. The midfielder was dispossessed by Tom Lockyer and he kicked out at the Luton captain before he was given his marching orders by referee Josh Smith.

Wolves held on during added time but the home side were hot out the traps in the second half when Morris got on the end of strike partner’s Ogbene’s cross in the 48th minute but his effort was saved by Sa.

Luton were on top but it was Wolves who took a 1-0 lead against the run of play in the 50th minute.

Neto gambled on a long ball and beat Lockyer in a foot race before he shrugged the defender off, cut in on his left foot and produced a thumping strike past Thomas Kaminski.

The Premier League newcomers paid the price yet again for a simple lapse of concentration.

Kenilworth Road cried out for a response and in the 65th minute Luton levelled the contest.

Joao Gomes handled the ball in the box and after a VAR check Morris stepped up, stuttered in his run up and finished calmy past Sa into the bottom left corner.

Target man Elijah Adebayo was brought on by Edwards and orange shirts marauded down the flanks and whipped in crosses in search of the striker but they were denied by Wolves’ tight defence.

Nakamba’s shot was deflected into the path of Ogbene who finished his effort but it was ruled offside and Luton could not get the goal they searched for in six minutes of added time.

Manchester City had Rodri sent off as they extended their winning start in the Premier League with an unnecessarily complicated 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

The champions looked to be cruising to victory after early goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland put them in complete control at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The mood changed dramatically early in the second half when Rodri was dismissed for violent conduct after raising his hands towards the neck of Morgan Gibbs-White.

The game became fractious and City lost some of their discipline before manager Pep Guardiola switched to a defensive shape to secure the three points.

It was City’s sixth win in succession at the start of their latest title defence but the price of Rodri’s indiscretion is yet to be seen. The influential Spaniard now faces a three-game ban which will include a trip to Arsenal next month.

That City made such hard work of victory was extraordinary given their dominant and untroubled start.

Julian Alvarez had already forced a good save from Matt Turner from a free-kick when they pieced together a remarkable 46-pass move that led to the opening goal inside seven minutes.

The hosts built patiently before Rodri caught out the Forest defence with a superb crossfield ball to pick out Kyle Walker’s run into the box. The England full-back’s touch was equally brilliant as he laid off to Foden with a cushioned volley. Foden then did the rest with a clinical strike.

City doubled their lead seven minutes later, this time after a Matheus Nunes run down the right.

The Portuguese reached the byline and then centred perfectly for Haaland, scorer of a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture last season, to head home from close range.

In spite of some rumblings about the high volume of chances the Norwegian had missed in his previous two games, it was his eighth goal in nine appearances.

Forest’s first serious attack ended when Taiwo Awoniyi was tripped on the edge of the area by Manuel Akanji. Both the Swiss and Guardiola – for his protestations – were booked but Gibbs-White’s free-kick came to nothing.

Alvarez twice went close to adding to City’s lead before the break as he forced another save from Turner before being denied by a good block from Willy Boly.

City’s control temporarily evaporated within minutes of the restart when Rodri got involved in a tussle with Gibbs-White by the corner flag.

The pair came face to face as the situation escalated and, amid the pushing and shoving, Rodri placed his hands close to Gibbs-White’s neck. The Forest midfielder ended up on the ground and referee Anthony Taylor showed the red card in Rodri’s direction.

City were unsettled and moments later Ederson and Awoniyi were booked after clashing in the area.

Guardiola settled his side by sacrificing Jeremy Doku and Alvarez for Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake.

Forest battled on but did not look like scoring until Anthony Elanga and Boly tested Ederson in injury time.

Haaland could have added a third for City but volleyed over after a good run by Ake.

There were further scuffles in the closing minutes with Jack Grealish – returning from injury as a late substitute – involved but City saw it out.

Ange Postecoglou has promised Tottenham supporters they will take the game to Arsenal in Sunday’s derby fixture.

Spurs have won four of their five Premier League matches under the Australian, but the biggest test of this bold new era in N17 will occur this weekend at a ground where victories have been notoriously hard to achieve.

Tottenham’s last league success at the Emirates was in 2010, although the most underwhelming aspect of recent displays at Arsenal has been the lack of attacking imagination with Postecoglou’s predecessors Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo and Jose Mourinho all favouring pragmatism in this match.

There appears no chance of the current Spurs head coach employing a defensive approach and the 58-year-old is excited to watch how his young group cope in a fiery atmosphere against one of the division’s best teams.

“When I went into Champions League games with Celtic or went into World Cup games with Australia, people said I should have changed my approach and we got some pretty decent lessons along the way, but I just think that’s the only way you can measure yourself,” Postecoglou explained.

“How do you know if you want to be that kind of team? That’s the question. If you want to be a team that challenges, you know you have to play that way irrespective of the opponent.

“There’s no point not using a game like Sunday as a measure to see where we’re at.

“If we shy away from it, don’t play our football, manage to get a draw and survive the experience, what have we really learned? Apart from surviving 90 minutes of football? Nothing.

“The players already know that’s what will be my message to them. We’re going to go out and play our football.

“If we’re short, we’re short and we need to make it up. If we match them it’s great isn’t it (because) we know we have a long way to go and we’ve already established ourselves and on the biggest occasions we’ve shown we’re prepared to play our football.”

Spurs have had a full week to prepare for the trip across north London, while Arsenal warmed up for Sunday with a 4-0 thrashing of PSV on Wednesday night.

PSV tried to aggressively press Mikel Arteta’s side and were picked off to devastating effect on the Gunners return to the Champions League.

It was put to Postecoglou that Arsenal would prefer an open match, but the Tottenham boss responded: “I’m not really bothered about what Arsenal want as a game. I’m bothered about what we want as a game.

“It’s about us challenging ourselves to be the football team we want to be and the kind of progress we want to make is playing the football we’ve started playing. It’s as simple as that.

“What the opposition may want or may not want becomes a moot point for us if we don’t play our football. There’s always natural adjustments during a game because of what the opposition do.

“But we’ve started playing this way because it’s how I believe we’re going to be successful, not because I’m trying to create something easy on the eye.”

Postecoglou acknowledged the inexperienced nature of his squad for this derby date with Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and James Maddison set to be involved in the fixture for the first time.

Even Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr have limited memories of playing for Tottenham against Arsenal but the ex-Celtic head coach says that all contributes towards Sunday being a crucial part of the group’s journey.

He added: “This is the experiences I want the guys to have and for us to have as a group to help us grow. It is the only way you grow.

“You don’t grow by literally being in the shade. You need to stick your head up and see the sun and allow yourself to grow even if it means at times that experience isn’t a great one because you can grow from that.

“It is a challenge for all of the group and us, but irrespective it won’t stop our real intent to become this kind of football team whatever the outcome.”