Manchester United, Marcus Rashford aren't meshing as Erling Haaland's hot start has City rolling

Saturday's Premier League action was a day for the forwards in both a good and bad sense. Erling Haaland led Manchester City over newly promoted Ipswich town with a hat trick while Heung Min-Son filled in for Dominic Solanke by netting a brace to see Spurs past Everton. Not every striker was impressive as Manchester United saw a goal ruled out due to an accidental touch from Joshua Zirkzee while Marcus Rashford went missing again.

Let's take a look at what has gone on in the Premier League so far this weekend.

Premier League scores and schedule

Saturday, Aug. 24
Brighton 2, Manchester United 1
Tottenham 4, Everton 0
Crystal Palace 0, West Ham United 2
Southampton 0, Nottingham Forest 1
Fulham 2, Leicester City 1
Manchester City 4, Ipswich Town 1
Aston Villa 0, Arsenal 2

Sunday, Aug. 25
Bournemouth vs. Newcastle United 9 a.m. ET (Peacock)
Wolverhampton vs. Chelsea, 9 a.m. ET (Peacock)
Liverpool vs. Brentford, 11:30 a.m. ET (Peacock)

Erling Haaland shows Ipswich the big leagues

Seven minutes in there was nothing but euphoria for the Tractor Boys as Ipswich Town got an opening goal via Sammie Szmodics but it all went downhill from there. Haaland found a goal of his own in the 12th minute from the penalty spot before then quickly scoring another in the 16th minute of play. He also wouldn't be denied his hat trick as he scored again in the 88th minute turning an xG of 1.63 into three goals on the day. As usual, Haaland didn't touch the ball much, only taking 22 touches, but when he shot seven times from that, the damage was done.

A Championship team has rarely witnessed a player even remotely close to Haaland's caliber and it showed in the match. The Tractor boys, freshly promoted, only took one shot and Manuel Akanji plus Ruben Dias completed more passes than the entire Ipswich team attempted. Keiran McKenna won't feel too down after failing to win against Liverpool and Manchester City to kick off the Premier League season but City can't have gotten things off to a much better start.

Two matches, six points, six goals and only one conceded. Goal difference could mean something when everything is said and done so City need to be ruthless when they go ahead in matches and they did just that on Saturday. With Ilkay Gundogan returning, City are marching toward yet another Premier League title and the only thing that can stop them is themselves.

Savinho got a brace of assists, Rico Lewis is coming into his own and Haaland is a destroyer of worlds. It's early but the signs are there for City being back to a machine in league play.

Manchester United has a Marcus Rashford problem

There are two Manchester United's under Erik ten Hag. One with a Marcus Rashford who can score more than 15 Premier League goals and this current iteration of the Red Devils. The makings of a dynamic attack are there with Bruno Fernandes making things happen, Alejandro Garnacho coming into his own and Zirkzee have been unpredictable in the early going but Rashford's inclusion in the lineup is causing imbalance. Amad Diallo has potential on the right side of midfield and Garnacho can play both sides so unlike in previous seasons, ten Hag does have options.

In Manchester United's loss to Brighton, Rashford was anonymous in the 65 minutes that he played taking one shot and failing to create a chance. With rising expectations on the Red Devils with transfers like Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt joining, something needs to be done about the balance in attack.

Defensively, United have improved and if they can get the signing of Manuel Ugarte across the line, it helps deal with the issue of Casemiro's legs but time isn't on Ten Hag's side. He has to figure out the left wing quickly. Only then can they truly compete consistently.