Two games of the Premier League season have begun and the under-pressure Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag is already back in the spotlight.

Joao Pedro was able to head home unhindered in the fifth minute of added time to give Brighton a 2-1 home win over United on Saturday, a game that showed the inconsistencies that have plagued ten Hag’s team have not yet been eradicated.

Pedro headed home a cross from Simon Adingra to give Brighton their second consecutive win at the start of their first season under 31-year-old coach Fabian Hurzeler.

Erling Haaland ensured Manchester City drew level with Brighton for the maximum points of six by scoring his seventh Premier League hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Ipswich.

Arsenal then joined them with a fine 2-0 win at Aston Villa, a team the Gunners lost to twice last season before losing the title to City by two points.

Everton manager Sean Dyche may also be feeling the early pressure after his side suffered another heavy defeat, losing 4-0 to Ange Postecoglou’s storming Tottenham.

Also on Saturday, West Ham won 2-0 at Crystal Palace, Fulham claimed a 2-1 home victory against Leicester and Nottingham Forest won 1-0 at Southampton.

The defeat in Brighton was particularly hard for United to take, as the visitors had a potential winning goal disallowed in the 70th minute due to an almost comical offside.

Alejandro Garnacho’s shot from a tight angle was on its way into an empty net when it deflected off the knee of a sliding Joshua Zirkzee just before crossing the goal line – causing the goal to be disallowed as the Dutch striker was offside.

“We thought we had scored the winning goal and it was so unfortunate that the ball was on the line,” said ten Hag, who was under huge pressure last season but was retained after leading United to the FA Cup.

The debate over whether he is the right man to lead United will no doubt be reignited after a defeat marked by missed chances and a weak defence.

“You can’t give away points unnecessarily,” admitted ten Hag. “If you defend the goal like we did, you give away points. We have to do better in certain situations.”

Earlier, former United striker Danny Welbeck had opened the scoring for Brighton in the 32nd minute, while United equalised on the hour mark when Amad Diallo’s shot deflected into the net off the sliding Jan Paul van Hecke.

For a brief moment, newly promoted Ipswich were in dreamland when new signing Sammie Szmodics gave them an early lead against Man City.

But three goals from the hosts in less than four minutes – two from Haaland, with another from Kevin De Bruyne in between – quickly restored order.

Haaland completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute, scoring his fourth goal in two games.

Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey both scored in the second half to secure Arsenal’s clear victory against Villa.

Everton could be heading for another relegation battle after their defeat to Tottenham, which could have been even worse.

Yves Bissouma opened the scoring for Spurs with a thunderous shot in the 14th minute.

He had been suspended for Tottenham’s 1-1 opening match at Leicester after uploading a video of himself inhaling laughing gas on social media, but Bissouma thanked Postecoglou for returning to play by running up to the Australian and hugging him after his goal.

Son Heung-min scored the second goal in the 25th minute and made it 4-0 in the second half, six minutes after Cristian Romero headed in a corner.