Manchester City took the lead in the Premier League with an exciting 5-3 victory against Sunderland on Sunday. Enzo Fernandez scored his first goal for the club, setting off a series of goals at the Etihad Stadium.
Fernandez, who joined from Chelsea for £125 million ($167 million) on transfer deadline day, opened the scoring early in the match. Sunderland's Brian Brobbey fought back, equalising after Fernandez's goal and erasing Rayan Cherki's strike.
Antoine Semenyo scored two goals to keep City ahead. But Brobbey completed his hat-trick, bringing Sunderland within one goal of Enzo Maresca's team. Erling Haaland scored late in the game to secure City's seventh straight win in all competitions this season.
City now has the only perfect record in the Premier League this season and is three points ahead of champions Arsenal as they head into the international break. Maresca has had a great start as he replaces Pep Guardiola, who won 20 trophies during his time with City before stepping down at the end of last season.
City climbed to the top of the table with 13 goals in five league matches. But with games against Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain coming up, Maresca will worry about the defensive mistakes that Sunderland exposed.
Fernandez put City ahead just nine minutes into the match. He scored with a curling free-kick that surprised Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs as it went past him at the near post. Sunderland responded well as Brobbey took Enzo Le Fee's pass and finished it clinically in the 12th minute.
Cherki put City back in front in the 29th minute. The French forward scored after Sunderland failed to clear the ball properly. City’s defense showed weaknesses again as Brobbey scored in the 33rd minute. Le Fee and Thomas Meunier set up Brobbey, who scored from close range after a three-minute VAR check confirmed he was onside.
The first half ended thrillingly when Semenyo scored in the 43rd minute. City defender Marc Guehi slipped while trying to reach Cherki’s pass, allowing Semenyo to strike from close range for his first goal of the season.
Semenyo scored again in the 52nd minute. He took Cherki’s pass and finished it calmly after more poor defending from Sunderland. Just when City seemed to be in control, Brobbey got his third goal two minutes later. Nilson Angulo's pass was heading toward the net, but Brobbey made sure Guehi couldn’t clear it as he tapped it in.
The game continued at a fast pace. City defender Ruben Dias nearly gave Sunderland an equaliser by accidentally directing the ball towards his own goal before clearing it. Haaland finally let City breathe easy in the 81st minute, finishing at the far post for his seventh goal in six games this season.
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