Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 to move three points clear at top of Premier League
Manchester City secured their fifth consecutive Premier League victory with a 5-3 win over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium, moving three points ahead of Arsenal.
High-scoring contest in Manchester
Manchester City maintained their flawless start to the Premier League season on Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 victory over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium. The result gives manager Enzo Maresca five wins from his first five league matches, leaving City with 15 points at the top of the table. They now hold a three-point lead over defending champions Arsenal, who suffered a 3-0 defeat against Brighton on Saturday. Sunderland, captained throughout the match by Granit Xhaka, absorbed their third league defeat of the season and remain on four points in 14th place.
First-half exchange of leads
City opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Enzo Fernandez curled a lateral free kick past goalkeeper Robin Roefs into the near post. The strike marked the midfielder's first goal for the club following his 125 million pound transfer from Chelsea. Sunderland responded three minutes later when Enzo Le Fee played a through ball between Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes, setting up Brian Brobbey to finish past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Rayan Cherki restored City's advantage in the 29th minute by converting a feed from Antoine Semenyo, but Brobbey levelled again by tapping in a cross from Thomas Meunier. Semenyo then made it 3-2 in the 43rd minute, driving the ball home after Dan Ballard tackled Marc Guehi in the penalty area.
- Enzo Fernandez scores a direct free kick to give Manchester City a 1-0 lead
- Brian Brobbey equalises for Sunderland from an Enzo Le Fee pass
- Rayan Cherki scores to put Manchester City ahead 2-1
- Antoine Semenyo scores to make it 3-2 to Manchester City before half-time
- Antoine Semenyo scores his second goal to extend Manchester City's lead to 4-2
- Brian Brobbey completes his hat-trick for Sunderland to make it 4-3
- Erling Haaland scores Manchester City's fifth goal after a VAR review
Second-half pressure and Brobbey hat-trick
City extended their advantage in the 57th minute when Semenyo collected a pass from Cherki and struck with his left foot for his second goal of the match. Sunderland pushed back two minutes later as Brobbey steered in a delivery from Nilson Angulo to complete his hat-trick. Brobbey became the first Sunderland player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Jermain Defoe in 2016, as well as the first visiting league player to score three at the Etihad since Jamie Vardy in September 2020. City settled the contest in the 81st minute when Erling Haaland converted a low cross from Josko Gvardiol at the back post. The goal stood following a video assistant referee check for a potential offside on Gvardiol.
- Brian Brobbey (Sunderland)
- 3 goals
- Antoine Semenyo (Man City)
- 2 goals
- Enzo Fernandez (Man City)
- 1 goals
- Rayan Cherki (Man City)
- 1 goals
- Erling Haaland (Man City)
- 1 goals
Haaland milestone and Sunday results
Haaland's late strike was his fifth league goal of the campaign and completed scoring against all 25 Premier League opponents he has faced. Sunderland were the only club among those 25 the Norwegian had previously faced without scoring, having failed to find the net against them in two matches during the previous season. Elsewhere in Sunday's Premier League fixtures, Liverpool secured a 1-0 away victory against Bournemouth courtesy of Alexander Isak's 57th-minute goal. The win was Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola's second in five matches since taking charge at Anfield. Meanwhile, Leeds United maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 0-0 home draw against Crystal Palace.
