Enzo Maresca spent August being told he was the wrong man. Manchester City had just been taken apart by Arsenal in the Community Shield, the job of replacing Pep Guardiola looked exactly as awkward as everyone predicted, and the knives were out early. Seven straight wins later, City go into the international break three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
They got there the hard way on Sunday. Arsenal had already been beaten 3-0 at Brighton on Saturday, leaving the door open, and City walked through it with a 5-3 win over Sunderland that was far messier than the scoreline suggests. Maresca had called it his side's toughest test of the season before kick-off. He was not being polite.
Brobbey's hat-trick and a losing afternoon
Brian Brobbey scored three and still went home with nothing, joining a very short list. Only six players have managed a Premier League hat-trick on the losing side. He ran Ruben Dias ragged for most of the afternoon, and Regis le Bris' side finished with an expected goals figure of 4.25, the highest any away team has recorded at the Etihad in a Premier League match.
Two of the three goals City conceded came from set-pieces, one of them a quick Granit Xhaka free-kick, and Maresca did not pretend otherwise. "For sure, two of the three goals we conceded were too easy," he said. "The second coming from a quick Xhaka free-kick and that cannot happen. The third goal comes from another free-kick, too easy in that way." He also pointed out, reasonably enough, that his side created enough to have scored two or three more.
Maresca joins a select group
The win made Maresca only the sixth manager to win his first five Premier League games at a club, after Carlo Ancelotti, Craig Shakespeare, Maurizio Sarri, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, awkwardly for anyone hoping to escape the comparison, Guardiola himself in 2016. City are the only side across England's top four divisions still with a 100 per cent record.
There was plenty to like beyond the result. Antoine Semenyo scored twice and set up another, Rayan Cherki was the best player on the pitch, and Enzo Fernandez opened his account for the club. Erling Haaland's late goal ticked Sunderland off his list, meaning he has now scored against all 25 Premier League teams he has faced.
Liverpool await after the break
Charlie Adam, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, called it a brilliant start while flagging the obvious caveat. "A lot to work on, but positive to score five goals at home and have shown that level of performance," he said. "In terms of things to improve on, they can't go through a season playing like that. They need to be able to control spaces at times, instead of getting dragged everywhere man against man."
City had conceded only twice in their first four league games before Sunday. Shipping three in 90 minutes is not a crisis, but it is a pattern worth watching, and the fixture waiting on the other side of the three-week break is a trip to an unbeaten Liverpool on Sunday 11 October. Maresca's own summary was that all seven wins have looked different, which he framed as an education rather than an inconsistency. "I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3," he added, which nobody at the Etihad will hold against him.
Match facts: Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland, Etihad Stadium, Sunday 20 September 2026. Brian Brobbey hat-trick for Sunderland; Antoine Semenyo two goals and an assist, Enzo Fernandez first City goal, Erling Haaland late strike. City three points clear at the top with a 100 per cent record from five league games. Next up: Liverpool away, Sunday 11 October.
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