Manchester City have stormed out of the blocks in the post-Guardiola era, reeling off five straight Premier League victories under new boss Enzo Maresca and setting up a stunning individual milestone for Erling Haaland along the way.
City’s title defence got off to a dramatic start when Marc Guéhi and Josko Gvardiol struck in the final ten minutes to snatch a 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Maresca’s home bow. City then travelled to Selhurst Park and blew Crystal Palace away, with Haaland grabbing a brace either side of a Rayan Cherki double in a comfortable 4-1 romp.
Newly promoted Coventry City arrived at the Etihad next and pushed City hard, but Haaland’s 26th-minute header proved enough to seal a nervy 1-0 win that stretched the winning run to three.
City then travelled to Old Trafford and ground out a 1-0 victory over Manchester United, playing more than an hour with ten men yet still finding a way past their fiercest rivals to keep their perfect start intact.
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Sunderland provided the standout drama on Sunday, though, as City edged a breathless 5-3 thriller at the Etihad in one of the games of the season so far. Enzo Fernández fired City ahead with a stunning free-kick inside nine minutes, only for Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey to reply almost immediately and eventually complete a remarkable hat-trick in a losing cause.
Cherki and a brace from Antoine Semenyo kept City in front throughout a frantic afternoon that swung back and forth, before Haaland settled the contest with a close-range finish in the 81st minute.
That goal did more than seal the points. It made Haaland the second player in Premier League history, after Harry Kane, to score against every club he has faced in the competition, stretching his flawless record to all 25 opponents he has now met since arriving in England.
The result sends City into the international break three points clear at the top of the table after Arsenal slipped to defeat at Brighton earlier in the day. Maresca, who inherited the reins from Pep Guardiola over the summer, has now guided City to five wins from five in the league, a perfect start that few predicted given the scale of the summer rebuild at the Etihad.
City will return from the break with a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool, a fixture that promises to offer a sterner test of Maresca’s blistering start than anything his side have faced so far.
