Enzo Maresca made Premier League history on Saturday when Manchester City beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
The Italian is the first manager to win his opening seven league games in charge of a club. He passes the six-win starts of Pep Guardiola at City, Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United. City have 21 points from 21 and sit six points clear at the top.
How the record was built
Bournemouth 1-2 City (Aug 23): Two goals in the last seven minutes sealed a comeback in Maresca’s first league match. Rayan Cherki changed the game from the bench, and Josko Gvardiol’s strike capped the win.
Crystal Palace 1-4 City (Aug 28): City scored four at Selhurst Park.
City 1-0 Coventry (Sept 5): City ground out a narrow home win.
Man United 0-1 City (Sept 13): Erling Haaland scored the only goal at Old Trafford.
City 5-3 Sunderland (Sept 20):City won the season’s highest-scoring game so far.
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Liverpool 0-3 City (Oct 11): City dominated at Anfield and kept a clean sheet.
City 3-2 Ipswich (Oct 17): Phil Foden scored and Haaland added a brace. City survived twelve minutes of added time to complete the record, days after a 4-2 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
The numbers behind the manager
Maresca has built his reputation on fast starts. At Leicester City in 2023-24, he won his first six league games and 15 of his first 17. His side won the Championship and returned to the Premier League at the first attempt.
They won 31 league games and conceded just 41 goals, the division’s best defensive record. Across all competitions, Maresca won 36 of 53 matches (68 per cent), with four draws and 13 defeats.
At Chelsea, he won 55 of 92 games (about 60 per cent), with 16 draws and 21 defeats. He lifted the Conference League and the Club World Cup, and he left the club in January 2026.
His only setback came early. Parma sacked him in November 2021 after he won four of 14 games in Serie B. He also won the Premier League 2 title with City’s under-23s in 2020-21.
At City, he has won nine of 11 games in all competitions. His only defeats came in the Community Shield against Arsenal and in the Champions League against PSG.
Only two sides have started a Premier League season with longer winning runs than City’s seven. Chelsea won nine in a row in 2005-06 and Liverpool won eight in 2019-20. City also equalled their own best winning start to a campaign, set in 1897-98.
Maresca said he was delighted with the record. He praised his players’ daily work and said he sees them improving every day.
Maresca took over a squad in transition after Guardiola’s departure, and doubters questioned how City would cope. Seven wins from seven is his answer.
