Manchester City maintained their perfect Premier League start by edging Sunderland 5-3 in an entertaining eight-goal encounter, despite Brian Brobbey scoring a hat-trick.
Enzo Maresca’s men eventually secured victory at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland providing the decisive moment late in the game.
City took the lead in the ninth minute when Enzo Fernandez scored his first goal for the club, catching Robin Roefs off guard with a clever free-kick from a difficult angle.
Sunderland responded just three minutes later. Brobbey controlled Enzo Le Fee’s precise pass before finishing with the outside of his boot to restore parity.
Rayan Cherki put City ahead again with a powerful strike, but Sunderland hit back once more. Thomas Meunier collected Le Fee’s reverse pass and squared the ball for Brobbey, who calmly converted.
Maresca’s side regained the advantage for a third time shortly before half-time, as Antoine Semenyo produced a powerful finish.
The result marked the first occasion City had led three times in the opening half of a Premier League game, while it was only the seventh such instance in the competition’s history.
Semenyo doubled his tally in the 57th minute, beating Roefs after Cherki’s attempted throughball deflected into his path.
Sunderland refused to give up, however, and Brobbey completed his hat-trick just two minutes later. The striker tapped into an unguarded net after Nilson Angulo got ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma to reach Granit Xhaka’s superb cross.
Ruben Dias was forced to clear off the line as Sunderland searched for another equaliser, but Haaland eventually settled the contest in the 81st minute.
The City striker met Josko Gvardiol’s low cross at the far post and converted after a VAR review overturned an initial offside decision.
Brobbey shines, but Haaland delivers the decisive blow
With Arsenal losing to Brighton on Saturday, City knew victory would give them an early advantage at the top of the Premier League table.
However, the hosts had to work hard for the three points as Sunderland competed throughout the encounter.
The Black Cats had never won a Premier League match at the Etihad, but they produced a spirited display, with Brobbey at the centre of their attacking threat.
His treble made him Sunderland’s first player to score a top-flight hat-trick since Jermain Defoe against Swansea City in January 2016.
Brobbey also became only the sixth player in Premier League history to score three goals in a match his team ultimately lost. Roque Santa Cruz was the previous player to achieve the feat, doing so for Blackburn Rovers against Wigan Athletic in December 2007.
The former Ajax forward is also only the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick against a team that began the day top of the table, following Robbie Fowler against Aston Villa in November 1998, Dirk Kuyt against Manchester United in March 2011, and Romelu Lukaku against Manchester United in May 2013.
Ultimately, Haaland had the final say. Sunderland had been the only Premier League opponent against whom the Norway international had failed to score, but his late far-post finish ended that record and ensured he has now scored against all 25 teams he has faced in England’s top flight.
