Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium staged a breathless eight-goal afternoon as the home side overcame Sunderland 5-3 and moved to the top of the Premier League table. Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton opened the door, but City still had to survive a remarkable Brian Brobbey hat-trick before finishing a match that repeatedly swung from one end to the other.
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Enzo Maresca made one enforced alteration to the City team that had won the Manchester derby 1-0. Phil Foden was unavailable after his red card at Old Trafford, allowing Ndiaye to come into an otherwise unchanged side.
Sunderland handed Méthalie his Premier League debut in place of Reinildo, who was suspended following two yellow cards in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal. His involvement proved immediate: Méthalie fouled Ndiaye in the ninth minute, and Enzo struck the resulting free-kick past Roefs at the near post for his first City goal.
The early score was harsh on Sunderland, who had begun brightly and replied three minutes later. Enzo Le Fée sent Brobbey through behind Rúben Dias, and the forward opened his league account with a deft outside-of-the-foot finish.
City regained the advantage around the half-hour mark when Danso lost possession while playing out. A congested move followed, with Cherki eventually driving a right-footed shot across goal and into the net.
Yet Sunderland levelled again almost at once. Le Fée supplied the key touch in the build-up before Meunier rolled the ball across the face of goal for Brobbey to finish into an empty net.
Defensive uncertainty at the other end continued to cost the visitors. Shortly before half-time, Ballard’s clearance fell to Semenyo inside the Sunderland area and the City attacker put the hosts ahead for a third time.
There was still time before the interval for Haaland to miss an open goal, while Brobbey came close to another Sunderland equaliser when his effort was blocked by Guéhi and struck the crossbar.
City appeared to establish control 10 minutes after the restart. Mukiele and Danso failed to deal with a routine situation, allowing Semenyo to pounce and register his first double for the club, making it 4-2.
Sunderland refused to disappear. Two minutes later, Xhaka played the ball behind Nunes, Nilson carried it on and presented Brobbey with another close-range opportunity. The striker completed his hat-trick to reduce the deficit to one.
The prospect of a 4-4 draw hung over the stadium, particularly after Donnarumma misjudged an attempt to claim the ball. Sunderland’s surge eventually faded, however, and Haaland settled the contest in the 83rd minute. It was his first goal against Sunderland and completed City’s 5-3 victory.
For City, the result combined a place at the summit with a reminder of the attacking depth available even without Foden. For Sunderland, Brobbey’s three goals and Le Fée’s influence offered considerable encouragement, though a fragile back line left them with nothing from a wild afternoon in Manchester.
