New coach Enzo Maresca extended his perfect winning start to the season to five games and goes into the international break three points ahead of defending champion Arsenal in second place.
But that doesn’t tell half the story of a chaotic match at the Etihad Stadium that saw City twice squander the lead and Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey outshine Erling Haaland with a hat trick.
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Brobbey → extend → trick
Eventually it was Haaland who ended the visitors’ brave fight with City’s fifth goal in the 81st minute.
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who → end → minute
Manchester United left it even later to salvage a 1-1 draw at Fulham and avoid three straight defeats in all competitions.
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United → leave → competitions
Matheus Cunha’s heavily deflected shot in the 89th earned Michael Carrick’s team a point at Craven Cottage.
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shot → deflect → Cottage
Alexander Isak scored his fourth goal of the season as Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0, and Leeds drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace.
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Leeds → score → Palace
Perfect Enzo
Maresca’s 100% record continues after taking on arguably the most daunting task in soccer when stepping into Guardiola’s shoes over the summer.
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record → continue → summer
Charged with the responsibility of continuing City’s unprecedented era of success, which included six league titles and the Champions League among 17 major trophies, he has made the best possible start in terms of results.
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he → charge → results
But City will likely have to tighten up defensively if it is to end a two-year title drought.
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it → have → drought
“I would prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3,” Maresca said.
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Maresca → prefer → 5
“I’m always trying to see what we can do better.
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we → try → what
Two of the three goals that we concede, they have been too easy.”
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they → concede → that
Sunderland repeatedly cut City open, scoring three goals and creating numerous chances to add more.
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Sunderland → cut → more
City twice squandered leads in the first half before going in at the break 3-2 up.
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City → squander → break
Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a free kick that curled into the near post, but Brobbey got in behind City’s defense to quickly level.
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Brobbey → open → defense
Rayan Cherki restored the home team’s advantage with a low effort from inside the area before Brobbey equalized for a second time as Sunderland again took advantage of slack City defending.
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Sunderland → restore → defending
Antoine Semenyo drilled a low shot past Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs shortly before halftime and lashed home his second in the 57th to give City breathing room.
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Semenyo → drill → room
Brobbey completed his hat trick by forcing the ball over the line from close range and Ruben Dias had to clear off the line to avoid the game being leveled again with an own-goal.
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game → complete → goal
Haaland’s seventh goal in his last five games avoided a tense finish and ensured that City sits clear at the top after Arsenal’s surprise loss to Brighton on Saturday.
“It is much better to win games.
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It → avoid → games
It is better to have three points more than not, but it is quite early (in the season),” Maresca said.
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Maresca → have → season
After back-to-back losses, United really needed a win to ease the pressure going into the international break.
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United → need → break
“We came to get the win, but the way it has panned out and the way we finished the game are the positives we take from it,” United coach Carrick said.
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Carrick → come → it
“We know we can be better and we need to be better about certain things.
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we → know → things
Lisandro Martinez’s own-goal shortly after the hour looked like piling more misery on Carrick after defeats to Man City and Brighton over the past week.
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goal → look → week
United twice hit the post in the first half but rarely looked like finding an equalizer until Cunha’s long-range shot deflected off David Affengruber and wrong-footed Fulham ‘keeper Bernd Leno.
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shot → hit → Leno
“In the second half it was like they put in more energy than us.
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they → put → us
We cannot accept this.
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We → accept → this
We always play better after conceding a goal, and it cannot be like this,” Cunha said.
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Cunha → play → this
Me and Bruno (Fernandes) hit the post, but we have to keep creating things and hope they come to more things.
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they → hit → things
“It is the same as last season where there was a bit of noise around and we finished third.
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we → be → noise
This season we need to improve further.”
The point for Fulham leaves big-spending Tottenham at the bottom of the standings on goal difference.
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point → need → difference
Isak on target again
It was a winning return to Bournemouth for Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola after leaving the south coast club at the end of last season.
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It → win → season
The Spanish coach had three successful seasons at the Vitality Stadium before taking over at Anfield.
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coach → have → Anfield
He had Isak to thank for Liverpool’s second league win of the campaign with the Sweden international providing a composed finish from close range in the 57th.
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international → have → 57th
The $170 million striker endured a difficult first season at Liverpool which was disrupted by injury.
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which → endure → injury
But he has started impressively this season with four goals in five league appearances.
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he → start → appearances
Leeds maintained its unbeaten start to the season with a 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace and, after battling relegation last term, is fifth in the standings.
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Leeds → maintain → standings
The Aporia
