Fernandez Free-Kick Ignites Five-Goal City Thriller Against Sunderland

MANCHESTER, England — Enzo Fernandez opened his Manchester City account with an audacious free-kick, while Antoine Semenyo struck late in the half as City led Sunderland 3-2 at the interval after an explosive five-goal opening 45 minutes at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The result kept Enzo Maresca’s squad on course to establish a three-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table. Maresca made 10 changes from the side that played Norwich City in mid-week, although City made only one enforced change from the team that beat Manchester United 1-0 the previous weekend: Iliman Ndiaye replaced Phil Foden after Foden’s red card at Old Trafford.

Fernandez, signed from Chelsea on deadline day in a marquee £125 million transfer, put City in front in the ninth minute. The Argentina international curled a free-kick past the goalkeeper from a narrow angle for his first goal for the club.

Sunderland’s response came three minutes later. Enzo Le Fee picked out Brian Brobbey, who controlled the ball deftly before sliding his finish past City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to make it 1-1 in the 12th minute.

City regained the lead through Rayan Cherki in the 29th minute, but Sunderland leveled four minutes later. Brobbey completed his second goal of the afternoon in the 33rd minute from Thomas Meunier’s setup.

That goal followed a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. The review confirmed that Manchester City defender Ruben Dias had played Brobbey onside with his trailing boot. Former Scotland international midfielder Charlie Adam praised Sunderland’s resilience during commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, highlighting the visitors’ response after falling behind and the fine margin involved in Brobbey’s second goal.

Semenyo restored City’s advantage two minutes before half-time. Marc Guehi dispossessed a Sunderland defender inside the box, and Semenyo collected the ricochet before firing home.

Jeremy Doku made his first appearance in a Premier League squad this season after recovering from injury, beginning the match on the bench. Sunderland, meanwhile, made five changes to the starting XI that defeated AZ Alkmaar in European play, bringing in Meunier, Dayann Methalie, Dan Ballard, Nilson Angulo, and Brobbey.

With left-back Reinildo suspended, France Under-21 international Methalie made his first Premier League start. Sunderland was also without the injured Romaine Mundle, who has a knee problem, and Habib Diarra, who has a hamstring injury. Wilson Isidor, Omar Alderete, Trai Hume, and Malick Fofana dropped to the bench.

Manchester City Lineup:
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Josko Gvardiol, Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo, Erling Haaland.
Substitutes: Geronimo Rulli, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Nico O’Reilly, Allan, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis.

Sunderland Lineup:
Robin Roefs, Nordi Mukiele, Kevin Danso, Dan Ballard, Dayann Methalie, Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki, Thomas Meunier, Enzo Le Fee, Nilson Angulo, Brian Brobbey.
Substitutes: Melker Ellborg, Trai Hume, Luke O’Nien, Omar Alderete, Jules Ahoka, Chris Rigg, Chemsdine Talbi, Malick Fofana, Wilson Isidor.

Maresca was positioned to become the sixth manager in Premier League history to win his opening five games in charge of a club. The managers to have achieved that feat are Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea with six wins, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City with six, Craig Shakespeare at Leicester City with five, Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea with five, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United with six.

Manchester City had previously opened a top-flight league season with five consecutive victories in 1912–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, and 2023–24. Across its previous 30 Premier League games, City had collected 68 points from 20 wins, eight draws, and two losses, matching Arsenal for the most points by any top-flight team over that stretch dating back to Nov. 29 of last year.

City is undefeated in all 14 Premier League home encounters with Sunderland, recording 12 wins and two draws. Sunderland’s last league victory away to City came in the second tier in January 1998, a 1-0 result.

Sunderland had also gone winless in its previous nine overall Premier League games against City, with two draws and seven losses, since a 1-0 home victory in November 2013 under Gus Poyet. Erling Haaland entered the match with nine goals in his previous nine appearances overall, but Sunderland remained the only Premier League club he had faced without scoring. In two prior matches against the Black Cats, he had taken three shots for an expected goals (xG) total of 0.75.

Sunderland extended its Premier League away scoring streak to eight consecutive matches, its best road run in the top tier since the 2015–16 season. The club’s longer historical record is 10 straight away matches with a goal, set between April and October 1956.

Sunderland remained winless in 17 Premier League matches against teams entering the day in the top two positions, with four draws and 13 losses, since a 2-1 victory at Chelsea in April 2014. Midfielder Enzo Le Fee had recorded six goals, six assists, and six penalties in his Premier League career, making him one of only two players in league history—alongside Gary McSheffrey—to hold matching totals across all three metrics while scoring multiple goals.

The match kicked off at 14:00 BST, or 9:00 a.m. ET / 6:00 a.m. PT. In the United Kingdom, live television coverage was carried on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra, with online streaming available through Sky Go.

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