Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season and moved three points clear at the top of the table after prevailing in an eight-goal spectacle against Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium. The 5-3 victory extended City’s unbeaten home Premier League head-to-head record against the Black Cats to 15 matches.

The hosts made an immediate impact inside the opening ten minutes when Enzo Fernández caught Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs off guard with an inventive free-kick from an acute angle at the near post to open the scoring. Sunderland responded swiftly through Brian Brobbey, who latched onto an inch-perfect pass from Enzo Le Fée to level the match.

Rayan Cherki restored Enzo Maresca’s side’s lead mid-way through the first half after working space inside the penalty area and drilling a low shot into the bottom corner. However, Sunderland hit back again as Thomas Meunier squared the ball for Brobbey to tap in his second goal of the afternoon. Before the break, Antoine Semenyo reacted fastest in a crowded penalty box to hammer City back ahead at 3-2.

Semenyo doubled his tally shortly after the restart with a precise strike into the far corner to make it 4-1, but Brobbey responded immediately to complete his hat-trick. In doing so, Brobbey became the first Sunderland player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Jermain Defoe in 2016.

Sunderland continued to press for an equalizer and came close when Dan Ballard’s header beat Gianluigi Donnarumma, only for Rúben Dias to clear the ball off the goal line. Manchester City finally sealed the points in the 81st minute when Erling Haaland slotted home a fifth, scoring against the only Premier League opponent he had previously failed to net against.