Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the 2026–27 Premier League season with a spectacular 5–3 victory over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, September 20. What looked at first like another routine City win quickly became an extraordinary end-to-end contest, with eight goals, a hat-trick for Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey and late VAR drama.
City’s victory means they entered the international break with five wins from five league matches, three points clear at the top of the Premier League. For new manager Enzo Maresca, it was also a historic beginning: he became only the sixth manager to win his first five Premier League games in charge of a new club.
A frantic beginning
Manchester City took the lead in the ninth minute when Enzo Fernández produced a clever free-kick to make it 1–0. But Sunderland’s response was immediate. Brian Brobbey equalised just three minutes later, giving City’s defence an early warning about the threat posed by the Dutch striker.
City restored their advantage in the 29th minute through Rayan Cherki, but once again Sunderland refused to disappear. Brobbey struck for a second time in the 33rd minute to make it 2–2.
Then came another City response. Antoine Semenyo scored in the 43rd minute, sending City into half-time 3–2 ahead after a remarkable opening 45 minutes. Remarkably, City had led three separate times during the first halfa sequence that Sky Sports noted had occurred only seven times in Premier League history.
Semenyo gives City breathing room
Semenyo scored his second of the afternoon in the 57th minute, putting the hosts 4–2 ahead. At that stage, City appeared to have finally broken Sunderland’s resistance.
But Brobbey had other ideas.
The Sunderland forward completed his hat-trick just two minutes later, reducing the deficit to 4–3 and turning the closing stages into a genuine contest. His three goals represented Sunderland’s first Premier League hat-trick since 2016, adding another piece of history to an already remarkable afternoon.
Haaland settles the contest
With Sunderland still within one goal, City needed a decisive moment and it eventually arrived through Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian striker turned home a cross from Joško Gvardiol in the 81st minute. The goal initially faced an offside check, but VAR confirmed the goal, allowing City to celebrate a fifth time and effectively ending Sunderland’s hopes of a comeback.
The final score Manchester City 5, Sunderland 3 was a fitting reflection of a match in which neither side could consistently impose defensive control.
The result was undoubtedly positive for City, but the performance offered Maresca something to think about during the international break.
Five different City goals came from Fernández, Cherki, Semenyo and Haaland, demonstrating the variety of attacking options available to the team. Yet conceding three goals to a newly promoted Sunderland side exposed vulnerabilities at the other end.
Reuters reported that Sunderland actually registered more shots on target than City, while Brobbey repeatedly caused problems for City’s defence. Ruben Dias in particular had difficulty dealing with the striker, while City’s defensive organisation was repeatedly tested.
Maresca’s own reaction reflected that tension. The City manager praised the result but stressed the need for greater composure and control, indicating that he would rather see his team win more controlled matches than repeatedly become involved in high-scoring shootouts.
Sunderland leave with something to build on
For Sunderland, the defeat was painful, but the performance contained significant positives.
Brobbey’s hat-trick was the obvious highlight. Sunderland repeatedly recovered from setbacks and twice came from behind to level the score. Their willingness to attack City at the Etihad produced one of the most entertaining games of the young Premier League season.
Manager Régis Le Bris will nevertheless have defensive issues to address. City exploited gaps in Sunderland’s back line, while the visitors were unable to prevent the hosts from scoring five times. A disputed handball incident involving Elliot Anderson also generated controversy, with VAR deciding that the ball had struck him accidentally and therefore no penalty should be awarded.
Sunday’s meeting was not an isolated encounter between the two clubs. Manchester City and Sunderland have a long history dating back to the 19th century.
Before this match, the teams had met 149 times in competitive football, with City recording 73 victories, Sunderland 50 and 26 draws. In the Premier League era, City’s record has been particularly strong: 19 wins, four draws and five defeats in 28 meetings before Sunday’s game.
The clubs had already met twice during the previous Premier League season. City won 3–0 at the Etihad in December 2025, before Sunderland held them to a 0–0 draw at the Stadium of Light on New Year’s Day 2026.
The latest meeting was therefore a dramatic departure from those relatively low-scoring encounters.
Manchester City’s 5–3 victory was ultimately about two contrasting stories.
For City, it was another three points and a perfect five-from-five beginning under Maresca. Fernández, Cherki, Semenyo and Haaland provided the attacking quality necessary to survive an unusually open game, while the victory sent City into the international break at the summit.
For Sunderland, Brobbey’s hat-trick demonstrated that the newly promoted side can threaten one of the league’s biggest clubs. But conceding five goals showed how difficult that challenge remains.
