MANCHESTER — Manchester City moved clear at the top of the Premier League with a 5-3 victory over Sunderland in Manchester, surviving a hat-trick from Brian Brobbey that proved in vain. The Dutch striker's three close-range finishes were his first goals of the season for Sunderland, but Erling Haaland's late strike secured the win and ended an unwanted run against the only Premier League opponent he had previously failed to score against.
City led 3-0 inside the opening 45 minutes before Sunderland twice pulled level. Antoine Semenyo thumped home twice for his first goals of the season and kept the ball alive to set up Rayan Cherki's first-half goal, while Enzo Fernandez curled in a delightful free-kick for his first City goal. Cherki's quick feet and trickery helped create the opener, and Josko Gvardiol provided the cross for Haaland, who had missed an easy opportunity earlier in the match.
Brobbey earned a perfect 10 rating as the hat-trick hero, though he left with the match ball but no points. Enzo le Fee was rated 8 after fizzing a ball into Brobbey's feet for the equaliser and adding a cleverly disguised pass for the second, while Thomas Meunier was rated 7 after laying on a plate for Brobbey. For City, Semenyo led with a 9, Cherki followed with an 8 and Fernandez with a 7 after seeing plenty of the ball in the pockets and earning the "Enzo, Enzo" chant. Iliman Ndiaye, starting in place of the suspended Phil Foden, was lively throughout and rated 6.
City's defence endured an uncomfortable afternoon. Gianluigi Donnarumma was rated 5 and was all over the place on high balls into the box, while Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes and Marc Guehi also received 5s. Dias was caught flat-footed for Brobbey's opener but made a remarkable goalline clearance to prevent an own goal. Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs was rated 4 after being beaten at his near post by Fernandez's free-kick, with Nordi Mukiele, Kevin Danso and Dan Ballard each receiving 5s in a backline that conceded three times before halftime.
Jeremy Doku returned from a calf injury for his first league minutes of the season as a 74th-minute substitute for Ndiaye and was rated 6, while Nico O'Reilly replaced Cherki in the 85th minute and should have scored seconds after coming on. Sunderland introduced Malick Fofana and Wilson Isidor from the bench but could not find a fourth goal, with Granit Xhaka rated 6 as the skipper helped his side level twice before ultimately going home empty-handed.