City 5-3 Sunderland - Brobbey Hat-Trick, Still Lost, Haaland Completes the Set
Etihad chaos under Enzo Maresca. Semenyo brace, Fernandez, Cherki, Haaland. Brobbey scores three and leaves with nothing. City stay perfect, 15 points, three clear of Arsenal.
Eight goals. One hat-trick on the losing side. One Norwegian who finally ticked the last box.
Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 at the Etihad on September 20, and Enzo Maresca admitted he would have preferred 1-0. Nobody who watched will agree. Enzo Fernandez opened it. Brian Brobbey equalized. Rayan Cherki restored the lead. Brobbey again. Antoine Semenyo twice. Brobbey completed a 33-minute treble to make it 4-3. Then Erling Haaland slid in the fifth.
The two stats that will live forever
Brobbey is only the sixth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick and still lose - first since Roque Santa Cruz in 2007. Haaland had scored against every Premier League club he had faced except Sunderland. Not anymore. All 25.
City stay perfect: five wins from five, 15 points, three clear of Arsenal after Brighton’s Saturday ambush. Maresca gets the table. The rest of us get the highlight reel.
The magazine read
Chaos. Hat-trick, zero points. Haaland’s last blank erased. The league leaders look human and still unbeaten.