Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
On matchday five of the Premier League season, this was a fixture in which both sides gave their all.
Brian Brobbey scored all three Sunderland goals. He became the first player to complete a Premier League hat-trick against City this season, yet Régis Le Bris still left Manchester without a point.
This was an eight-goal thriller from first whistle to last. The initiative changed hands four times before City finally pulled clear.
Sunderland were involved in every twist. Enzo Fernández, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo all found the net for the hosts.
Semenyo’s brace either side of half-time proved crucial to the final outcome. Erling Haaland’s late strike eventually settled matters in the 81st minute. It closed out a game that had threatened to slip away from City more than once.
On the pitch, from a Sunderland perspective, the story belonged largely to Brobbey.
He twice pulled Sunderland level and then dragged them back to within a single goal. City found an answer within minutes each time.
Unfortunately, the Lads could not hold on for a share of the points.
| Minute | Scorer | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9′ | Enzo Fernández | Manchester City | 1-0 |
| 12′ | Brian Brobbey | Sunderland | 1-1 |
| 29′ | Rayan Cherki | Manchester City | 2-1 |
| 33′ | Brian Brobbey | Sunderland | 2-2 |
| 43′ | Antoine Semenyo | Manchester City | 3-2 |
| 57′ | Antoine Semenyo | Manchester City | 4-2 |
| 59′ | Brian Brobbey | Sunderland | 4-3 |
| 81′ | Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 5-3 |
Eight goals in ninety minutes made for a chaotic afternoon, but there was a clear shape to it.
City struck first in each half. Sunderland responded almost immediately both times. It took a moment of individual quality from Haaland to finally separate the sides.
First Half Narrative
Sunderland travelled to the Etihad hoping to build on recent momentum, but City set an early tempo that put Le Bris’s side on the back foot.
The hosts pressed with purpose from kick-off. They worked the ball quickly through midfield and tested Sunderland’s defensive organisation early on. It took City only nine minutes to make that pressure count.
Enzo Fernández opened the scoring in the ninth minute. It gave the home crowd an early lift and forced Sunderland to chase the game for the first time.
It was a blow that could easily have unsettled a visiting side at a difficult ground. The response arrived almost immediately.
Three minutes later, Brian Brobbey levelled the match at 1-1. The striker continued his strong run in front of goal. He settled the travelling supporters just as they had begun to worry about an early gulf in class. It was the first sign of the resilience Sunderland would show throughout the afternoon. It set the tone for a first half in which neither side led by more than one goal for long.
City regained the lead before the half-hour mark. Rayan Cherki put the hosts back in front in the 29th minute. It restored their advantage and continued a pattern of City finding a route through whenever they needed one.
Four minutes later, Brobbey struck again. His second goal made it 2-2 and underlined a growing threat through the centre of City’s defence. The home side had no clear answer for it in that opening period.
The half still had a sting in its tail. Antoine Semenyo put City back ahead in the 43rd minute. He finished calmly to make it 3-2 and send the sides in at the break with the hosts narrowly on top.
Four goals had already been shared in a breathless opening forty-five minutes. Sunderland’s defenders, tired from a half spent chasing City’s movement, will have been relieved to hear the whistle. Neither side looked settled at any point.
The pattern of quick replies suggested the second half would offer more of the same.
Detailed Second Half Drama
Sunderland needed a calmer start after the interval, but it was City who struck first once again.
Antoine Semenyo scored his second of the afternoon in the 57th minute. It stretched the lead to 4-2 and tested Sunderland’s resolve after their earlier fightbacks had briefly threatened to change the mood of the game.
The reply came quickly, just as it had twice already. Brian Brobbey completed his hat-trick in the 59th minute. It cut the deficit to 4-3 and gave Sunderland’s travelling supporters real belief that a point, or perhaps more, might still be possible.
Three goals from three separate moments summed up a remarkable individual display from the striker. By that stage he had scored as many goals himself as the entire City forward line combined.
For a spell after Brobbey’s third goal, City looked unsettled for the first time all afternoon.
Sunderland pushed players forward and searched for a leveller.
Le Bris’s side had already shown they would not simply accept City’s lead. The home crowd grew increasingly nervous as the clock ticked past the hour mark. Chances came at both ends during this period. The game opened up in a way that suited neither manager’s preference for control.
City eventually found the goal that killed off the contest. Erling Haaland scored in the 81st minute to make it 5-3.
It was a decisive touch at the moment his side needed one most. The finish took the sting out of Sunderland’s momentum. It gave City the breathing space they had been missing for long stretches of the second half.
It ended Sunderland’s hopes of a leveller and confirmed City’s win.
Sunderland leave Manchester with nothing from the game. But Brobbey’s performance, and the way his side kept coming back into it, will give Le Bris plenty to build on for the next round of fixtures.
