Erling Haaland maintained Manchester City’s perfect start to the Premier League season but Enzo Maresca’s men were made to sweat for a 1-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry at the Etihad on Saturday.
Maresca was able to unleash Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye after their arrivals completed a record outlay by any club of £460 million ($622 million) in the transfer market to refresh the City squad after Pep Guardiola’s decade in charge.
The Maresca era has started with three consecutive Premier League wins, but it was a far from perfect performance as the hosts needed a pair of late saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny Coventry a first top-flight point for 25 years.
Haaland’s header midway through the first half proved decisive for his third goal in as many games this season.
Fernandez was supposed to start on the bench after completing his £125 million move from Chelsea to match the Premier League transfer record.
However, an injury to Nico O’Reilly in the warm-up meant the Argentine was thrust into the starting line-up.
Ndiaye was also handed his City debut by Maresca alongside Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki in a fearsome front four.
WITH INPUTS FROM AFP
Player Ratings
Manchester City
Starting Lineup: Gianluigi Donnarumma (8.5), Abdukodir Khusanov (7.5), Rúben Dias (7.5), Marc Guéhi (8.0), Joško Gvardiol (7.7), Elliot Anderson (8.3), Antoine Semenyo (7.7), Enzo Fernández (7.5), Rayan Cherki (7.7), Ndiliman Eryeling (9.9). Haaland (8.4)
Substitutes: Phil Foden (6.3), Ayyoub Bouaddi (6.5), Ryan McAidoo (N/A)
Coventry City
Starting Lineup: Carl Rushworth (7.1), Bobby Thomas (8.3), Ethan Pinnock (6.6), Aurèle Amenda (6.4), Milan van Ewijk (7.0), Frank Onyeka (6.1), Matt Grimes (6.2), Jay Dasilva (6.8), Jack Rudoni (6.4), Ephron Mason-Clark (5.9), Taiwo Awoniyi (6.4)
Substitutes: Caleb Yirenkyi (6.2), Loum Tchaouna (6.5), Brandon Thomas-Asante (6.4), Ellis Simms (6.1), Gustavo Hamer (N/A)
Published on Sep 05, 2026