Enzo Maresca identifies Manchester City concern despite eight-goal Sunderland win

Manchester City maintained their perfect start under Enzo Maresca with a dramatic 5-3 victory over Sunderland, but the manner of the win gave their manager plenty to address.

City’s attacking quality ultimately proved decisive at the Etihad Stadium, with Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo twice and Erling Haaland finding the net.

At the other end, however, Sunderland striker Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick and repeatedly caused problems for a defence that Maresca admitted conceded too easily.

Rather than celebrating the eight-goal spectacle, Maresca made clear that he would have preferred a much tighter victory.

“To be honest, I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3,” Maresca said.

The City boss was pleased that his team found another way to win but acknowledged that defensive improvements are required.

“I am always concerned, always trying to see what we can do better,” he added. “For sure, two of the three goals we conceded were too easy.”

Brobbey was central to those problems. Sunderland repeatedly found their centre-forward in dangerous positions, with his physical presence causing particular difficulties for City.

He registered five shots, seven touches inside the penalty area and an expected goals figure of 2.35 on his way to scoring all three Sunderland goals.

City’s problems were particularly noticeable in the individual battles.

According to Opta, captain Rúben Dias won only three of his 13 duels. Marc Guéhi, by comparison, won all four of his.

That was particularly significant after Semenyo revealed City had been instructed by Maresca to ensure they won their duels against Sunderland.

There is no suggestion Maresca needs to make immediate changes. City have won all seven of their competitive matches this season and demonstrated enough resilience to survive Sunderland’s attacking threat.

However, conceding three goals at home despite scoring five provides a clear warning.

City will not always be able to rely on their attack producing enough goals to compensate for defensive problems. Maresca’s challenge after the international break will be ensuring the Sunderland performance remains an exception rather than the beginning of a pattern.

The international break gives Maresca time to analyse why Sunderland were able to expose his defence so frequently despite City eventually taking all three points.

With Khusanov available and Gvardiol capable of moving centrally, Maresca has alternatives if he decides changes are required when City return to action.