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 pounds ($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. “But the way we suffered together until the end, defending throw-ins, set-pieces, was good. Not all wins are going to be nice wins. Coventry had failed to even score in three consecutive defeats to mark their return to the top flight after over two decades away. Cherki smashed off the post before Fernandez was involved in the opening goal.
Fernandez was supposed to start on the bench after completing his £125 million move from Chelsea to match the Premier League transfer record.
“Nine out of 10 times in this kind of game at the end you finish conceding,” Maresca said.
