Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland: Brobbey hat-trick proves fruitless in eight-goal extravaganza

Manchester City just about stayed perfect in the Premier League following an enthralling 5-3 victory over Sunderland, despite Brian Brobbey's hat-trick.

Enzo Maresca's side prevailed in an eight-goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium, where Erling Haaland had the final say.

The hosts opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Enzo Fernandez's first goal for the club, as he caught out Robin Roefs with a well-executed free-kick from a tight angle.

Sunderland were back on level terms three minutes later when Brobbey took Enzo Le Fee's neat pass into his stride and finished with the outside of his boot.

Rayan Cherki drilled City back in front, but the Black Cats responded again, with Thomas Meunier latching onto Le Fee's reverse pass and squaring for Brobbey to tuck away.

Maresca's team led for a third time just before the break, through Antoine Semenyo's powerful finish. 

It marked the first time City have taken the lead three times in the first half of a Premier League match, and just the seventh time it has happened for any team in the competition's history.

Semenyo then added his second in the 57th minute, firing past Roefs after Cherki's attempted throughball ricocheted into his path.

Yet City did not then run away with it. Just two minutes later, Brobbey rounded off his hat-trick, prodding into the empty net after Nilson Angulo beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to Granit Xhaka's sublime delivery into the box.

Ruben Dias cleared off the line as the visitors looked to equalise for a third time. However, Haaland eventually put the result beyond Sunderland in the 81st minute.

City's number nine turned home Josko Gvardiol's low cross at the far post, with the goal awarded following a VAR review after it was initially chalked off for offside.

Brobbey brilliant, but Haaland has the last laugh

Following Arsenal's defeat at Brighton on Saturday, City knew a win here would see them steal an early march at the summit of the standings.

It was far from straightforward, though, with Sunderland refusing to roll over from the first to the final whistle.

The Black Cats, whose boss Regis Le Bris was overseeing his 100th match in charge, have never won in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium, but they gave it a real go, and Brobbey was integral.

He became Sunderland's first scorer of a top-flight hat-trick since Jermain Defoe against Swansea City in January 2016.

Brobbey has also become only the sixth player in Premier League history to score a treble in a game when their team lost. The most recent example was Roque Santa Cruz for Blackburn Rovers against Wigan Athletic in December 2007.

The former Ajax striker is also just the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick against the side starting the day top of the table, after Robbie Fowler v Aston Villa in November 1998, Dirk Kuyt v Manchester United in March 2011, and Romelu Lukaku v Manchester United in May 2013.

It would be Brobbey's opposite number who had the final word. Sunderland had been the only team Haaland had failed to score against in the Premier League, but he put that right with an instinctive far-post finish late on to finally settle City's nerves, and the Norway star has now netted against all 25 opponents he has faced in England's top tier.