Man City beat Sunderland 5-3 as Brobbey hat-trick ends in defeat
Manchester City survived one of the wildest Premier League games of the season, beating Sunderland 5-3 to preserve their perfect start and move three points clear at the top.
It was a match that repeatedly looked under control — and repeatedly slipped loose.
City scored five.
Brian Brobbey scored three.
And Sunderland still left with nothing.
Brobbey keeps Sunderland alive
Enzo Fernández opened the scoring for City in the ninth minute before Brobbey equalised three minutes later.
Rayan Cherki restored City’s lead in the 29th minute, only for Brobbey to strike again four minutes later.
Antoine Semenyo then sent City into half-time ahead with a 43rd-minute goal.
By the break, the pattern was already clear.
City could score.
Sunderland could answer.
Semenyo strikes again, Brobbey completes hat-trick
Semenyo scored his second and City’s fourth in the 57th minute.
Brobbey responded again two minutes later to complete his hat-trick and keep Sunderland in the contest.
He became Sunderland’s first Premier League hat-trick scorer since Jermain Defoe in 2016 and only the sixth player in competition history to score a treble and still finish on the losing side.
That should have been the headline moment.
Instead, it became part of a defeat.
Haaland finishes the job
Erling Haaland scored City’s fifth in the 81st minute.
By then, the scoreline had become almost absurd.
Eight goals.
Three for Brobbey.
Two for Semenyo.
Five for City.
And still no points for Sunderland.
City stay perfect, but defensive questions remain
The win kept Enzo Maresca’s side on a 100 per cent Premier League record and moved them three points clear at the top.
But Sunderland’s attacking threat went beyond Brobbey’s hat-trick.
Official match data shows the visitors generated more expected goals than City, reinforcing how uncomfortable the afternoon became for the league leaders despite the final scoreline.
Maresca also acknowledged the defensive chaos afterwards, making clear he would rather see a controlled 1-0 than another game in which City concede three.
That is the contradiction City carry out of this one.
They are perfect in the table.
They were anything but perfect defensively.
Brobbey owns the performance, City own the points
For Sunderland, the result hurts because the chances were there.
Brobbey’s hat-trick gave them repeated routes back into the match, but every comeback was met by another City goal.
Manchester City leave with five goals, three points and top spot.
Brobbey leaves with the match ball — and one of the season’s strangest defeats.
