ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Enzo Maresca has been full of praise for the resilience and competitive edge shown by his Manchester City side during their recent victories over Coventry City, Porto and Manchester United.
In each of those matches, City had to withstand periods of pressure. They were fortunate to escape with victory against Coventry and were forced to play with 10 men for 70 minutes during their Manchester derby triumph.
Yet the most important statistic was clear: three consecutive clean sheets.
City looked disciplined, experienced and difficult to break down — exactly the kind of characteristics that will have pleased their new head coach.
Before the international break, Maresca revealed that he intended to use the time away from competitive action to analyse every City performance so far.
After Sunday’s extraordinary 5-3 victory over Sunderland, he may need to set aside plenty of time for that particular review.
“To be honest, I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3, but I expected a very difficult game,” Maresca admitted. “The good thing is we found a way to win the game.”
It was the sort of afternoon when a football match takes on a life of its own.
The game became increasingly physical, open and transition-heavy, forcing City to embrace a chaotic contest rather than control it from start to finish. The modern Premier League has increasingly produced these kinds of matches, although few have been quite as wild as this one.
That was the backdrop to a weekend in which reigning champions Arsenal were surprisingly beaten 3-0 by Brighton.
So, with City sitting at the top of the table, the question was simple: what exactly does this new Maresca team have?
The answer against Sunderland was complicated.
There was plenty to admire — but also enough to concern the new manager.
Man City’s Defensive Problems Exposed by Sunderland
There was certainly some positive defensive evidence for Maresca.
Including their midweek 5-0 Carabao Cup victory over Norwich, City had recorded four consecutive clean sheets heading into the Sunderland game.
However, even during those matches, there had been moments when opponents threatened to exploit the space behind City’s defensive structure.
For a possession-dominant team, that risk is hardly surprising. The key is whether the defenders and goalkeeper can respond when those situations arise.
Against Coventry, Porto and Manchester United, they generally did.
Against Sunderland, however, the warning signs became much harder to ignore.
The biggest concern for Maresca may be that Sunderland’s greatest threat did not simply come from counter-attacking opportunities.
Instead, Enzo Le Fée repeatedly found ways to cut City open with outstanding passing.
The French midfielder was at the centre of Sunderland’s attacking threat, particularly during the first half.
City’s defensive line was also tested on Sunderland’s second equaliser, when they positioned themselves close to the edge of the penalty area.
Maresca has previously seen teams punished when employing a similar defensive approach. At the same time, his system has also produced successful offside traps — as demonstrated during City’s victory over Porto.
For Maresca, the underlying principle remains straightforward.
“How many times have you heard a manager say that things happen inside the box?” he explained afterwards. “What we try to avoid is them inside our box.”
The manager accepts that his team will occasionally concede when taking such risks, but believes the benefits can outweigh the dangers.
“Sometimes we concede a goal like today, but sometimes also we avoid,” Maresca added. “The idea is to bring as much play as possible in the opposition box and as little as possible in our box.”
Against Sunderland, however, City discovered just how difficult that philosophy can become when the opposition has a physical focal point like Brian Brobbey.
The striker caused Ruben Dias major problems throughout the contest and repeatedly gave City’s defence something to think about.
Elliot Anderson often dropped deeper to help deal with Sunderland’s long balls, but that adjustment created additional space for Le Fée and the experienced Granit Xhaka.
Fernandez’s adventurous approach from the double pivot may also have contributed to the lack of control.
Still, Maresca can point to the quality of the opposition.
The City boss had already described Sunderland as a dangerous side before the match. They had pushed Arsenal hard in their previous league fixture and once again demonstrated that they are capable of competing with the country’s strongest teams.
Brobbey and Le Fée understandably attracted plenty of attention, but Sunderland’s performance was about much more than two individuals.
Every aspect of their display reflected Régis Le Bris’ tactical approach.
They competed fiercely in challenges, attacked space intelligently and made life extremely uncomfortable for City.
Le Bris explained afterwards that his players followed the plan extremely well.
“It’s about the quality of our players,” he said. “I think the game plan was really clear about how we were able to manage the spaces.”
He also highlighted the way Sunderland adapted depending on City’s defensive structure, using Brobbey as a target when necessary and creating overloads when City protected the central areas.
Rayan Cherki, Semenyo and Ndiaye Give Man City Plenty to Fear About
For all the defensive concerns, Maresca certainly has reasons to be optimistic.
Rayan Cherki continued his impressive start to life at City by scoring his third goal of the season.
Enzo Fernandez also opened his City account with a clever free-kick, while Antoine Semenyo delivered arguably the most influential individual contribution with a tireless brace either side of half-time.
Then there was Iliman Ndiaye.
The deadline-day signing continued the momentum from his impressive display at Old Trafford and once again showed why he could become such an important player for Maresca.
Ndiaye combined aggressive off-ball work with technical quality in possession, offering City another dimension in attack.
And, of course, there was Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian scored once again, meaning he has now found the net against all 26 opponents he has faced in the Premier League.
That attacking firepower could prove crucial for a City side that appears increasingly comfortable playing in chaotic matches.
This Is Not Guardiola’s Manchester City Anymore
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Sunday’s match was how different Maresca’s City looked from the Guardiola era.
When matches became frantic under Pep Guardiola, one of his most famous instructions was for City to “put the ball in the fridge” — slow the game down, retain possession and regain control.
Against Sunderland, that was almost impossible.
Rather than cooling the game down, City appeared willing to embrace the chaos.
Maresca acknowledged that his team still has plenty of room for improvement when it comes to controlling matches through possession.
“For sure we can control better, keeping the ball, no doubt,” he said.
But he also recognised that modern Premier League opponents are capable of making that extremely difficult.
“There are games where you want to control the game and keep the ball, but there is also another team,” Maresca added. “I watched Sunderland against Arsenal last week and it was another crazy game. It’s difficult.”
That may ultimately be one of the defining differences between this City team and the one Guardiola built.
Without Rodri and Bernardo Silva, City no longer have exactly the same ability to slow matches down and dictate every phase.
Instead, Maresca appears to have a squad capable of surviving — and sometimes thriving — when matches become unpredictable.
Fernandez, Cherki, Ndiaye, Semenyo and Haaland give City enough attacking quality to win games that descend into shootouts.
The question is whether that approach can remain effective throughout an entire Premier League campaign.
Can Maresca’s Man City Really Challenge for the Title?
It is far too early to know exactly what this version of Manchester City will eventually become.
There will undoubtedly be matches when Maresca’s side looks less convincing than Guardiola’s best teams.
But there is one obvious difference already: City appear much more willing to fight their way through difficult matches.
Five Premier League victories from five games and seven wins from seven matches in all competitions would have been difficult to predict after City’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield.
That performance in Cardiff exposed a huge gap between the two sides.
Since then, however, Maresca’s City have responded.
They have survived pressure, dealt with adversity and found different ways to win.
The 5-3 victory over Sunderland was hardly a defensive masterclass.
It was chaotic, open and at times uncomfortable.
But it also demonstrated something important about this new Manchester City side.
They may not always control the battle — but they are increasingly showing that they can survive it.
And with City heading into the international break at the top of the Premier League table, Maresca suddenly has a very different problem to solve.
Instead of wondering whether his new team can compete, he must now figure out how far this unpredictable, aggressive and increasingly confident Manchester City side can actually go.
