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Manchester City survived a thrilling test against Sunderland to claim a 5-3 victory and move three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The champions were twice pegged back by an impressive Sunderland side before Erling Haaland’s late goal finally settled an eight-goal contest.
Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring after just nine minutes with his first goal since joining City from Chelsea, curling a free-kick into the near post.
Sunderland refuse to back down
Sunderland quickly responded when Enzo Le Fee played a superb pass through to Brian Brobbey, who calmly slipped the ball beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City restored their advantage after Sunderland were caught attempting to play out from the back. The ball eventually reached Rayan Cherki, who made no mistake with a low finish into the corner.
Again, Sunderland refused to fold.
Le Fee was at the heart of another equaliser, splitting the City defence to find Thomas Meunier, who squared for Brobbey to tap into an empty net.
A lengthy VAR review eventually confirmed the goal, leaving the visitors with a deserved 2-2 draw.
City regained control towards the end of the half and retook the lead two minutes before the interval when Antoine Semenyo produced a powerful finish after Sunderland failed to clear a cross.
Haaland then missed a chance to extend the advantage before half-time, firing wide with the goal at his mercy.
Haaland finally puts game beyond Sunderland
City increased their lead after the restart when Semenyo collected a pass intended for Haaland and drilled a left-footed effort into the far corner.
Sunderland responded almost immediately.
Granit Xhaka found Nilson Angulo, who sent the ball across the face of goal for Brobbey to bundle home and complete his first senior hat-trick.
The Black Cats continued to threaten, with Donnarumma nearly gifting them an equaliser after failing to claim a high ball into the area. Ruben Dias recovered just in time to clear the loose ball off the line.
City eventually ended Sunderland’s hopes nine minutes from time.
Josko Gvardiol delivered a cross towards the back post and Haaland slid in to convert. The goal was initially ruled offside, but VAR overturned the decision after confirming Gvardiol had timed his run correctly.
The result keeps City’s perfect record intact and sends them into the international break at the top of the Premier League.