MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland continued Manchester City’s clean sheet at the start of the English Premier League (EPL) campaign, but Enzo Maresca’s squad had to work hard before securing a 1-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry at the Etihad earlier today.
Maresca dropped Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye after their transfers completed a club-record £460 million spend to overhaul City’s squad following Pep Guardiola’s decade-long reign.
The Maresca era began with three consecutive Premier League wins but the performances were far from perfect as the hosts needed two late saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny Coventry their first top-flight point in 25 years.
Haaland’s header midway through the first half proved to be the game-changer, recording his third goal in three games this season.
Fernandez was expected to start on the bench after completing a £125 million move from Chelsea that equalled the Premier League transfer record.
However, Nico O’Reilly’s injury during the warm-up session forced the Argentine player to continue to be included in the starting lineup.
Ndiaye was also given his City debut by Maresca, playing in a potent attacking machine alongside Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
Coventry had previously failed to score a goal in three consecutive defeats, marking their return to top-flight competition after more than two decades.
However, Frank Lampard’s men almost took the lead early on following a mistake by Donnarumma.
The tall Italian goalkeeper mishandled a pass back before rising to clear the ball just above his goal line.
Taiwo Awoniyi and Jack Rudoni also squandered golden opportunities to put the visitors ahead before City began to find their rhythm.
Cherki’s attempt hit the post before Fernandez got involved in the opening goal of the match.
His pass found Semenyo who sprinted down the right before throwing a neat cross for Haaland to head in at the far post.
Coventry goalkeeper Carl Rushworth denied the Norwegian’s second goal before the break, but City failed to extend their lead and were forced to hold on until the final whistle.
Donnarumma was once again the savior when he made two crucial saves to deny attempts by Loum Tchaouna and Ellis Simms who were chasing an equaliser and a historic moment for Coventry.
Despite suffering another defeat, the performance was shown to give Lampard many positive signs that Coventry are capable of competing at the highest level.
Maresca is aware that City need to improve their performance when they travel to local rivals Manchester United next weekend.
The victory, however, allowed City to overtake defending champions Arsenal, who are scheduled to play Chelsea on Sunday, at the top of the league.