Manchester City managed to secure a convincing victory over Sunderland, even though Bryan Brobbie scored a hat-trick. This match concluded with City's triumph, extending their Premier League lead by three points. Meanwhile, Liverpool defeated Bournemouth 1-0, marking the return of Andoni Iraola to the south coast.
City capitalized on Arsenal's loss to Brighton last week but faced difficulties despite taking the lead three times at the Etihad Stadium. Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring, netting his first goal after equaling the Premier League transfer record by moving from Chelsea for £125 million ($167 million). His free-kick shot went wide of Robin Ruijs, who was close to the goal.
Sunderland won its first European match in 53 years against AZ Alkmaar midweek but showed no signs of fatigue, as the 'Black Cats' could not stop the City side. Brobbie scored the first of his treble goals, receiving a pass from Enzo Le Fai. Following this, Ryan Cherki restored City's advantage through speed and an elegant finish, but Brobbie responded again within four minutes after a good Sunderland attack.
Antoine Semeno scored a goal that once again put City in the lead before halftime, followed by another precise left-footed strike shortly before the hour mark. Brobbie completed his hat-trick after Nelson Angulo bypassed Gianluigi Donnarumma, sending the ball over the crossbar. Several nervous moments from the Italian goalkeeper nearly led to a Sunderland goal when Ruben Dias was forced to punch the ball off his own line.
However, Erling Haaland ultimately participated in the goal fest, securing three points for the team and guaranteeing himself a goal against every team he has faced in the Premier League. This victory allowed Enzo Maresca to continue his perfect start in the challenging task of succeeding Pep Guardiola at City.
After Iraola took charge of 'The Cherries' and led them to Europe for the first time in the club's history, he received a warm welcome at Bournemouth. This success attracted Liverpool, who signed him, but Iraola is experiencing an unstable period at Anfield and needed a win to relieve tension before the three-week international break.
Liverpool's game was also far from convincing, but they scored the only goal when Cody Gakpo's cross was intercepted by Alexander Isak, who sent the ball into the net, scoring his fourth goal of the season. The victory lifted Liverpool to sixth place, reducing the gap to third place, held by Brighton, to one point.
Meanwhile, Leeds missed a chance to take third place after drawing 0-0 at home against Crystal Palace. Tyrese Mitchell seemed to open the scoring in the second half, but the goal was disallowed for offside during the build-up of the attack. Manchester United plans to give manager Michael Carrick, who is under pressure, a break when they travel to Fulham, who are near the bottom of the table. United earned only four points from their first four matches and were eliminated from the League Cup after losing to Brighton midweek, conceding 2-0 at home for the first time in 50 years.