Manchester City beat Coventry 1-0 at the Etihad as an Erling Haaland goal kept Enzo Maresca's side top of the Premier League
Erling Haaland celebrates
Manchester City beat Coventry 1-0 at the Etihad
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Manchester City beat Coventry City 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League table for at least a few hours. Erling Haaland netted his third goal of the season but the game was closer than it could have been and Coventry had chances of their own.
Gianluigi Donnarumma had already been called into action when Enzo Fernandez, unexpectedly called into the starting XI after Nico O'Reilly was injured in the warm-up, freed Antoine Semenyo to cross and Haaland headed home. Rayan Cherki hit the inside of the post and Haaland could have had another two in the first half as City looked to put the game to bed.
Despite being in control for large parts of the game, they could not get the second goal and Coventry were nearly rewarded for hanging in the game only for Donnarumma to save with his face from a close-range Ellis Sims effort. The visitors pushed hard for a late equaliser but City held out.
Here are the player ratings from the Manchester Evening News.
Donnarumma: Made a few important saves in the first and second half, even if there was a nervy moment on his own goal-line in possession. 8
Khusanov: Risked another mix-up with Dias by covering the wrong man but mostly a solid effort at right-back. 6
Dias: Did well to read everything at the back and be alert to danger, complementing Guehi well. 7
Guehi: Did everything required in defence and also made some good passes through the middle of the pitch to get City going. 7
Gvardiol: Pushed up again whenever he could and helped out Ndiaye on that left flank by always being available for a pass. 7
Anderson: The Rodri comparison is an easy one to make but he was everywhere he needed to be dictating play. 8
Fernandez: Quietly influential, settling straight into the game and pushing high to support the attack and trouble the Coventry defence. 7
Cherki: Did everything but score, including hitting the inside of the post. Also dropped deep to supply Fernandez and Haaland. 8
Ndiaye: Couldn't really get going in attack and will be relieved Donnarumma saved from Tchaouna after he gave the ball away. 6
Semenyo: A bad pass early on to see Awoniyi free at Donnarumma and he was offside too often but he did well to create the opener. 7
Haaland: Did really well to score the goal he did and looked sharp but could have had at least one more on the day. 7
Substitutes
Foden (for Cherki, 66) Couldn't get on the ball to influence play. 6
Bouaddi (for Fernandez, 75) Kept his head as Coventry threatened. 6
McAidoo (for Ndiaye, 87) No time
Not used: Rulli, Nunes, Kovacic, Lewis, Ait-Nouri, Samba