Manchester City went three points clear at the top of the Premier League after five games with victory over Sunderland
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 20: Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal with teammate Iliman Ndiaye during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Manchester City and Sunderland at Etihad Stadium on September 20, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 20: Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal with teammate Iliman Ndiaye during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Manchester City and Sunderland at Etihad Stadium on September 20, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
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Manchester City players told each other that this is just the start after a 5-3 win over Sunderland sent them three points clear at the top of the Premier League. Enzo Maresca's side showed again they have plenty of room for improvement but still picked up their seventh straight win in all competitions.
It has been a perfect start in terms of results, if not performances, for City this season and that has left the Blues feeling good ahead of a three week international break. A trip to Anfield and a home Champions League game with Paris Saint-Germain will instantly test the team when they return next month, but the players made sure to remind themselves of how much more they can achieve with Maresca.
City still expected to compete for all competitions when they appointed Maresca following Pep Guardiola's departure, but few thought that the Italian - or indeed, anyone - would be able to match what the Catalan managed across 10 years. A slump of some sort was expected at the Etihad, and a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield last month reinforced predictions.
However, the Blues have bounced back and - helped by a busy few final weeks of the transfer window that saw hundreds of millions of pounds spent to reinforce the squad - have navigated their way through the opening rounds of the campaign. The players know they can all still improve, but left for international duty celebrating how much they have already achieved as they focus on getting better and better.
"We just said in the changing rooms, seven or eight weeks we've been together now, so it's not been too long, but we're doing well," said Semenyo. "We're winning our games and we'll keep improving.
"Everyone feels good. I mean, it's where we want to be. We're not going to get too complacent, too relaxed. We know that there's a lot more games to go. And yeah, we just want to continue winning. So just have to keep going."