---
title: "Maresca touchline fury exposes Man City tactical standards"
canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/09/22/enzo-maresca-man-city-sunderland-tactics/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Gary Gowers"
section: "Man City News"
published: "2026-09-22T06:45:00Z"
modified: "2026-09-22T06:45:00Z"
---

# Maresca touchline fury exposes Man City tactical standards

**Enzo Maresca may have watched [Man City](https://readmancity.com/) score five goals and maintain their perfect Premier League start against Sunderland, but one moment on the touchline offered a better indication of what he thought of the performance.**

With City leading 4-3 during the second half at the Etihad Stadium, Maresca used a break in play for a Sunderland substitution to sprint towards his players and deliver instructions. City were ahead, but their manager had clearly seen something he wanted changed immediately.

## Maresca wanted more control from Man City

It fitted neatly with what Maresca said after an extraordinary afternoon in which City eventually won 5-3.

“To be honest, I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3,” he said. “I’m always concerned, always trying to see what we can do better. Two of the goals were too easy.”

The numbers offer some explanation for his concern. One expected-goals model had Sunderland creating 3.68 xG to City’s 2.84, while both sides registered six shots on target. There will always be differences between xG providers, but Sunderland clearly created enough to make City’s afternoon considerably less comfortable than Maresca would have wanted.

Brian Brobbey scored all three of their goals, pulling Sunderland level at 1-1 and 2-2 before completing his hat-trick just two minutes after Antoine Semenyo had put City 4-2 ahead.

That final sequence perhaps best explains Maresca’s touchline urgency. A two-goal advantage had lasted barely long enough for City to settle before the visitors were back in the contest. Erling Haaland eventually made it 5-3 in the 81st minute, but Ruben Dias also had to clear off his own line before City were safe.

Maresca described Sunderland as “very aggressive” without the ball and a side with “different weapons” in possession, while acknowledging that City had ultimately found a way to win.

Seven successive victories in all competitions and five from five in the Premier League represent an excellent start. The manager’s reaction on Saturday suggested he is judging his side by rather more than the result.

That sprint towards the touchline at 4-3 suddenly makes plenty of sense.

[Read our full report from City’s eight-goal win over Sunderland](https://readmancity.com/2026/09/20/man-city-5-3-sunderland-enzo-fernandez/).

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