Semenyo double and Brobbey hat-trick in 5-3 Manchester City win
Manchester City defeated Sunderland 5-3 in a Premier League match on 20 September 2026, with Antoine Semenyo scoring twice and Brian Brobbey netting a hat-trick. The result left Enzo Maresca’s side three points clear at the top as the league pauses for a three-week international break.
City’s victory followed Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton and was described in the report as chaotic; Maresca acknowledged his side lacked control despite the scoreline, with Rúben Dias at one point hitting the ball toward his own goal and scrambling to clear. The match featured goals from Enzo Fernández, Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland for City, and the contest was characterised by frequent defensive lapses and quick responses from both teams.
Sunderland opened the scoring after a break from a corner ended with Dayann Methalie fouling Iliman Ndiaye, leading to a free-kick from which Fernández curled home on the near side, deceiving goalkeeper Robin Roefs. Fernández’s strike was noted as his first goal since his World Cup semi-final equaliser for Argentina.
Enzo Le Fée then fed Brobbey with a pass that split Dias and Matheus Nunes, and Brobbey’s first touch allowed him to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with the outside of his right boot to equalise. City replied when a loose pass from Kevin Danso was seized by Ndiaye, the ball reached Haaland near the penalty spot, Semenyo tapped to Cherki and Cherki made space to score, putting City 2-1 up with around half an hour played.
Three minutes later Le Fée released Thomas Meunier, whose cross found Brobbey and, after a prolonged VAR check over a marginal offside, the goal stood to level the scores again. Shortly before half-time Cherki’s chip caused a scramble that allowed Semenyo to power in and restore City’s lead, and Haaland later missed a chance that would have made it 4-2 before the interval.
In the second half Sunderland continued to press; a curving Cherki pass to Ndiaye produced a chance that the winger failed to take, and City’s Cherki again created problems when his pass unsettled Nordi Mukiele before the ball reached Semenyo, who finished into the far right corner to make it 4-2. A handball incident in the area saw Elliot Anderson fortunate not to concede a penalty, and Brobbey then completed his hat-trick after Granit Xhaka’s delivery was helped on by Angulo for the striker to convert.
Jérémy Doku, introduced for Ndiaye, combined with Josko Gvardiol down the left and Gvardiol’s cross to the far post was converted by Haaland; the goal was initially flagged for offside but VAR overturned the linesman’s decision to confirm a 5-3 final score. City therefore head into the international break three points clear at the summit, with the Premier League scheduled to resume on 10 October.
