Manchester City Maintain Perfect Start Despite Brobbey’s Sunderland Hat-Trick
Manchester City will enter the international break with a flawless Premier League record after making it five wins from five, surviving Brian Brobbey’s Sunderland hat-trick in a wild contest.
City stay perfect despite Brobbey treble
Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City remain the division’s only side with a 100 per cent start, sitting first on 15 points after the latest victory.
Brobbey scored all three of Sunderland’s goals but still finished on the losing side. The Netherlands forward said the result was particularly painful after his first Premier League goals of the campaign.
- Brobbey became Sunderland’s first top-flight hat-trick scorer since Jermain Defoe in 2016.
- He is the fourth Premier League player to score a treble against the team leading the table, after Robbie Fowler, Dirk Kuyt and Romelu Lukaku.
- The striker had not scored in any of his previous league appearances this season.
- Sunderland go into the break 14th, with four points.
Brobbey: Defeat is hard to take
“It is hard to be on the losing side when you score three,” Brobbey said after the final whistle. “It is really difficult to lose.”
He described a match in which control repeatedly changed hands, while acknowledging City’s quality. “It went up and down. Manchester City are a very good team with a lot of quality. We tried and I think we played a good game. We have to keep going.”
Brobbey was pleased to take his personal momentum into the international pause, saying three goals had given him “a good feeling”.
Sunderland focus on building again
Despite the defeat, Brobbey insisted Sunderland must keep faith with the progress made in their opening fixtures. He pointed to the squad’s earlier 1-0 win and stressed that the group need to continue building after collecting three points from that result.
“As a group, we have to keep going,” he said.
What happens next
- Sunderland resume their league campaign at home to Brighton on 10 October.
- Manchester City face a major away test at Liverpool’s Anfield on 11 October.
