Manchester City made it three wins from three but were relieved to hear the final whistle as they beat promoted Coventry City 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.
After the Citizen's eye watering spending spree that continued until Tuesday with the arrival of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for a British record equalling £125 million, Coventry surprisingly put up a spirited fight.
Manager Enzo Maresca handed debuts to Enzo Fernandez and fellow deadline day signing Iliman Ndiaye from Everton. The coach said afterwards Fernandez was not even expecting to start until Nico O'Reilly suffered a back problem during the warm up.
Coventry were almost gift-wrapped an opener inside 10 minutes when Gianluigi Donnarumma let the ball roll under his foot before frantically clearing off the line.
Another City error handed Frank Lampard’s men a gilt-edged chance to take a surprise lead, as this time a loose pass from Antoine Semenyo was pounced upon by Taiwo Awoniyi, but as he raced clear on goal, he could only fire his effort inches wide of the post.
Fernandez played a key role in Erling Haaland's 26th minute opener, sliding a perfectly weighted pass for Antoine Semenyo down the right.
Semenyo's first time cross sailed beyond Carl Rushworth and Haaland powered a leaping header at the back post into the empty net for his third league goal of the season.
The Sky Blues didn’t capitulate from there, though, instead continuing to defend resolutely, with last-ditch blocks denying Enzo Fernandez on debut and also Haaland from doubling his tally, leaving them with a fighting chance after the break.
Haaland thought he had doubled his tally shortly before the hour mark when he finished off after Fernandez kept the ball alive in the area, but the Argentine had strayed offside in the build-up.
Coventry were just about managing to hang on in there despite facing incessant pressure at times, and their perseverance was very nearly rewarded.
Lampard’s men almost hit City with a bolt out of the blue, when Loum Tchaouna’s instinctive strike from the edge of the area forced Donnarumma to get down low to prevent the equaliser.
It was Coventry who finished strongly, forcing Donnarumma into a string of saves late on. Ellis Simms almost snatched a leveller in the last minutes, but the city goalkeeper took the ball flush in the face, from point-blank range.
City hung on though, to lead the table with nine points, with their attention now turning to the Champions League opener on Tuesday away at Porto. For Coventry, it is a brutal start. Lampard's Sky Blues have now lost their first three league games without scoring.
