For 80 minutes, if plenty were perplexed by an outbreak of extraordinary entertainment, maybe no one was more confused than Erling Haaland. There had been seven goals, but he got none of them. A giant figure in the No 9 shirt scored a hat-trick, but it wasn’t him. By the end, there were two outcomes Haaland recognised only too well. Manchester City won and he had scored.
But they were the only normal elements of an astonishing afternoon. Enzo Maresca’s side extended their 100 per cent start, but in unusual fashion. “I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3,” said the Italian. He did not get his wish. He had predicted Sunderland would be City’s toughest match of the season so far; he was right in that part, at least.
