Haaland sends Manchester City top of Premier League with win over Coventry

Erling Haaland's header kept Manchester City's perfect Premier League start intact, but the 1-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City left the home side clinging to its advantage.

Haaland struck midway through the first half for his third goal in three matches. Enzo Fernández began the move with a pass to Antoine Semenyo, who raced down the right and delivered a cross for Haaland to head in at the far post. The Norwegian nearly added another before halftime, but Carl Rushworth denied him.

City's wider performance did little to settle the nerves inside the Etihad Stadium. Coventry came close to taking the lead early after Gianluigi Donnarumma miscontrolled a backpass and only just cleared the ball from his own line. Taiwo Awoniyi and Jack Rudoni also missed chances before City found its rhythm.

Frank Lampard's Coventry had not scored in three straight defeats since returning to the top flight after 25 years, but the visitors created opportunities to end that run. Donnarumma made major saves from Loum Tchaouna and Ellis Simms in the closing stages, denying Coventry a first top-flight point in a quarter-century.

New City manager Enzo Maresca introduced summer arrivals Fernández and Iliman Ndiaye. Fernández had been expected to start on the bench after completing his £125 million move from Chelsea, which matched the Premier League transfer record, but an injury to Nico O'Reilly during the warm-up forced him into the lineup. Ndiaye made his City debut alongside Haaland, Semenyo and Rayan Cherki. City now lead the table ahead of Arsenal's match against Chelsea and must improve before visiting local rivals Manchester United next weekend.