The eyes of everyone at the club were on Enzo Fernández when Manchester City paid the joint-British record fee of £125m to lure him away from Chelsea, the London rivals. But despite being selected in the team, and at least once on the scoresheet, a trio of costlier new signings managed to capture the attention during City’s win over Coventry. Fernndez being, promoted to the starting XI only late on with Nico O’Reilly getting injured warming up, had a sound if uninspiring debut under Enzo Maresca.
But the stars were the players who cost a fraction of Fernández’s mega transfer fee; an intricate and dynamic playmaker Rayan Cherki did more than anyone else outfield to try and rip the Sky Blues apart with his clever positioning, crisp distribution and decisive movement in attacking areas and, crucial to protecting what they had gained, keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Coventry time after time with a series of timely stops to ensure the champions moved to the top of the league.
The former Benfica attacking midfielder put on a show throughout when he played an advanced role in the midfield, where he came close to an assist with a pass into Erling Haaland, who scored from an offside position, while Fernandez instigated the build-up that gave rise to Semenyo cutting back for a Haaland winner; the World Cup winner still looked confident with limited game time in terms of match fitness levels. But still, this victory provided a strong statement on his team; Fernandez has not, and possibly never, had a comfortable start due to the media spotlight over his £125m, but against Coventry, the more affordable recruits like Cherki and Donnarumma provided what was a good attacking foundation to build off during City’s march forward.
Source: The Independent (written by Richard Jolly)
Leave a Reply