A late call, a great ball, and one small step towards paying off the most baffling transfer fee of the window. Those hoping for Enzo Fernandez to fall flat at Manchester City will have to wait a while longer to land their punches.We can state at the outset that the Argentine did not settle this game – that was achieved by the more conventional means of Erling Haaland.Nor was Fernandez the best player, because Rayan Cherki seems to hold a standing reservation on that status.But in a game that lacked any sustained periods of class from City, Fernandez, the £125million riddle, bedded himself in with a solid contribution and one sublime delivery.Relevantly, it was the ball that orchestrated the winning moment after 26 minutes, when he spotted the run of Antoine Semenyo, processed the space behind Jay Dasilva, and through a split-second judgement was able to shape the two factors into a high-quality, game-changing pass.From there, Semenyo nailed the cross and Haaland did what Haaland does, but the art had been supplied by a man who most neutrals prefer to despise. Presumably, he won’t wait too long to offer a reminder of the infuriating aspects he showed at Chelsea, and at the World Cup, but this was a strong start. Erling Haaland celebrates scoring the only goal of the game for Man City against Coventry Enzo Fernandez was listed among Enzo Maresca’s substitutes, only to be promoted to the XI when Nico O’Reilly tweaked his backAnd a strange one, too, given Fernandez was listed among Enzo Maresca’s substitutes, only to be promoted to the XI when Nico O’Reilly tweaked his back in the warm-up.In truth, that setback wasn’t the only hurdle Maresca faced. Sure, this was City’s third win in three, but it was also messy, wasteful, and far closer than anyone expected. Coventry had good chances in both halves from only 22 per cent of the possession.Credit there to Frank Lampard – each of his substitutions after the break enhanced Coventry’s side, which might have been worth something had Gianluigi Donnarumma not made a string of saves, but it is hard to escape their record. At three defeats from three, they are the mirror to City in every way.Maresca, therefore, won’t read volumes into this beyond the result, but can share the broader excitement whenever Cherki takes possession. He neither scored nor assisted here, but with two of each preceding another menacing contribution, his confidence is glowing in fluorescent shades, especially when he is permitted to play that advanced role behind Haaland.To that end, Fernandez’s arrival in deeper areas ought to help. The risk is that they might clog each other’s space around the box when Fernandez bursts forward, but the early signs have pointed to a decent synergy. Same goes for Elliot Anderson, who completed 92 per cent of 155 passes and appears tailormade for Maresca’s tap-tap-tap system of hogging possession with short balls.Other positives might be hard to find for Maresca, explaining why he sought virtue in the merits of winning ‘ugly’.He said: ‘Not all the wins are going to be nice wins – we need some of these wins in ugly ways. The good thing for me is that all of the wins have been different. Against Bournemouth we fought to the end, against Crystal Palace we were very good on the ball and off the ball, and today we are defending long throws and set pieces – it is something you need.’ Rayan Cherki dazzled again as he was given the nod over Phil Foden in the No 10 roleMaresca added that the O’Reilly injury ‘doesn’t feel serious’, but it was the prelude to 10 minutes of calamity at the start of this game. That messy stretch commenced when Donnarumma allowed an Abdukodir Khusanov backpass to squirm under his boot, prompting a desperate hack off the line, before Semenyo day-dreamed his way into a square ball across goal that was cut out by Taiwo Awoniyi. To Maresca’s relief, Awoniyi botched the one-on-one.City’s corrections started with Haaland, who had a snapshot saved by Carl Rushworth, before Cherki bluffed Bobby Thomas into a lunge and then rattled against the post. MATCH FACTS Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma 7; Khusanov 6.5, Dias 7, Guehi 6, Gvardiol 6.5; Fernandez 7.5 (Bouaddi 76), Anderson 7; Ndiaye 5.5 (McAidoo 86), Semenyo 7, Cherki 8 (Foden 66, 6); Haaland 7.Subs not used: Rulli, Kovacic, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Lewis, SambaBooked: KhusanovEnzo Maresca 7Coventry (3-4-2-1: Rushworth 7.5; Thomas 7.5, Amenda 6, Pinnock 6.5; Van Ewijk 7, Grimes 6.5, Onyeka 6.5 (Yirenkyi 63, 6.5), Dasilva 6 (Hamer 85); Rudoni 6 (Tachaouna 63, 6.5), Mason-Clark 6.5 (Thomas-Asante 71, 6); Awoniyi 6 (Simms 71, 7).Subs not used: Bentley, Sakamoto, Latibeaudiere, TorpBooked: Van Ewijk, PinnockFrank Lampard 7Referee: Paul Tierney 7<!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
Cherki’s confidence in those tight spaces has been a theme of these opening games, but it is worth noting that it was Fernandez who gave him the opportunity. The Argentine’s next spell was to set Semenyo loose to assist Haaland’s header for 1-0.This being Fernandez, we should also state there had already been one entirely unnecessary shoulder barge on Rushworth inside the first two minutes and he was later bullied to the ground by Ephron Mason-Clark after over-elaborating in midfield – as ever, he brings the good and bad.‘We know each other very well and I know he is going to help the team win games,’ Maresca said.City continued the fluctuate in the second half, in which Haaland had a goal correctly disallowed for offside. The shame in that instance was the nullification of Fernandez’s assist, crafted by a hooked volley across goal, because the technique was sublime.From there, City’s intensity dropped – Iliman Ndiaye had a particularly quiet debut – and Coventry had scope to push back. When Loum Tchaouna broke clear, they had such a chance, but Donnarumma made the save, before blocking again from Ellis Simms.‘I thought we deserved something,’ said Lampard. ‘A draw would probably be a fair result. But we are not playing Manchester City every week. Going to Arsenal (in the opening fixture) felt very different – it felt our first game in the Premier League for 25 years. This felt very different, like a competitive Premier League game.’