ENZO FERNANDEZ may be the joint most expensive player in British football history.
But the £125 million ace will have to go some to upstage Erling Haaland at his new home, the Etihad.
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The Argentina World Cup star was pressed into an emergency full debut after initially being named on the bench on his first day.
And it went as well as he could have hoped – catching the eye in the first half and also having a hand in the only goal of the game.
However, as usual, it was the main man Haaland who scored it, nodding in a delicious cross by Antoine Semenyo in the first half.
You don’t take the headlines off the big guy in this part of town no matter how much you cost.
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Haaland has picked up where he left off in his first World Cup, scoring three times in his club’s first three games of the season.
The Norwegian should have had more too – and could have made it much easier for his team who became increasingly ragged as the game wore on.
And against a team more clinical than Frank Lampard’s Prem new boys, they could easily have dropped points for the first time this season.
Fernandez said he has always dreamed of joining a ‘big club’ like City, and their record of winning trophies recently backs that up.
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Saturday 5 September
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Saturday 5 September
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But there is no doubt they are a club in transition following the departure of Pep Guardiola after ten years at the helm in the summer.
His old assistant Enzo Maresca has won his first three Prem matches in charge and sits on top of the table – you can’t say fairer than that.
However in two of the matches so far, they have looked more like a work in progress than a team with title pedigree.
So Fernandez will know he will have to justify some of that huge transfer fee if they are to challenge this season.
Former Chelsea skipper Fernandez was initially named on the bench by his boss Maresca.
However, England ace Nico O’Reilly was injured in thewarmrup, – forcing a late rethink by the Etihad chief.
It was so late that O’Reilly was even announced in the starting line-up as the two teams warmed up ahead of kick-off.
However it soon became clear that Fernandez – wearing his new number 17 shirt – would be in from the first whistle.
Fellow new boy Iliman Ndiaye was named in the XI by Maresca and was used out on the left hand side against Frank Lampard’s men.
Coventry were still searching for their first goal since returning to the top flight – yet the hosts did their best to gift them one.
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First, Gianluigi Donnarumma struggled to bring a routine pass from Abdukodir Khuasnov under control and only just prevented an embarrassing own goal.
Then Semenyo’s stray pass allowed Taiwo Awoniyi to go clean through but he pulled his shot wide.
At the other end, Rayan Cherki slipped a pass to Haaland after quickly taken free-kick but Carl Rushworth got down to make the save.
Fernandez was starting to have an impact and slipped a pass to Cherki who took a touch before firing a low shot against the post.
While City were looking good going forward, they were open at the back and Jack Rudoni got on the end of a long throw but Donnarumma got down to save.
Fernandez’s pass reached Semenyo, who whipped a cross over Rushworth’s head for Haaland to head into the unguarded net.
Barely a game goes by without the Norwegian breaking some kind of record, and here is this week’s.
This was a 20th headed goal in the Prem for Haaland – more than any other City player in the history of the competition.
Fernandez was again involved just before the break, linking up with Elliot Anderson and Cherki to tee up Haaland, who was again denied by Rushworth.
Lampard has been back here as a coach plenty of times since his brief spell as a City player ended in 2015.
So he would not have been too disheartened that his team were only one goal down at the break and still in with a shout.
But the home side looked to kill the game off with Fernandez producing a clever flick to tee up Haaland for a tap in – only for the offside flag to cut short the celebrations.
And the newly-promoted visitors took heart from that – going close to pulling level on a couple of occasions.
First sub Loum Tchaouna pounced on a mis-hit City pass and forced a smart save out of Donnarumma, with Marc Guehi thumping away the loose ball.
From the resulting throw in, it dropped nicely for Matt Grimes whose thumping low shot went the wrong side of the post with the Italian beaten.
With the visitors becoming more ambitious, they left gaps at the back and Haaland could not quite get on the end of another Semenyo cross.
Fernandez was withdrawn 15 minutes from time with the game still in the balance, making way for another big- money arrival Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Needless to say, the Argentine World Cup ace was roundly booed by the visitingfans ;– he might have to get used to that.
But still the plucky visitors pushed forward with Caleb Yirenkyi’s cross reaching Ellis Simms at the back post.
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The sub tried to lift the ball over Donnarumma but it hit the Italian – who knew little about it – flush in the face.
City held on – but it was far from convincing from Maresca’s new look team.