Enzo Maresca settling in fast at Manchester City

It stands as Enzo Maresca's most significant win since he replaced Pep Guardiola in the summer, and it leaves City on four wins from four league games, level at the top with Arsenal.

Chris Sutton, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, put it down to City's control throughout. "The most damning thing for United was that you always felt City had more control and were carrying more of a threat," he said.

The tactical detail that caught most attention was Maresca's handling of the changed shape after Foden's red card. Rayan Cherki, a City midfielder since August 2025 and already on nine goals this season, was shifted out to the right, then withdrawn at half-time for Iliman Ndiaye, who arrived at the club only last month and is still waiting for his first goal. Sutton called the swap smart Rather than spectacular. "I wouldn't say it was a masterstroke but it was an excellent decision because Cherki is a different type of player," he said. "Ndiaye is more of a runner, can get them up the pitch and has that threat."

Maresca had reason to trust his own patience. A year earlier, at the same ground, his Chelsea side saw goalkeeper Robert Sanchez sent off inside five minutes and lost after he made two substitutions and dropped to a back five within seven minutes of the dismissal. On Sunday he waited before adjusting his City side, and it held.

"There was no doubt Manchester City supporters worried about the change from Pep to Maresca, but I think their recruitment has been pretty smart and pretty shrewd, and I thought it was a masterclass from them," Sutton said. "I'm not saying it suited them going down to 10 men, but to play as they did and look the far superior team is a big feather in Maresca's cap."

Rory Smith of The Observer pointed to the circumstances of Maresca's arrival as evidence of how settled he already looks. "Maresca lost his job at Chelsea because he told them he'd been speaking to City, which means eight, nine months ago, City knew they wanted him to replace Guardiola. That is a pretty big vote of confidence," Smith said. "It means he's probably in a place where he feels wanted and valued and it's a place he knows."

Maresca himself stayed light in front of the media afterwards, asked about Erling Haaland's winner. "How do you say in English? Happy wife, happy life. For us, happy Erling, happy life," he said, smiling in a way rarely associated with his predecessor's press conferences.

Four games in, City sit exactly where Guardiola so often left them: level with Arsenal at the summit. If Sunday's composure with 10 men is a fair sample Rather than an outlier, this may already be shaping into the same two-horse race the league has grown used to.