Erling Haaland's 300th career goal is enough to see off a stubborn Coventry City

Coventry City came to the Etihad, sat deep, and for long spells made Manchester City look ordinary. It took a 26th-minute header from Erling Haaland, powered in off an Antoine Semenyo cross, to separate the two sides — and it happened to be the 300th goal of Haaland's career in all competitions for his club sides, reached in 368 appearances.

Enzo Fernández, a deadline-day, £125m signing from Chelsea, was thrown into the starting line-up when Nico O'Reilly was injured in the warm-up, and had an energetic full debut in midfield.

Coventry made it uncomfortable

With only 22.4% of the ball, Coventry defended deep and had three real openings of their own — Taiwo Awoniyi one-on-one, Jack Rudoni's header among them — and Gianluigi Donnarumma had to be alert to keep the clean sheet as they pushed men forward late on.

A different way to win each time

Three matchweeks, three completely different games. The opener at the Etihad against Bournemouth needed a stoppage-time goal from a substitute just to get City over the line, a 2-1 squeeze after Marcus Tavernier had led for over an hour. Six days later at Selhurst Park it was the opposite problem: Rayan Cherki scored twice in five minutes and Crystal Palace were beaten 4-1 with time to spare. Against Coventry it went back to hard work — 77.6% of the ball and a lone headed goal from Haaland was the only thing to show for a long evening spent probing a team that refused to open up.

Level with Arsenal, ahead by a single goal

Nine points from three wins puts Manchester City top of the Premier League, level with Arsenal on both points and goal difference (+5) after an identical start. What separates the two clubs is goals scored: City have found the net seven times to Arsenal's six, enough to hold first place on the numbers the table uses to split identical records. Both sides are still unbeaten heading into the international break.

Three defeats, no goals, one shared problem

Coventry's return to the top flight after 25 years away could hardly have started worse. Arsenal beat them 3-0 on the opening weekend in a match where Coventry did not make a single tackle until the 69th minute. A week later they lost 0-1 at home to Hull City despite having 69% of the ball and the better expected-goals numbers on the day — a defeat their own control could not prevent. At the Etihad they at least created chances again, pushing men forward for a spell late in the second half, but the finishing that has been missing all season stayed missing. Three matches, zero goals scored, five conceded — Coventry are one of only three clubs, alongside Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, yet to find the net this season.

Match facts

• 26' — Erling Haaland (Manchester City), header from an Antoine Semenyo cross
• Enzo Fernández makes his Manchester City debut after a late change to the starting XI

What's next

Manchester City stay top on 9 points and travel across the city to face Manchester United on Sunday 13 September. Coventry remain bottom on 0 points from three games and host Brighton & Hove Albion the same day.