Fernandez impresses on full City debut as Haaland header seals win over Coventry

Enzo Fernandez made an unplanned full debut for Manchester City on Saturday, stepping in after Nico O’Reilly suffered a back injury in the warm-up, and the £125m record signing delivered a composed performance as Erling Haaland’s first-half header secured a 1-0 Premier League win over Coventry City.

Fernandez had only completed his deadline-day move from Chelsea two days before the match and was originally named on the bench. But O’Reilly’s withdrawal forced manager Enzo Maresca’s hand, and the Argentina international — who worked under Maresca at Stamford Bridge — played 75 minutes in an advanced midfield role, linking effectively with Rayan Cherki and causing Coventry persistent problems.

“The reason why Enzo was on the bench was just because he arrived two days ago,” Maresca said. “I know how frustrating it has been for Enzo in the last two or three weeks so the idea was to give him some minutes but in the end he played from the start and was quite good and I am happy with his performance.”

Maresca also highlighted the advantage of their prior relationship in accelerating Fernandez’s integration. “It is much more easy with a player that you already share time together because they know exactly what you want,” he said. “We know each other very well and I know how good he is and I know that he is going to help the team win games.”

The victory extends City’s perfect Premier League start to three wins from three. O’Reilly’s back complaint is not believed to be serious, though the club will monitor him carefully with a Champions League fixture against Porto and the Manchester derby at Old Trafford both coming up within the next week.

“Nico felt something in his back, doesn’t look something serious but he was not able to play,” Maresca confirmed.