City Watch: Maresca smashes managerial record

There is no denying that Manchester City have made a pretty special start to life under Enzo Maresca, with Saturday’s victory over Ipswich Town taking us to seven wins from seven in the Premier League and putting the Italian into the history books. 

Add Tuesday night’s emphatic 5-1 Champions League victory over AEK Athens, and there is plenty for City supporters to feel positive about as we head further into the season.

Of course, it would not be a Manchester City game at the moment without a little noise from the stands before a ball has even been kicked. 

The boos rang out once again when the Premier League anthem played ahead of the Ipswich game, but given everything that has happened off the pitch in recent weeks, it was hardly a surprise. 

The supporters have made their feelings clear, and while the attention surrounding the club shows little sign of disappearing, the most encouraging thing is that the players continue to get on with the job in front of them.

Saturday’s game itself proved a little more uncomfortable than many of us might have expected. City came into the fixture looking to maintain their perfect league record, and on paper it was another opportunity to pick up three points. 

Yet Ipswich showed plenty of fight and refused to make life easy for us, briefly drawing level after Phil Foden’s opener before Erling Haaland restored the advantage. 

The Norwegian then grabbed his second of the afternoon to give City some breathing room, although a late Ipswich penalty ensured the closing stages were more nervy than they needed to be.

Thankfully, the result was never taken away from us, and a 3-2 victory was enough to keep the winning run alive. 

It was not necessarily the most convincing performance we have seen this season, but there is something to be said for finding a way to win even when everything does not go perfectly. 

The best teams are not always at their best every week, and collecting three points on a difficult afternoon is ultimately what matters most.

The bigger story, however, was Maresca’s place in the record books. 

Seven league games, seven wins, and the first manager in Premier League history to win his opening seven league matches at a new club.

 It is an extraordinary achievement, particularly given the expectations that come with taking charge of Manchester City and the scrutiny surrounding the club. 

We are also enjoying our best-ever winning start to a league season, beating even Pep Guardiola’s records. It is still early days, of course, but you cannot ask for much more than a perfect start.

Attention then turned to Europe on Tuesday night, with City welcoming AEK Athens to the Etihad and looking to bounce back from last week’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. 

The loss in Paris was a reminder that there will be tougher tests ahead, and the Champions League is a competition where even the smallest lapse can prove costly. 

On paper, City were favourites to win this one, but football has a habit of making a fool of anyone who assumes a result is guaranteed.

For a while, though, it looked as though City would make the evening a straightforward affair. 

Elliot Anderson opened the scoring inside 12 minutes, reacting quickest after Enzo Fernandez’s free kick came back off the crossbar, before Foden doubled the lead with a tidy finish following excellent work with Rico Lewis. 

At 2-0 at half time, the job appeared to be well under control, and City had done enough to suggest they would have too much quality for the visitors.

AEK did manage to pull a goal back shortly after the break, briefly threatening to make things interesting, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished. 

Rayan Cherki restored City’s two goal cushion with a lovely finish, and then Foden took centre stage. 

Two further goals completed a brilliant hat trick for the England international, sealing a 5-1 victory and giving the Etihad plenty to celebrate.

The result was exactly the response City needed after the disappointment against PSG, but for me, the biggest positive was seeing Foden looking like himself again. 

There has been plenty of discussion about his form, and it is always encouraging to see one of our own coming through a difficult spell and reminding everyone of the quality he possesses. 

His goal against Ipswich was his first of the season, and to follow it up with three more in Europe is a fantastic return. 

Four goals in two games is the kind of form that can quickly build confidence, and hopefully this is the beginning of a sustained run rather than just a couple of good nights.

It was also pleasing to see Anderson get his first City goal and Cherki continue to provide the sort of creativity that can unlock stubborn defences. 

Maresca made several changes to the side that beat Ipswich, yet City still had more than enough firepower to put the game beyond AEK. 

That depth will be important as the fixtures pile up, especially with the demands of competing in both domestic and European football.

There is plenty of football still to be played, and nobody should be getting carried away just yet. 

The defeat to PSG showed that City are not invincible, while the Ipswich game reminded us that even matches we expect to win comfortably can become complicated. 

But seven wins from seven in the league, a record-breaking start for Maresca and a five-star European performance make for a very healthy picture at this stage of the season.

For now, the mood should be one of genuine optimism. Maresca is making history, the team keeps finding ways to win, and Foden looks to have rediscovered his spark at just the right time. 

If he can keep playing with the confidence he showed against AEK, City could have a very exciting player on their hands again, although, to be fair, we always knew the talent was there.

Seven league games down, seven wins in the bag, and a Champions League response delivered in style. Not a bad week at all.