Maresca says Manchester City have the depth to challenge for Premier League title

Enzo Maresca believes Manchester City now possess the squad strength needed to compete at the top of the Premier League after edging past Coventry City in a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

City introduced deadline-day signings Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye to their supporters, while Ayyoub Bouaddi and Ryan McAidoo also made their first appearances in front of the home crowd.

Fernandez was initially expected to begin on the bench, but moved into the starting XI shortly before kick-off after Nico O’Reilly suffered an injury during the warm-up. The £125m signing made an immediate contribution, finding Antoine Semenyo with an intelligent pass. Semenyo then delivered the cross from which Erling Haaland headed in the only goal of the game.

The strike was Haaland’s 300th club goal.

Ndiaye, who joined for £60m, also started the match, although Maresca said the Senegal international would require time to understand his tactical instructions. Ndiaye has had only two training sessions with his new team since completing the move.

While the newcomers attracted much of the attention, Elliot Anderson was arguably City’s most influential player. The midfielder was named man of the match after another impressive performance in the centre of the pitch.

City had to defend their advantage for long periods after half-time as Coventry applied considerable pressure. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several important saves to ensure the visitors could not find an equaliser and secured the clean sheet.

Maresca accepted that his side’s display lacked style, but said grinding out results of this nature would prove valuable during the season.

“It was a little bit of an ugly win,” he said. “It’s something we need and a clean sheet is important.”

The Manchester City manager also used Arsenal’s strength in reserve as an example of why title contenders need significant depth across their squads. Maresca said the competition at the top of the Premier League meant having alternatives in every position was essential.

“If you want to be there you need options,” Maresca said. “Arsenal have options. We have options. More teams have options so it’s not just us.”

Fernandez already has a working relationship with Maresca from their time together at Chelsea, something the manager believes could help the midfielder settle quickly at Manchester City.

Maresca said he had no doubts about the contribution Fernandez could make as he adapts to his new surroundings.

“I know how good he is and I know that he is going to help the team to win games,” Maresca said.