Semenyo reveals Maresca’s half-time frustration despite Manchester City win

Antoine Semenyo says Enzo Maresca was unhappy with Manchester City’s performance at half-time during their 5-3 victory over Sunderland.

Manchester City moved clear at the top of the Premier League after securing their fifth win of the season at Etihad Stadium.

Semenyo said the match had been difficult despite the final scoreline and credited the team with holding on to claim all three points.

“If you win in the end, you are certainly going to enjoy it, but if you lose, it is not quite the same,” he told Sky Sports.

“It was a difficult game, and we knew it would be. They are a very good team and made things difficult for us, but we stood firm as a team to collect the three points.”

The result leaves Manchester City with a perfect record and 15 points from their opening five league matches.

Their success was also helped by Arsenal’s defeat by Brighton, allowing Manchester City to take sole possession of first place before the international break.

Semenyo said the team had made a positive start but warned against becoming complacent.

“Things are going well so far. We do not want to become too satisfied with ourselves,” he said.

“Everyone will go away for the international break to recover and play their matches, then we will come back and continue working again.”

He also praised the way the squad had settled and said the club was developing a strong team culture.

“It has been a great start. Everyone is adapting, and we are building a good culture within the team as well. Hopefully, we can collect as many points as possible.”

Semenyo said Maresca’s half-time message focused on the need to compete more effectively in individual battles.

“He was not very happy,” Semenyo said. “We needed to win the duels, and that was the key thing in the game.

“If we won the duels, I knew we would score, and that changed in the second half.”