– Pep Guardiola wins opening fixture as manager of Manchester City
– The Citizens narrowly defeated Sunderland 2-1 at the Etihad
– Guardiola put the big names on the bench against the Black Cats
New Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola opened his Premier League managerial debut with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for the Citizens from a resulting spot-kick after Patrick van Aanholt fouled Raheem Sterling in the box after just four minutes.
Sergio Aguero scores from the penalty spot to put City ahead against Sunderland
Sunderland fought back to restore parity after a neat passing game from substitute Adnan Januzaj and Jack Rodwell who found Jermain Defoe in the middle to slot home the equalizer.
However, it was City who had the last laugh after Black Cats’ new signing PatrickMcNair scored an own goal to give Guardiola his first win in the Premier League.
Guardiola surprisingly left England number one Joe Hart on the bench but gave the most expensive defender John Stones a starting shirt just four days after making the big money move.
Ilkay Gudogan and Leroy Sane were not listed for the match as Yaya Toure and Nicolas Otamendi were other big names omitted from the starting XI.
Manchester City players celebrate a goal against Sunderland
City will be travelling to the Britannia to face Stoke City in the second round and entertain West Ham the following week of the new Premier League season.