With Arsenal having been comprehensively beaten at Brighton earlier in the weekend, City had an extra incentive to go for the three points, as it would mean putting daylight between them and their nearest rivals.
City were unbeaten in nine against Sunderland
The Black Cats had recently lost to the Gunners at the Stadium of Light, though they certainly hadn't disgraced themselves in terms of their performance levels.
A sizeable task awaited them, however, not least because City were unbeaten in the last nine Premier League games against them. An away win would be Sunderland's first league victory against their opponents in 13 years, with their last win coming in November 2013.
Both teams had made one change each from their last fixture, and had also set up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation, which would prove to be significant by the end of the game. Sunderland’s starting XI, whose average age was 26 years and 246 days, was actually their youngest in a league game in 2026/27.
Robin Roefs should've done much better in the Sunderland goal when Enzo Fernandez caught him out at his near post with a brilliantly executed free-kick early on; however, the visitors had already had two attempts of their own by then, and that was the shape of things to come.
Brobbey to the rescue
Less than three minutes later, Brian Brobbey found the net at the other end to silence the City supporters who were still celebrating their opening goal.
Indeed, the fearlessness and attacking bravery that Sunderland showed throughout the game deserve plaudits, as the Black Cats actually ended up having more total shots than their hosts (17 to 16) and more on target (nine to six).
Rayan Cherki soon restored parity for City, before Brobbey repeated his trick from earlier and equalised just three minutes later.
Thomas Meunier had provided the assist, and his 91.3 per cent pass completion was a major reason why the visitors were standing toe-to-toe with their more celebrated opponents.
Ballard's best still unable to stop Semenyo
Nilson Angulo (91.7 per cent) also enjoyed himself at the Etihad, spraying the ball around for fun.
With Dan Ballard winning 12 of his 18 total one-on-one duels, more than any player from either side in the match, and Nordi Mukiele contributing four interceptions and three won tackles from four attempted, Sunderland had a solid base from which to build their attacks.
They could do nothing about Antoine Semenyo's fine form on the day, mind you.
The striker had already assisted Cherki and attempted five crosses - more than anyone else - before firing City ahead for the third time in the match.
Angulo makes his presence felt
His first goal of the season was enough for the hosts to lead at the break, and Semenyo soon added another in the second half.
Angulo was starting to make his presence felt for the visitors. After having his shot cleared off the line, he provided an assist for Brobbey to score his hat-trick goal, whilst also causing havoc for City's full-backs by successfully completing two of his three dribbles.
His two big chances created were only one less than Brobbey's, and as many as any City player (Erling Haaland) managed during the game, too.
Although the goal brought Sunderland back into the game, it was City who then seized the initiative.
Three unanswered efforts combined with 70 per cent collective possession meant that the visitors were left chasing shadows for long periods.
Anderson lucky to be on the pitch
Semenyo's perfect 100 per cent pass completion, allied to 94.9 per cent from Marc Guehi and 97 per cent from substitute Iliman Ndiaye, certainly gave a tiring Sunderland side the runaround, with the only surprise being that it took Haaland until 10 minutes from the end to finally break his duck against the Wearsiders.
A fifth goal of the campaign for the Norwegian took him clear at the top of the Premier League scoring charts, and there was still time for both sides to trade blows late on, with VAR ruling out another goal for City.
The biggest talking point of the match actually came when Elliot Anderson clearly handled in the box.
Whilst it could've easily been missed by the match official, those in the VAR room would've had a crystal-clear view of the incident, and a blanket refusal to even look at the footage from them leaves more question marks than answers.