Haaland winner keeps Manchester City perfect

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The Norway striker missed two one-on-ones either side of heading in Antoine Semenyo's 26th-minute cross.

Rayan Cherki also saw a left-footed effort crash off the right-hand post in the first half, with Gianluigi Donnarumma making two big saves to preserve the hosts' win after the break.

Donnarumma nearly allowed Abdukodir Khusanov's routine backpass to roll over the line and Taiwo Awoniyi woefully rolled a one-on-one past the left post, as Coventry came fast out of the blocks.

At the other end, Haaland tested Carl Rushworth from the edge of the area and Cherki drilled a shot against the right upright before Manchester City went ahead after 26 minutes.

Semenyo was sent in behind by debutant Enzo Fernandez and then delivered a beauty of a cross from the right byline, which Haaland met with a thumping back-post header.

Haaland will feel he should have had a second just before the break when he bundled past Bobby Thomas and shot straight at Rushworth.

Manchester City then had a second goal ruled out just before the hour, as Fernandez was deemed offside when playing a fantastic hooked ball for Haaland to tap home.

Loum Tchoauna's low effort with 20 minutes to play nearly caught the hosts cold, but Donnarumma made a strong save to protect their lead.

Phil Foden was denied on the line by Thomas, before Donnarumma came to Manchester  City's rescue again, keeping out Ellis Simm's close-range effort with his face.

Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca conceded there will be times his side needs to win in "ugly moments".

"In the first half we could have scored one or two more, but we worked together to win, so I am happy," he said.

"It is difficult against teams in a low block, and I felt we dealt very well with that. Anxiety from the fans is normal, in nine out of 10 of these games you end with a bad feeling, but it is important to win 1-0.

"Not all the performances are going to be nice, you also need ugly moments."

Coventry has lost each of its first three games in a league season for just the fifth time, while this is the first time it has ever done so without scoring, having been beaten by Arsenal and Hull City in its opening two matches.

Boss Frank Lampard felt his side was unfortunate to be going home empty-handed.

"I don't think we deserved to lose. As the game went on, we grew," he said.

"Of course, they created chances, but the boys did great. I'm disappointed we didn't get what we deserved, which was a point.

"We have played the two toughest teams on paper. All you can do is control the performance, the boys grew and the pressure we had in periods of the second half was great progression from Arsenal two weeks ago.

"There was a real organisation to the team. Ethan [Pinnock] came in and was great. There were not too many moments when we were on edge. I am really pleased with our lads and the fans showed what they thought of the performance.

"We should take a lot from these three games. Our season will be defined more by games against the likes of Hull, which was disappointing, but we have plenty more games to come."