Manchester City have enjoyed using one specific weapon to hurt opponents during the start of Enzo Maresca’s tenure as manager.
The Community Shield made it look like the Citizens could have a tough period of adaptation following Pep Guardiola’s exit. Although the board had this specific idea in mind when appointing Enzo Maresca, a former assistant of the Spaniard. To change as little as possible in terms of football philosophy and play style.
But the Italian has quickly turned things around at Etihad Stadium. Four wins in a row across all competitions after that hopeless 3-0 defeat to Arsenal to kick off the new season.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, of course. Man City have looked rather passive defensively, allowing chances – and even clear-cut goalscoring opportunities for lesser opponents.
Crystal Palace and Coventry City, for instance, both had three big chances against the Citizens. Bournemouth had one and nearly won, if it wasn’t for Rayan Cherki heroically inspiring his side to a come-from-behind win on opening weekend.
However, this new-look Man City team are making teams pay in a manner somewhat unusual to their previous patterns.
How Man City are making the most of crossing the ball
Crosses have grown increasingly more frequent — and also dangerous — in modern football. Many teams were rewarded for launching the ball into the box, with and without purpose in the 2026 World Cup, for example.
Under Guardiola, Man City had been going in a different direction. They ranked second in the Premier League in crosses attempted in the 2021/22 season, but have dropped down every following campaign.
| Premier League season | Manager | Crosses attempted per game | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | Enzo Maresca | 18.4 | 7th |
| 2025/26 | Pep Guardiola | 15.3 | 16th |
| 2024/25 | Pep Guardiola | 18.1 | 11th |
| 2023/24 | Pep Guardiola | 18.2 | 8th |
| 2022/23 | Pep Guardiola | 18.3 | 4th |
| 2021/22 | Pep Guardiola | 20.9 | 2nd |
However, Maresca has seemingly brought this back this year. Of course, it’s still early days, but it does stand out how much more they are using crosses as an attacking weapon. Even from open play, not just doing it from set pieces.
In fact, they rank higher in crosses from open play (sixth) among all teams in the 2026/27 Premier League so far than overall (seventh). In set-piece situations, specifically, they are eigth.
The Haaland factor
And it’s easy to understand why the Citizens have been crossing the ball so much compared to previous seasons. There’s the Erling Haaland factor, of course. The Norwegian striker is capable of getting on the end of nearly everything that gets thrown inside the box.
Haaland has already scored 17 goals from crosses in the Premier League since joining Man City, the outright most of any player. That is despite his side looking less and less for this kind of opportunities for him. Ollie Watkins (16) and Richarlison (14) are the closest peers in this regard.
So far this season, nobody else has scored more than one goal following crosses in the league. Of course, Man City’s No.9 already has two. Three if you take into consideration all competitions.
Increased crossing success
Expanding to that, the numbers show exactly why Maresca seems to be leaning more on crosses.
| Season (all competitions) | Crosses attempted per game | Shots from crosses per game | Goals from crosses per game | xG from crosses per game | Crossing accuracy (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | 18.4 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 31.1 |
| 2025/26 | 15.3 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 25.7 |
| 2024/25 | 18.1 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 24.1 |
| 2023/24 | 18.2 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 22.4 |
| 2022/23 | 18.3 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 24.3 |
| 2021/22 | 20.9 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 20.2 |
| 2020/21 | 16.5 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 20.2 |
| 2019/20 | 23.4 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 22.3 |
| 2018/19 | 20.1 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 20.5 |
| 2017/18 | 18.6 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 20.3 |
| 2016/17 | 19.9 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 23.3 |
| 2015/16 | 21.1 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 24.5 |
You would have to go back to 2013/14, the first season under Manuel Pellegrini, to find the last time Man City averaged more shots from crosses in a single campaign (3.8). And even then they didn’t score as much from those as they are doing now (0.5 per game as opposed to the current average of 0.8).
The success rate of 31.1% in cross completion is very high – possibly unsustainably high. There is a chance this percentage drops as well as their chances and goals. But maybe not as much that it still make this first season under Maresca one that heavily relies on crosses to get players in good goalscoring opportunities.
Antoine Semenyo stands out in the creation department in this regard. The Ghanaian winger ranks first in crosses attempted, as well as goals, shots, big chances and expected assists generated from them.
New signing Enzo Fernandez is already getting on with the program. Slotting into the right (vs Coventry) and then left (vs Porto) half-spaces, he has attempted six crosses in two matches, providing an assist for Haaland in the Champions League opener.