Zikry has known City’s new forward since they were at primary school and they played together at Marmoush’s first club, Wadi Degla, in southern Cairo. (The top photo shows Zikry, now a goalkeeper for WE Sporting Club in Egypt’s second division, centre of the front row, with Marmoush directly behind him; the photo below shows them together.)

Egypt forward Marmoush scored his first two goals for City in the space of five minutes and added a third before the break.

Fabrizio Ravanelli struck a hat-trick his on his debut for Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 1996/97 season. While Clive Mendonca ( for Charlton Athletic in 1998/99) and Teemu Pukki (for Norwich City in 2019/20) did it on their second appearances.