Manchester City beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Erling Haaland’s two goals secured a club-record seventh straight win at the start of a Premier League season and put Enzo Maresca’s side six points clear of Arsenal.
Only Chelsea in 2005-06 and Liverpool in 2019-20 had previously won their opening seven league games. Maresca also becomes the first manager in Premier League history to win his first seven matches in charge of a club.
It was City’s first home league game since being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of the competition’s financial rules. The club are appealing, having branded the verdict a “Premier League conspiracy”, and face a possible points deduction or even expulsion if that appeal fails.
The home support was defiant. Fans booed the Premier League anthem before kick-off and waved thousands of inflatable bananas, a tradition from the late 1980s, when supporters used them to lift spirits during a poor spell, and taunted Ipswich with self-deprecating chants.
Phil Foden opened the scoring in the 19th minute, turning sharply and finishing after Jeremy Doku’s incisive run split the Ipswich defence. It was Foden’s first goal of the season and a fine response to the midweek defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
Ipswich briefly silenced a raucous Etihad. Daizen Maeda got the better of Marc Guehi two minutes later and fired home to level in the 21st minute, a quick reply that suggested the visitors had not read the script.
Haaland restored the lead in the 34th minute, meeting Mateo Kovacic’s cross with a precise header before half-time, and the hosts took that advantage into the interval with a firmer grip on the contest.
City killed the game off in the 69th minute. Iliman Ndiaye played Haaland through, and the striker sprinted onto the pass and steered a composed finish past Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton to make it 3-1.
It was Haaland’s 12th goal in his last eight City appearances, and he has now scored in six consecutive Premier League games. Only once has he had a longer scoring run in the competition, a streak of seven.
He thought he had a hat-trick moments later, firing in an acrobatic effort, but the goal was disallowed for a marginal offside against Enzo Fernandez in the build-up. VAR upheld the decision, leaving the striker to settle for two.
Ipswich gave themselves late hope when Zian Flemming slammed in a 90th-minute penalty, awarded for a foul by Guehi on Abdul Fatawu. City then had to see out 12 minutes of added time, and they held on for the win.
Arsenal, in second place, can cut the gap with a win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, October 18. City had also beaten Liverpool at Anfield in their first match after the verdict, though their long-term position remains uncertain.