Man City 3 – 2 Ipswich
Premier League leaders Manchester City earned a seventh straight win by beating Ipswich Town 3-2 as their on-pitch resistance showed no signs of slowing.
Banana-crazed fans, a tradition that started in the 1980s, made for a playful atmosphere, and City’s players responded with another demonstration of dogged defiance to move six points clear at the top. Their focus on winning football matches despite the huge scrutiny the club is under cannot be questioned.
Pep Guardiola was the guest of honour when PSG visited in the week. On Saturday, it was former director Txiki Begiristain, who oversaw an unprecedented period of domestic dominance during his time at the Etihad. City are maintaining a united front wherever possible.
Erling Haaland was insatiable again, scoring once in each half to take his seasonal tally to 12. He’s scored four just this week – and is now the fastest of any player in Premier League history to reach 100 non-penalty goals. VAR also denied him a hat-trick late on.
Erling Haaland celebrates after restoring Man City’s lead against Ipswich
It was the forgotten Phil Foden – starting for the first time since being sent off at Manchester United – who opened the scoring, benefitting from Jeremy Doku’s trickery to beat Christian Walton with a guided low finish. Daizen Maeda had Ipswich level within 155 seconds of Foden’s strike.
Erling Haaland heads Man City into a 2-1 lead against Ipswich
The visitors had no answer for Haaland, though. Mateo Kovacic teed up an easy first for the striker to head home and Iliman Ndiaye slid him through for a well-taken second. City were cruising, but a jittery finish has become customary at the Etihad and after Zian Flemming made the scoreline 3-2 from the penalty spot, nerves jangled.
But it would seem that nothing was going to stand in the way of Enzo Maresca becoming the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a new club. With City fighting against the re-write of their recent history, that is one achievement that cannot be stripped away.
The key moments from the Etihad…
19: GOAL! Doku picks out Foden to score a smart opener on his return to the starting XI.
21: GOAL! Ipswich respond immediately as Maeda shrugs off Marc Guehi far too easily and beats Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low finish.
34: GOAL! Kovacic glides down the righthand side of the box unopposed, before clipping a lovely ball for Haaland to head on the penalty spot.
56: MISS! Nico O’Reilly misses a golden opportunity to make the scoreline more comfortable but skews his header off target.
68: GOAL! Haaland steps onto a brilliant pass from Ndiaye and slots past Walton.
85: VAR! Haaland thinks he’s completed his hat-trick before VAR rule Enzo Fernandez offside in the build up.
88: PENALTY! VAR awards Ipswich a penalty after Guehi makes contact with Abdul Fatawu inside the box. Flemming buries the spot-kick.
