Manchester City made it seven Premier League wins from seven on Saturday. Ipswich Town made them fight all the way at the Etihad Stadium, though. Man City 3-2 Ipswich will be remembered for Phil Foden’s early opener and a brace from Erling Haaland. The result keeps City top of the table with a perfect 21 points and puts Enzo Maresca in the record books.
The Man City 3-2 Ipswich contest was previewed here before kick-off. It played out in front of 60,817 fans and stayed alive until deep into the second half. The hosts led 2-1 at the break after a breathless opening half.
Man City 3-2 Ipswich: how the goals went in
Foden opened the scoring on 19 minutes, finishing calmly after Jeremy Doku carved Ipswich open down the left. The lead lasted barely two minutes, however. Daizen Maeda slotted home from Ouattara’s pass to silence the home crowd.
City arrived on the back of a 4-2 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. Maresca changed the whole midfield from that game. The Man City 3-2 Ipswich scoreline had its next twist on 34 minutes when Haaland converted Mateo Kovacic’s pass. Ipswich kept asking questions after the interval.
Man City 3-2 Ipswich: Haaland completes the job
The visitors set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Walton behind a back three of O’Shea, Diop and Greaves. Bouaddi also featured in midfield for the hosts, while Semenyo started alongside Haaland in attack. Gianluigi Donnarumma started in goal behind a defence of Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly, with Christian Walton in the Ipswich goal. Haaland then swept home his second on 69 minutes from Iliman Ndiaye’s delivery. Haaland’s second took the game away from Ipswich just as they were building pressure. That restored the two-goal cushion and underlined a partnership that has quickly become a feature of City’s attacking play.
Costly win as injuries mount
There was late drama when Flemming converted a 90th-minute penalty to set up a nervy finish. The second half alone carried 12 minutes of added time as Ipswich pushed for an equaliser. City held their nerve through the closing moments. The Man City 3-2 Ipswich victory came at a cost, however.
Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly all went off injured. Haaland headed straight down the tunnel at the full-time whistle, limping heavily and not stopping to applaud the fans. Antoine Semenyo was not far behind him, also hobbling. The trio’s withdrawals stretched a squad already tested by the midweek trip to Paris. City fans will hope none of those problems prove serious with fixtures coming thick and fast. The City medical staff will assess Haaland, Kovacic, Nunes and O’Reilly ahead of the midweek fixture.
What Keown and Maresca said
Former England defender Martin Keown told Final Score the victory had been “a bit expensive” for City. Asked about Haaland afterwards, Maresca said: “No, I don’t know anything. I just came out of the pitch straight to here, so I don’t know.”
What the result means for the table
The Man City 3-2 Ipswich win makes City only the third club in Premier League history to win their opening seven matches of a season. Only two clubs had previously managed the feat: Chelsea under Jose Mourinho in 2005-06 and Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp in 2019-20. Both went on to lift the title in those seasons. Meanwhile, Maresca becomes the first manager to win his first seven games in charge of a club in the competition.
No other side in the division has a perfect record. As a result, City stay top with their 100 per cent record intact. The growing injury list will concern the manager, however, with another important match coming in midweek.
