Haaland scores twice as Manchester City beat Ipswich and extend Maresca’s record start

Manchester City beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, 17 October, with two Erling Haaland goals extending Enzo Maresca’s winning start to seven Premier League matches. AFP reported that Maresca is the first manager to win his first seven games in charge in the competition.

The result left City six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table, according to AFP. Arsenal could reduce that gap by winning at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

How City beat Ipswich 3-2

Haaland restored City’s lead in the 34th minute, heading in a Mateo Kovacic cross from close range. After the break, Nico O’Reilly went close with a header before Iliman Ndiaye’s run and pass set up Haaland’s second goal in the 69th minute. AFP put the striker’s league tally at 12 for the season.

Haaland later put the ball in the net again, but a VAR review ruled out the apparent hat-trick goal for offside. Another review brought referee Farai Hallam to the monitor after Guéhi challenged Abdul Fatawu. Zian Flemming converted the resulting penalty in the 90th minute, leaving Ipswich one goal behind.

City’s first home league game since financial-rules verdict

The Guardian described Saturday’s match as City’s first home Premier League game since the club was found to have breached the competition’s financial rules. AFP reported that City is appealing the finding over more than 100 breaches and that this was the team’s second win since the verdict last month. Supporters brought inflatable bananas to the Etihad and booed the Premier League anthem, according to the two reports.

The victory followed Maresca’s pre-match comments about keeping the players focused on Liverpool despite the financial-rules verdict. Against Ipswich, City had to recover from a quick equaliser and then protect a one-goal lead after Flemming’s late penalty to preserve their perfect league start.