Haaland brace keeps Maresca’s record City start rolling against Ipswich

City make it seven league wins in a row under Maresca

Manchester City beat Ipswich 3-2 at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland scoring twice to preserve Enzo Maresca’s historic start as manager. The victory was Maresca’s seventh consecutive Premier League win in charge, making him the first manager to win his first seven matches in the competition.

City dominated possession early but struggled to find openings against an Ipswich side defending in numbers. Phil Foden broke through after Jérémy Doku’s work on the left, sweeping home to put the hosts ahead. Ipswich hit back almost immediately: Daizen Maeda ran onto a curved pass from Abdoul Ouattara and finished past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Haaland settles it after Ipswich fight back

Haaland restored City’s lead with a header after Mateo Kovacic moved into a crossing position. Ipswich emerged with more ambition after the interval and came close when Emersonn headed against a City defender following a corner, with Donnarumma caught out of position.

City eventually made their pressure count again when Iliman Ndiaye supplied Haaland, who finished emphatically for his second of the afternoon. A possible third goal for the striker was ruled out by VAR.

The closing stages brought further drama. VAR sent referee Farai Hallam to the pitchside monitor after Marc Guéhi brought down Abdul Fatawu in the area, and Zian Flemming converted the resulting penalty in the 90th minute. City held on through a lengthy period of added time to claim the points and extend Maresca’s Premier League winning run.

The match was City’s first home Premier League fixture since the club’s financial-rules verdict. Against that backdrop, the home crowd celebrated a result that maintained the team’s perfect league record under its new manager, even as Ipswich made the contest uncomfortable to the end.