City beat Ipswich 3-2 for seventh straight league win as fans wave inflatable bananas
MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City extended their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 3-2 win over Ipswich on Saturday. Phil Foden gave City the lead at the Etihad Stadium before Daizen Maeda equalized for Ipswich. Haaland scored before half-time and again after the break, taking his tally for the season to 12. A late Zian Flemming penalty was not enough to stop City making it seven league wins in a row.
It was City’s second win since the club was found guilty last month of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules. City, who are appealing the decision, are six points clear of champions Arsenal, who can close the gap if they win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. City manager Enzo Maresca is the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games in charge.
The stands were filled with inflatable bananas as fans showed their support for the Abu Dhabi-owned club. The blow-up fruit, a throwback to a fan craze of the late 1980s, has become a symbol of defiance as the club faces a possible heavy points deduction, or even expulsion from the league, if its appeal fails.
Foden, in his first appearance since his red card at Old Trafford last month, opened the scoring on 19 minutes, turning in Jeremy Doku’s cutback from eight yards. Ipswich equalized two minutes later when Abdoul Ouattara sent Maeda through, and he outpaced and outmuscled Marc Guehi before beating Gianluigi Donnarumma. City restored their lead on 34 minutes when Mateo Kovacic crossed from the byline for Haaland to head in through Christian Walton’s hands.
Haaland got his second on 69 minutes, latching on to Iliman Ndiaye’s pass, skipping past Ouattara and beating Walton. He thought he had completed a hat-trick when he volleyed in after Ndiaye hit the bar, but VAR ruled it out for offside against Enzo Fernandez. Moments later, VAR awarded Ipswich a penalty after Guehi was judged to have fouled Abdul Fatawu, and Flemming converted. City held on. — AFP
