Manchester City held on for a 3-2 Premier League victory over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, extending their unbeaten start to the season to seven wins from seven despite a frantic finish and a wave of injury scares.
Phil Foden broke the deadlock in the 19th minute, ending a 23-game run without a goal and scoring for the first time since December 2025. Ipswich responded almost instantly, with Daizen Maeda levelling just 155 seconds after City had gone ahead. Erling Haaland then restored the hosts' advantage before the interval, with Mateo Kovacic providing the assist for the striker to head home. The Norwegian added a second in the 69th minute, latching on to a precise pass from Iliman Ndiaye to slot past the Ipswich goalkeeper.
Haaland appeared to have completed a hat-trick late on, but VAR ruled the effort out because Enzo Fernandez was offside in the build-up. Zian Flemming then converted a penalty in the 90th minute to set up a tense conclusion, with 12 minutes of added time failing to produce a third Ipswich goal.
Enzo Maresca has now become the first manager to win his opening seven Premier League matches, surpassing a record previously shared by Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. City sit six points clear of defending champions Arsenal, who face Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The fixture was also City's first home Premier League game since an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching 114 financial rules between 2009 and 2018. Supporters booed the Premier League anthem before kick-off, and inflatable bananas — a tradition rooted in a gesture made by fan Frank Newton at Maine Road in the 1980s — were visible throughout the ground. Foden was clutching one during his post-match interview, saying he planned to give it to his son, Ronnie.
"It hasn't affected us one bit," Foden told Sky Sports. "We've just stuck together, just did what we normally do and focus on the games one by one and just be ourselves. I think we've done that really well. We have great characters and leaders in the changing room. Nothing's changed. We're just fully focused and trying to do the best for the fans that we can."
The afternoon was tempered by concern over several players. Haaland was seen limping as he made his way down the tunnel at full-time after taking a knock from the boot of Ipswich defender Jack Clarke. Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly were all substituted during the second half, while Antoine Semenyo, who had come off the bench, was also seen struggling after the final whistle. Maresca said he had spoken to most of the group and received broadly positive news, though Semenyo's situation remained uncertain.
"First of all, I am very happy because it's a matter of winning games in this business," Maresca said of City's start to the season. "We were able to win seven in a row and what made me very happy was day-by-day with the players, the way they are working and how I can see them improving. Today I thought we controlled the game, created chances and were good off the ball. We are doing well and I think that's the most important thing."
City will assess their injured players before hosting AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday, with a trip to Aston Villa to follow next weekend. The club continue to appeal against their guilty verdict, with the outcome of that process still pending.
Reporting: BBC Sport, Mirror, GiveMeSport, ESPN, Football Insider, Daily Mail, The Sun, Evening Standard, Metro, Sky Sports, Daily Star, talkSPORT, RTÉ, The Guardian.