Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Erling Haaland scored twice as City secured their seventh consecutive league win to extend their lead at the top of the table to six points.
Phil Foden also found the net for the hosts, while Daizen Maeda and Zian Flemming scored for Ipswich in a contest that kept fans on edge until the final whistle.
Foden opened the scoring in the 19th minute, finishing off a move created by Jeremy Doku to give City an early advantage.
However, Ipswich responded almost immediately, with Maeda restoring parity just two minutes later after getting past Marc Guehi before beating goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low finish.
City regained the lead in the 34th minute when Mateo Kovacic delivered a precise cross for Haaland, who headed home from close range.
The Norwegian striker continued to trouble the visitors after the break, although Nico O’Reilly missed an opportunity to extend City’s advantage when he failed to direct his header on target.
Haaland eventually struck again in the 68th minute, calmly converting a pass from Iliman Ndiaye to put City 3-1 ahead.
The forward appeared to have completed his hat-trick late in the game, but a VAR review ruled out the goal after Enzo Fernandez was found offside in the build-up.
Ipswich capitalised on the opportunity to make the closing stages uncomfortable for the hosts when VAR awarded them a penalty in the 88th minute following Guehi’s contact with Abdul Fatawu inside the box.
Flemming converted the spot-kick to reduce the deficit to 3-2, setting up a tense finish as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.
City, however, held on to claim all three points and preserve their unbeaten league record.
Haaland’s brace took his season tally to 12 goals, further underlining his remarkable scoring form. He also became the fastest player in Premier League history to reach 100 non-penalty goals.
The result extended City’s winning streak to seven matches and strengthened their position at the summit of the Premier League table.
Despite the defeat, Ipswich showed considerable resilience, pushing the champions until the final minutes and ensuring that City had to work hard for the victory.
