Manchester City survived a wild final act at the Etihad Stadium to beat Ipswich Town 3-2, with Erling Haaland’s second goal proving decisive after the visitors turned a straightforward-looking afternoon into a 12-minute stoppage-time examination.
Why it landed this week
- Manchester City
- Ipswich Town
- Erling Haaland
- Phil Foden
- Daizen Maeda
- Zian Flemming
City struck first in the 19th minute, Phil Foden finishing left-footed after Jérémy Doku had led a counter-attack. Ipswich answered promptly. Abdoul Ouattara supplied Daizen Maeda, whose finish made it 1-1 after 21 minutes and ensured the visitors would not spend the afternoon merely admiring the stadium.
The home side had already threatened through Rúben Dias, who headed narrowly wide, while Foden also missed the target from Nico O’Reilly’s cross. City regained the lead on 34 minutes when Mateo Kovacic delivered from the right and Haaland headed low into the left corner.
Ipswich remained awkward opponents. Emersonn fired over after a break and later headed narrowly wide from a Leif Davis corner, while Jacob Greaves also headed off target early in the second half. City, however, carried the sharper edge and their third arrived in the 69th minute: Iliman Ndiaye started a counter-attack and Haaland finished from the centre of the box.
There were injury concerns for City after the interval. Kovacic departed on 50 minutes, with Enzo Fernández introduced, and Matheus Nunes was forced off 26 minutes later for Abdukodir Khusanov. Josko Gvardiol, Antoine Semenyo and Elliot Anderson also came on, replacing O’Reilly, Doku and Foden respectively.
Ipswich made their own changes as they chased the game. Abdul Fatawu and Azor Matusiwa entered on 71 minutes, while Chuba Akpom and Flemming followed on 78. Jack Clarke arrived in the first minute of stoppage time.
The closing stretch was properly untidy. At 85 minutes, Haaland had a goal ruled out following a VAR review after Enzo Fernández had been offside in the build-up. Before that decision, Ndiaye had hit the bar and Fernández’s effort had been saved.
Then came Ipswich’s route back into the contest. Marc Guéhi was penalised for a foul on Fatawu in the 87th minute, with VAR confirming the spot-kick. Flemming converted in the 90th minute, sending his effort down the middle to reduce the deficit to one.
Twelve additional minutes followed. City had chances to settle it, Haaland seeing a shot blocked after Fernández’s pass and Ndiaye dragging another effort narrowly wide from Haaland’s lay-off. Ipswich pressed for a leveller, but Davis was booked for a foul on Ayyoub Bouaddi, while Gvardiol also saw yellow during the late scramble. The final whistle arrived with City holding the 3-2 lead.
The next fixture
Manchester City and Ipswich Town met at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 17 October 2026 in Premier League matchweek seven, with kick-off scheduled for 16:00.
