Manchester City made it seven wins from seven under Enzo Maresca after edging Ipswich Town 3-2 in a match that was far less comfortable than the early possession figures suggested.
The result gives Maresca the best opening by any manager in Premier League history, with seven victories from his first seven league matches in charge of one club. Pep Guardiola, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Carlo Ancelotti had each begun with six.
Quick facts
- Manchester City beat Ipswich Town 3-2 for a seventh straight league win.
- Enzo Maresca is the first Premier League manager to win his first seven matches with a club.
- Phil Foden scored his first goal of the season on his first start.
- Erling Haaland struck twice, while Ipswich replied through Maeda and Flemming.
- City have 21 points from seven games.
City had 80 per cent of the ball in the first half, but Ipswich arrived with the appetite of a promoted side unwilling to admire the scenery. The visitors pressed high, ran hard and ensured that every misplaced pass carried a little more consequence than Maresca would have wanted.
Foden opened the scoring in the 18th minute, finishing after Doku and Ndiaye had worked their way into the area from either flank. It was a timely first strike of the campaign for Foden, handed his first start of the season.
Ipswich answered straight away. Maeda got beyond Guehi from a long pass and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low one-on-one finish, leaving City briefly rattled after expecting their first goal to loosen the afternoon up.
Haaland restored order around the half-hour mark. Kovacic supplied an inviting delivery and the striker headed City back in front, though Ruben Dias was then denied twice by Ipswich goalkeeper Walton as the home side searched for breathing room.
Ipswich keep pushing
The visitors began the second half with real purpose and should have levelled when Emersonn headed wide with the goal unguarded. City were unusually uneasy playing out from the back, while O’Reilly also sent a headed chance off target at the other end.
For much of the opening 20 minutes after the interval, City could not properly test Walton from open play. Then Haaland did what Haaland tends to do when a match begins to require an answer.
Ndiaye’s pass was not a classic and Haaland’s first touch did not need framing, but he held off Ouattara and drove a finish across Walton for 3-1. It looked like the point at which Ipswich’s resistance had finally run out.
It had not. Fatawu, Akpom and Flemming gave the away side fresh energy, the press continued, and Haaland had a late third ruled out for offside in the 87th minute.
Guehi then conceded a penalty on a difficult afternoon, allowing Flemming to send Donnarumma the wrong way. City endured 12 minutes of added time, with the exertions of their match against Paris Saint-Germain still evident, but saw out a deserved victory on the balance of chances.
Maresca’s side now stand on 21 points. Chelsea’s 2005-06 team won their first nine league games, while Liverpool opened 2019-20 with eight, leaving City with still more early-season history in sight.
The club had previously won its first seven league fixtures of a campaign only once, in the Second Division in 1897-98. That was 128 years ago; this one has Arsenal watching the pace at the top.
