Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick and Kevin De Bruyne also scored as City remained perfect in their quest for a fifth successive league title and Ipswich were left without points.
“Last season[Haaland]suffered a lot, especially at the beginning,” City manager Pep Guardiola told reporters. “He was tired and in pain most of the time. This time, with the break and no Euros, he has arrived with good vibes. The numbers are incredible.”
Sammie Szmodics gave Ipswich a shock seventh-minute lead when Ben Johnson sent him behind the City defence and Ederson miscontrolled his shot, which went into the net.
The away goal sparked City, who scored three times in 191 seconds, kicked off by Haaland’s penalty in the 12th minute.
De Bruyne capitalised on a mistake by goalkeeper Arijanet Muric to put City ahead and Haaland scored his second when De Bruyne curled a ball over the goal and the big Norwegian beat Muric.
The crossbar spared Ipswich further embarrassment in the first half when Rico Lewis and De Bruyne both hit the bar in quick succession.
Haaland completed his hat-trick with a shot from outside the box in the 88th minute, the young goal machine’s fourth goal of the young season.
City, who had 76% of possession, wasted numerous chances with 13 shots to Ipswich’s just one, and had the league newcomers pinned back in their own half for much of the afternoon.
“We tried to provoke them by pressing hard,” Guardiola said. “Of course, when we come here and feel comfortable playing in our stadium, we can do what we have done again.”
City fans gave a standing ovation to second-half substitute Ilkay Gundogan as he returned to the Etihad in his first game for Guardiola’s side since 2023.
“Thank you for this warm welcome,” Guardiola said. “He is incredibly happy. He had doubts (about his arrival). We have known each other for many years and he knows exactly what he has to do. I am very happy that he is back.”
Guardiola’s side had begun their quest for another title with a 2-0 win at Chelsea last weekend, while Ipswich, back in the top flight for the first time since 2002, opened with a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.