Haaland double gives Manchester City seventh win and six-point Premier League lead

Manchester City beat Ipswich 3-2 at the Etihad on October 17, with two goals from Erling Haaland helping extend their winning Premier League start to seven matches and move them six points clear at the top.¹²³

A record start

The Guardian reported that Enzo Maresca had become the first manager to win his opening seven matches in charge of a Premier League team. City’s seventh successive league victory was also reported by the BBC and Sky Sports.¹²³

According to the Guardian, this was City’s first home league fixture since the club was found to have breached financial rules. That account is not independently confirmed elsewhere in the dossier, which provides no further details of the reported finding.¹

Foden opens the scoring

City held 90% of possession during the first 15 minutes, according to the Guardian, which described Ipswich defending with all 11 players behind the ball. Jérémy Doku created the opportunity for Phil Foden to put the home side ahead.¹³

Sky Sports reported that Foden’s goal ended a sequence of 23 appearances without scoring and was his first since December 2025. Ipswich responded through Daizen Maeda; according to the Guardian, Abdoul Ouattara supplied the pass for the equaliser.¹³

Mateo Kovacic then provided the delivery for Haaland to head City back in front. The Guardian reported another chance for Ipswich after Gianluigi Donnarumma misjudged a corner, with Emersonn’s header striking a defender rather than bringing the visitors level.¹³

Penalty keeps Ipswich in contention

Haaland scored again after a pass from Iliman Ndiaye. According to Sky Sports, he scored before and after the interval, taking his tally for the season to 12 and becoming the Premier League’s fastest player to record 100 non-penalty goals.¹³

An apparent third Haaland goal was ruled out following a video review. Sky Sports attributed the decision to Enzo Fernandez being offside during the build-up. Ipswich subsequently received a penalty after a review of Marc Guéhi’s contact with Abdul Fatawu, and Zian Flemming converted.¹³

City held their lead through 12 added minutes, the Guardian reported. Sky Sports said Haaland limped off at full-time, but Maresca said the striker had told him he was all right. Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil said: “Really disappointed. I did believe we could take points.”¹³