Man City 4-1 Ipswich Town: Erling Haaland hat-trick puts Town to the sword after early shock

Erling Haaland scored his 23rd career hat-trick as Manchester City came from behind to defeat Ipswich Town 4-1.

Ipswich took a surprising early lead through Sammie Szmodics in the seventh minute, but the champions quickly shifted into high gear, aided by some questionable decisions from Ipswich.

Just nine minutes after Szmodics’ goal, Manchester City had turned the game around to lead 3-1.

Match Summary:

Leif Davis appeared to have escaped a challenge on Savinho, but VAR official David Coote sent referee Sam Allison—who had stepped in after Michael Salisbury was injured during the warm-up—to the monitor. Haaland calmly converted the resulting penalty.

Player Ratings:

Manchester City: Ederson (6), Lewis (8), Akanji (7), Dias (7), Gvardiol (7), Kovacic (7), De Bruyne (8), Bernardo (7), Savinho (7), Doku (8), Haaland (9)
Substitutes: Gundogan (7), Grealish (6)

Ipswich: Muric (3), Johnson (6), Greaves (6), Woolfenden (6), Tuanzebe (5), Morsy (5), Luongo (6), Szmodics (7), Hutchinson (6), Delap (6)
Substitutes: Taylor (6), Chaplin (6), Al-Hamadi (6), Harness (6), Edmundson (6)

Player of the Match: Erling Haaland

Moments later, debutant Arijanet Muric lost possession just inside his own penalty area to Savinho, who then set up Kevin De Bruyne for an easy tap-in into an empty net.

Muric, seemingly rattled, made another mistake shortly after by rushing out to intercept a pass from De Bruyne, only to see Haaland head the ball past him and score from a tight angle.

Later, Rico Lewis and Kevin De Bruyne both hit the crossbar as Manchester City continued to press for a fourth goal.

Ipswich maintained solid defensive organization after the break, prompting Pep Guardiola to turn to his bench. The crowd erupted with chants of “Gundo’s coming home” as Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish were introduced with 19 minutes remaining.

Key Moments:

In the 87th minute, Haaland secured his hat-trick by turning at the edge of the box and powering a low shot into the net. Having also scored against Chelsea in the season opener, Haaland now boasts 67 goals in 68 Premier League appearances and 94 goals in all competitions since joining Manchester City.

Opta Stats:

The first four shots in this game resulted in goals, marking the first time this has happened in a Premier League match (excluding own goals) since records began in the 2006-07 season.
Haaland has scored all seven of his Premier League hat-tricks at the Etihad Stadium. Only Thierry Henry has more hat-tricks at a single venue, with eight at Highbury.
Kevin De Bruyne has both scored and assisted in 26 Premier League games, the most by any Manchester City player. Only Mohamed Salah (31) has done so more often since De Bruyne’s debut in September 2015.

Pep Guardiola’s Comments: Pep Guardiola praised Haaland, saying: “He feels better than in previous seasons, not having too many holidays. I remember him saying he was tired and drained, but this season he’s arrived really well. Of course, he can’t play every game, but the goals he scores are unbelievable.

“He did it in Salzburg, he did it in Germany. It’s ridiculous. He can compete with Ronaldo and Messi with his goals. We are happy to have him here for many years. The body language is still there. The season is long, and we’ll be up and down, but everyone is committed and ready to do it.”

Kieran McKenna’s Reflection: Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna commented: “We got off to a fantastic start, scoring in transition—the exact type of goal we wanted with their high line. The game was lost in a five-minute spell, where there are big lessons for us to learn.

“The first goal didn’t come from a dangerous situation, but maintaining discipline is crucial. The base was there, and everyone was comfortable with the plan. But the goals changed the game completely. At 3-1, it was important to stay resilient and get back into the game. In the second half, we defended well as a team.

“In my view, we had a clear penalty and should have gone in at half-time at 3-2. It’s hard to understand how it wasn’t given, especially with the intervention on the first goal.”

Match Stats: