Haaland brace and Foden's first 2026 goal send City six points clear despite 114-verdict cloud

Manchester City moved six points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, beating Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium through a brace from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden’s first goal of 2026 — all while the club awaits the outcome of its appeal against 114 guilty verdicts from an independent commission.

Haaland has now scored 12 goals in his last eight appearances for City, and his latest double proved decisive against a competitive Ipswich side that refused to be put away. Foden’s contribution added a further layer of encouragement for manager Enzo Maresca, who has now won all seven of his Premier League matches in charge — the longest unbeaten winning start to a managerial reign in the division’s history.

That record moves Maresca past Carlo Ancelotti, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his predecessor Pep Guardiola, all of whom won their first six. “For sure I didn’t expect to win seven games out of seven,” Maresca said after the match. “It’s a matter of winning games in this business.”

The mood inside and outside the Etihad carried an unmistakable undercurrent. City supporters responded to the looming uncertainty over the club’s future with a mixture of defiance and dark humour — chanting “Stockport away” in reference to a hypothetical lower-league fixture list, and singing “same old City, always cheating” when Jeremy Doku was fouled. Outside the ground, inflatable bananas — a long-standing terrace tradition at the club — were selling briskly, some manufactured by former City striker Imre Varadi, nicknamed ‘Imre Banana’ during his playing days in the 1980s.

Maresca confirmed that Haaland, who hobbled off late in the game, is not expected to be seriously injured. “He said he was okay so hopefully it is nothing serious,” the manager said.

The result means City sit at the Premier League summit with a commanding cushion, constructing a title challenge that, as the independent commission’s findings continue to cast a shadow, carries an asterisk for many observers. For now, though, the football tells a straightforward story: seven games, seven wins.