Maguire and Fernandes fire Manchester United to 5-2 rout of Ipswich after Hull humiliation

Manchester United responded to the embarrassment of their opening-day loss at Hull City by thrashing Ipswich Town 5-2 at Old Trafford on Sunday, with Bruno Fernandes completing a hat-trick and Harry Maguire providing the moment that swung the contest.

United had looked second best for long stretches against Ipswich, and when the visitors scored first, the mood inside Old Trafford darkened. The game shifted when Maguire’s strike deflected in off Jacob Greaves for an own goal, handing United a foothold they never relinquished. From that point, Fernandes took over, finishing his hat-trick and teeing up Bryan Mbeumo to add a fifth.

Maguire was candid about the pressure that had built after the Hull defeat. “I must say, the defeat last week was tough to take and when you lose at this club, there’s a load of noise and it feels like you’re in a crisis again after one game,” he said. “But no, when they scored the first goal, I think for five or 10 minutes we lost control of the game. We spoke about it at half time, we came out again and got control of it.”

The defender acknowledged the significance of the result in front of the home support. “We knew today was massive in front of our fans. It has been a long time since we played at Old Trafford so we look forward to playing here and thankfully we managed to get the three points.”

Maguire also reflected on where the Hull defeat had gone wrong, pointing to set-piece vulnerability. “We prepared all pre-season to go and win the game against Hull but unfortunately we were done by two set plays and we couldn’t respond,” he said.

Despite the emphatic scoreline, Maguire was measured in his assessment of what Sunday’s result actually means. “It is three points, we move on. We have a long season ahead and we will be focused for the next one,” he added, noting that United could have scored even more in a dominant second half.

The win lifts United’s mood considerably heading into the weeks ahead, though the Hull performance remains a reminder that the optimism built during pre-season will need consistent results to be justified.