Mainoo shines in midfield as Fernandes hat-trick fires United past Ipswich 5-2

Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick and set up Bryan Mbeumo as Manchester United swept Ipswich aside 5-2 at Old Trafford, with manager Michael Carrick also singling out Kobbie Mainoo for an outstanding midfield display on his first start of the season.

Mainoo, 21, partnered Youri Tielemans in the centre of midfield and excelled in both phases of the game despite only returning to pre-season three weeks earlier after a late finish to his summer. The academy graduate did not feature for England during the World Cup, and Carrick acknowledged his workload was carefully managed on the day.

“I thought he was pretty much all-around very, very good for a first start back,” Carrick said. “I understand Bruno will get a lot of credit today and he deserves that as well, but I thought Kobbie was immense in the middle of the pitch for us and underpinned the performance of the team.”

Fernandes, who collected the PFA Player of the Year award for 2025/26 earlier in the week, added a hat-trick and his first assist of the campaign to underline his importance to United’s season. Carrick, now six or seven months into his tenure, was effusive about his captain’s contribution.

“Times like today, when sometimes you’re looking towards certain players to give us that little bit of something else, and he did that particularly well,” Carrick said. “What else can I say? We’ve said quite a lot about him already, and hopefully there’s a lot to come.”

Fernandes had faced questions about his leadership following a disjointed performance in last week’s defeat at Hull, but Carrick was quick to put that criticism in context. “It doesn’t surprise me. It’s just the kind of things that get labelled when you lose games,” he said. “Just because you lose a game, it doesn’t mean everything’s wrong, or the wheels have come off, or they’re not leaders. The best teams lose games of football.”

The result also came with a significant squad update, as new signing Carlos Baleba — who completed a £70 million move from Brighton — was unveiled before kick-off, adding further depth and competition to a midfield that already looked sharp against Ipswich.