Manchester City 3-2 Ipswich Town - Match Report
Saturday, 17th Oct 2026 17:17
The Blues pushed Premier League leaders Manchester City right to the end of a lengthy spell of injury time, but were ultimately beaten 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium. Phil Foden gave the home side the lead on 19, Daizen Maeda levelled two minutes later, Erling Haaland restored his team’s advantage in the 34th minute, then made it 3-1 on 69, prior to Zian Flemming pulling one back from the penalty spot in the final minute to give City a nervous 12 minutes of injury time before their seventh straight Premier League win from the start of the season was confirmed.
Town made two changes of personnel and switched to three at the back for the first time under Gary O’Neil.
Jacob Greaves came into the XI as the third centre-half on the left with skipper Dara O’Shea on the left and Issa Diop in the middle. Abdoul Ouattara and Leif Davis were the wing-backs.
Exequiel Palacios returned to the centre of midfield alongside Florentino Luis with Sasa Lukic missing from the squad due to a knock. Julio Enciso and Daizen Maeda were behind striker Emersonn.
Jaden Philogene dropped to the bench having started last week’s 2-1 victory over Fulham with Abdul Fatawu returning to the 20 following his one-match ban with Sindre Walle Egeli not included.
Manchester City made four changes from last weekend’s 3-0 Premier League victory over 10-man Liverpool with Foden, Jeremy Doku, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Mateo Kovacic coming into the team.
Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo all moved to the bench.
With late 1980s-style inflatable bananas being waved in stands, the players took the field with the Premier League anthem roundly booed by City fans, at Etihad for the first time since the independent commission found their club guilty of their financial charges.
Town, wearing their black and gold third kit for the first time, found themselves defending from virtually the first seconds. On five, Foden swept over a free-kick from the right but home skipper Ruben Dias’s header tamely bounced through to Christian Walton.
On seven, Nico O’Reilly cut in from the left and hit a shot across goal which Walton batted away.
Soon after, Emersonn won a free-kick on the left which came to nothing as the linesman’s flag was raised as it came across.
Off the field, the two sets of fans were trading banter, home supporters singing that Town were “going down with the City”.
Town were doing well to frustrate the league leaders but on 17 Dias struck a sharp first-time strike from 25 yards which Walton did well to paw away from his top corner.
But the home supporters didn’t have to wait too much longer for a goal. In the 19th minute, Doku tricked his way on from the left before cutting across to Foden, who had broken to the edge of the six-yard box having escaped Florentino and the England international turned into the far corner of the net.
However, the lead lasted only two minutes. Ouattara played a superb ball round the outside of Marc Guehi for Maeda, who held off the England centre-half, took it into the area and slipped it between Gianluigi Donnarumma and his near post, the Japanese international’s first goal for the Blues.
Having seemed to lose their intensity in the minutes after going in front, City looked to get back at it having conceded but Town were able to snuff out their attacks before they got into a dangerous area.
As the half-hour approached, Emersonn struck a powerful 25-yard effort which flew only just beyond Donnarumma’s left post.
Haaland had had a quiet first half hour, but in the 32nd minute, Foden slipped the Norwegian phenomenon in on the left of the box, but Greaves did brilliantly to slide in and divert the ball over the bar.
However, a minute later, Haaland restored his side’s lead. Mateo Kovacic rode a rash Florentino tackle on the right and was then able to take the ball on towards the byline before standing up a cross to the far post from where Haaland nodded down and into the net, Walton only managing to get a hand to it.
As the half moved into its final five minutes, the Blues’ penalty area came under increased pressure, Greaves stopping Foden in his tracks before subsequent efforts from the edge of the box were blocked.
On 43, Dias unleashed another powerful strike from distance which Walton saved well high to his left.
Enciso won a late free-kick on the left just prior to the whistle but Town were unable to make anything of it.
The Blues will have been largely happy with the way they had frustrated City in the first half but equally will feel the goals came from errors with Foden untracked on the first and Kovacic allowed to take the ball into a dangerous crossing position on the second, Haaland then making the most of the situation as he so often does.
City had dominated possession - 80/20 - but Town had had one or two promising breaks with Ouattara’s excellent pass creating Maeda’s goal, which the former Celtic man took with great confidence.
The Blues will be disappointed not to have made anything of their set pieces in the City half.
Enciso won an early corner on the left three minutes after the restart, which was taken short before Greaves looped a header well over.
On 50, the home side were forced into a change, Kovacic making way having suffered an injury and Enzo Fernandez taking over.
Two minutes later, Town worked their way forward through City, Enciso sending over a cross from the left which Emersonn flicked on to Ouattara beyond the back post but the Ivorian totally mishit his shot into the area across the face and back out towards the other flank.
Town should have levelled in the 55th minute. Maeda won a corner on the right, Davis sent it over the the back post but the unmarked Emersonn nodded wide, the ball perhaps arrived through a crowd of players and the Brazilian unsighted.
A minute later, it was almost 3-1 from a corner on the right at the other end, O’Reilly heading back across the face from the far post but wide by a couple of inches.
But the Blues had seen more of the ball in the second half with Enciso having more impact. Just before the hour, Davis looked to be tripped as he broke away on the left but referee Farai Hallam surprisingly gave a free-kick to City.
The home side made their second change in the 61st minute, O’Reilly coming off and Josko Gvardiol taking over. Two minutes later, Fernandez curled a 25-yard free-kick over Walton’s bar.
On 67, Enciso did well to win the ball midway inside the Town half and found Emersonn, who took it on without having too many options and eventually shot high and wide from the right of the area.
Two minutes later, it was 3-1. A cross-field pass to Davis was cut out and Illiman Ndiaye brought it forward before playing a ball into the path of Haaland, who held off Ouattara, then beat Walton. Ouattara claimed he had been fouled but referee Hallam and VAR showed no interest.
Town swapped Florentino and Maeda for Azor Matusiwa, making his Premier League debut, and Fatawu, before Ouattara was booked for a foul on Doku.
City made a triple switch on 77, Abdukodir Khusanov, Semenyo and Anderson replacing Matheus Nunes, Doku and Foden, then the Blues replaced Emersonn and Enciso with Flemming and Chuba Akpom.
The Blues carved out a decent chance as the match moved towards its final 10 minutes, O’Shea looping a cross towards the far post, Greaves nodding it down, but Flemming scuffed his effort to Donnarumma, the ball having dropped behind the Dutchman.
In the 84th minute, Semenyo was played through on goal, but Diop slid in to block, however, the linesman’s flag had been raised in any case.
A minute later, City had the ball in the net for a fourth time. Walton saved from Fernandez, Ndiaye hooked a subsequent effort off the bar, the ball falling for Fernandez, who crossed to Haaland at the far post from where the striker shot across Walton and into the corner of the net.
The Norwegian thought he had scored his second hat-trick against Town at the Etihad until VAR showed Fernandez had been offside.
Soon after the restart, Fatawu broke into the right of the area and was tripped by Guehi. Referee Hallam showed no interest but was eventually called to have another look by VAR and awarded a penalty to Town.
Flemming smashed the spot-kick straight down the middle to make the scoreline 3-2. Ahead of the restart, Jack Clarke replaced Greaves as the Blues moved to their more regular system.
Moments later, there were bemused gasps and then boos around the stadium as the fourth official indicated 12 additional minutes.
Six minutes into time added on, with City having dominated, Walton did well to paw away Ndiaye’s cross-shot from the right, then the former Everton man shot across the face and wide.
Gvardiol was booked for a foul on Fatawu, but the free-kick came to nothing with the linesman raising a flag for offside as O’Shea nodded back to Clarke, replays suggesting the decision was incorrect.
In the 101st minute, Town won a corner on the right but Davis’s ball in was punched out, then Fatawu slipped as he subsequently broke into the area.
Clarke did brilliantly to crowd out Haaland, then just before the finish Davis was booked for a foul on Bouaddi.
The cheers from the home fans were as much in relief as delight at the final whistle, the Blues having pushed them right to the end.
However, City couldn’t be denied their seventh straight win at the start of the Premier League season.
Town will rue conceding the two goals in the first half, which came from mistakes, then in the second period they allowed the home side to break on them when in control and in the opposition half.
But overall, despite falling to a fourth Premier League defeat, the Blues will be pleased with the way they frustrated City for long periods and were able to take the game to them during spells in the second half. They will also feel they ought to have made other moments and their set pieces count more.
Plenty of teams will lose more heavily than 3-2 at the Etihad this season and Town’s Premier League status won’t be retained or lost on how they perform against the division’s top teams.
The Blues return to Portman Road on Friday when they host Nottingham Forest.
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes (Khusanov 76), Dias (c), Guehi, O’Reilly (Gvardiol 61), Bouaddi, Kovacic (Fernandez 50), Ndiaye, Foden (Anderson 77), Doku (Semenyo 77), Haaland. Unused: Rulli, Anderson, Cherki, Ait-Nouri, Gvardiol, Elias, Semenyo, Khusanov.
Town: Walton, Ouattara, O’Shea (c), Diop, Greaves (Clarke 91), Davis, Florentino (Matusiwa 71), Palacios, Enciso (Akpom 78), Maeda (Fatawu 71), Emersonn (Flemming 78). Unused: Scherpen, Furlong, Kipre, Philogene. Referee: Farai Hallam. Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long. Fourth official: Tom Reeves. VAR: Andrew Kitchen. Assistant VAR: Paul Howard. Att: 60,817.
_Photo: Reuters_