MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City defiantly extended their blistering start to the Premier League season with a 3-2 win against Ipswich on Saturday.
Phil Foden put City ahead in the first half at the Etihad Stadium before Daizen Maeda grabbed a shock equalizer for Ipswich.
Haaland netted before the interval and struck again after the break to take his tally for the season to 12.
Zian Flemming’s penalty came too late to stop City making it seven successive league victories.
It was City’s second win since the club were found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial regulations last month.
City, who are appealing against the decision, sit six points clear of champions Arsenal at the top of the table.
The Gunners can close the gap if they win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
City boss Enzo Maresca is the first manager to win his first seven games in charge in the Premier League.
The Etihad stands were awash with inflatable bananas throughout as City’s supporters continued to show their backing for the Abu Dhabi-owned club during their ongoing crisis.
The blow-up fruit, a throwback to their supporters’ craze from the late 1980s, has come to symbolize their defiance in the face of a potential massive points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League if the appeal fails.
City showed their spirit remains intact on the pitch as well and Foden gave the hosts the lead on 19 minutes.
Jeremy Doku cut inside the from the left and pulled back for Foden who, in his first appearance since his red card at Old Trafford last month, turned home from eight yards.
City’s lead lasted just two minutes as Abdoul Ouattara released Maeda with a well-weighted ball down the right.
The pass arced around the backtracking Marc Guehi and Maeda outpaced and the outmuscled the England center-back to seize possession and sit Gianluigi Donnarumma down with a composed finish.
But City regained their lead on 34 minutes when Mateo Kovacic reached the byline and pulled back for Haaland to power a header through Christian Walton’s grasp.
Nico O’Reilly went close after the restart with a header from a corner but Haaland made no mistake to grab his second on 69 minutes.
Iliman Ndiaye created the opportunity with a strong run from deep before playing in the striker with a defense-splitting pass.
Ouattara could not keep his footing as Haaland skipped past him and coolly beat Walton.
Haaland thought he had claimed a hat-trick when he volleyed home after Ndiaye hit the bar, but his strike was disallowed by VAR for offside against Enzo Fernandez.
VAR intervened again moments later, changing the mood of the game when Guehi was ruled to have fouled Abdul Fatawu in the area.
Flemming dispatched the penalty but City held firm to show they won’t be fazed on the pitch by the club’s off-field woes.