Haaland hat-trick as City roar back to crush Ipswich

MANCHESTER, England :Manchester City scored three goals in less than four minutes to beat promoted Ipswich Town 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, roaring back from a shock start at Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland netted a hat-trick and Kevin De Bruyne also scored as City stayed perfect in their quest for a fifth consecutive league title and Ipswich remained without a point.
Sammie Szmodics fired Ipswich to a surprise lead in the seventh minute when Ben Johnson sent him in behind City’s defence, and Ederson mishandled his shot which rolled into the net.
The visitors’ goal fired up City who netted three times in 191 seconds, sparked by Haaland’s penalty in the 12th minute.
De Bruyne capitalised on an error by keeper Arijanet Muric to put City ahead and Haaland grabbed his second when De Bruyne chipped a ball over the top and the big Norwegian beat Muric to it.
The crossbar spared Ipswich more first-half blushes as Rico Lewis and De Bruyne smashed shots off the woodwork in quick succession.
Haaland completed his hat trick with a rocket from just outside the 18-yard box in the 88th minute, the goal-scoring machine’s fourth of the young season.
City, who had 76 per cent possession, squandered numerous chances with 13 shots to just one for Ipswich, and had the league newcomers penned in their own end for much of the afternoon.
City fans welcomed second-half substitution Ilkay Gundogan back to Etihad with a loud ovation, his first game for Pep Guardiola’s team since 2023.
Guardiola’s team had kicked off their quest for another title with a 2-0 win at Chelsea last weekend, while Ipswich, back in the top flight for the first time since 2002, opened with a 2-0 home loss to Liverpool.