Going bananas: Haaland keeps on scoring as scandal-hit Man City wins again in Premier League

The ongoing financial scandal enveloping Manchester City isn’t affecting the team’s results in the Premier League.Or Erling Haaland’s appetite for scoring goals.Playing in front of fans waving inflatable bananas, City became only the third team to open a Premier League season with seven straight wins by beating Ipswich 3-2 at home on Saturday. Haaland netted twice to move to a competition-high eight goals for a campaign being played under a cloud of controversy.It made it back-to-back victories in the league for City — either side of a 4-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League — since being found guilty of large-scale financial wrongdoing in the Premier League for nearly a decade. The seismic verdict threatens the club’s place in England’s lucrative top flight, though City continues to protest its innocence and has appealed.City manager Enzo Maresca believes the saga has galvanized the squad and the defiance among the fanbase continued, with many supporters bringing along inflatable bananas — a throwback to an item that fans brought to games in the 1980s for fun amid tough times for the team — for Ipswich’s visit.

They also jeered the Premier League anthem before kickoff.“The fans, the club, the players — we are all together in this journey,” Maresca said of City's defiance in troubled times.“Going down with the City,” was the chant by some home fans in the first half at Etihad Stadium as they watched their team extend their lead in the league to six points. Second-place Arsenal will visit Nottingham Forest on Sunday.Haaland and second-half substitute Antoine Semenyo were seen hobbling off the field at the end of the game, which finished with Ipswich grabbing its second goal in stoppage time and piling on the pressure in the final minutes.Maresca, who became the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games in charge of a team, said Haaland believed he was OK but added that Semenyo's injury might be more serious.“I didn't expect to win seven out of seven," said Maresca, who replaced Pep Guardiola in the offseason, "but we are working well, working good.”Chelsea (in 2005) and Liverpool (in 2019) are the other teams to win at least their first seven games of a Premier League season — and they both went on to win the title.Liverpool rallies to beat Brentford but gets more injuriesLiverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at nine-man Brent… Erling Haaland starred with a double as Premier League leaders Manchester City beat Ipswich 3-2, while Liverpool came from behind to seal a 2-1 win at Brentford on Saturday.

City are in turmoil off the pitch after being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules. On the grass they have made a perfect start, with seven successive league victories marking their best opening to a Premier League season. City, who are appealing against the guilty verdict after branding it a “Premier League conspiracy”, sit six points clear of champions Arsenal.

Second-placed Arsenal can close the gap with a win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. With City potentially facing a massive points deduction or even expulsion from the top flight if their appeal fails, it remains to be seen whether their results will even matter by the end of the season. For now, Enzo Maresca’s side are in fine form after bouncing back from their midweek loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

There was a defiant mood at the Etihad Stadium, where City fans booed the Premier League anthem before kick-off, while thousands waved inflatable bananas to underline their commitment to the club regardless of its plight. City supporters took toy bananas to matches to lighten the mood when the team was struggling in the late 1980s. Phil Foden put Maresca’s men ahead in the 19th minute with a sharp turn and finish after Jeremy Doku’s incisive run prised open the Ipswich defence.

Foden’s first goal this season was followed by an Ipswich equaliser in the 21st minute when Daizen Maeda evaded Marc Guehi to fire home. Haaland restored City’s lead in the 34th minute with a pin-point header from Mateo Kovacic’s cross. Haaland killed off Ipswich in the 69th minute, sprinting onto Iliman Ndiaye’s pass and steering his shot past Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton.