IRELAND STRIKER SAMMIE Szmodics scored his first Premier League goal, but Erling Haaland’s hat-trick fired champions Manchester City to a 4-1 win against Ipswich at the Ethiad Stadium.
City scored three times in four minutes to survive an early scare against promoted Ipswich.
Szmodics, signed from Blackburn in the close-season, gave Ipswich a shock lead in the seventh minute, running on to Omari Hutchinson’s pass and squeezing his shot through Ederson’s legs.
City levelled when Leif Davis’s 12th minute foul on Savinho conceded a penalty that Haaland dispatched with ease.
Ipswich keeper Arijanet Muric spent four years with City before leaving in 2022 and he returned with a gift for his old club, dwelling in possession in the 14th minute as Kevin De Bruyne stole the ball and slotted home.
City made it three when the unstoppable Haaland flicked De Bruyne’s deft pass past Muric.
German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan came off the bench for City in the second half after rejoining his former club from Barcelona on a one-year contract on Friday.
Haaland completed his treble in the 88th minute with a typically predatory finish for his fourth goal already this season.
