Manchester City moved six points clear at the Premier League summit after defeating Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium on an afternoon marked by supporter defiance and a sea of yellow inflatable bananas. Playing their first top-flight home fixture since being found guilty of Premier League financial rule breaches, City maintained their flawless start before a record crowd of 60,817. Phil Foden, making his return from suspension following a red card against Manchester United on 13 September, opened the scoring in the 19th minute with his first goal of 2026 before later taking an inflatable banana into his post-match interview.
The tone for the afternoon was set prior to kick-off when home supporters heavily jeered and booed the Premier League anthem while waving hundreds of inflatables, which had been placed on seats across the Etihad in a revival of a late-1980s fan craze. The protests follow City's appeal after being found guilty of financial rule violations from the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons involving £830m in inflated sponsorships through 'sham contracts'. The stands also featured gallows humour, with the home crowd chanting about playing Stockport away and singing to the Ipswich contingent that they were going down together.
Foden highlighted the role of the crowd afterwards, stating the fans gave the team an essential boost and pushed them across the line. City boss Enzo Maresca, who took the helm following Pep Guardiola's decade-long spell featuring 20 trophies, felt the unity immediately and praised his squad for controlling the match for 95 minutes. Maresca, who reiterated his long-standing admiration for Foden, stated that his focus remains on helping the attacker re-establish himself as one of the Premier League's premier players.
City's victory seals their best start to a league campaign in 129 years and establishes Maresca as the first manager in Premier League history to win his opening seven fixtures. The flawless run has seen City overcome adversity, including recovering from behind against Bournemouth and playing with 10 men for over an hour at Manchester United. In winning their first seven, City join only Chelsea in 2005-06 and Liverpool in 2019-20, both of whom went on to secure the championship. Looking ahead, Maresca insisted his players are unbothered by outside judgments as they continue their daily progress on the pitch.