Haaland keeps scoring for scandal-hit Man City

AP:

The ongoing financial scandal enveloping Manchester City is not affecting the team’s results in the Premier League.

Nor is it slowing Erling Haaland’s appetite for 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 after beating Ipswich 3-2 at home yesterday. Haaland netted twice to move to a competition-leading eight goals in a campaign being played under a cloud of controversy.

It was City’s second successive league victory, 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 over nearly a decade. The seismic verdict threatens the club’s place in England’s lucrative top flight, although City continue to protest their innocence and have appealed.

City manager Enzo Maresca believes the saga has galvanised the squad, and the defiance among the fan base continued, with many supporters bringing inflatable bananas, a throwback to an item fans took to matches in the 1980s for fun during difficult times for the club, 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 from some home fans during the first half at Etihad Stadium as they watched their team extend their lead at the top of the league to six points. Second-placed Arsenal will visit Nottingham Forest today.

Haaland and second-half substitute Antoine Semenyo were both seen hobbling off the field at the end of the match, which finished with Ipswich scoring in stoppage time and applying pressure in the closing 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 fine but added that Semenyo’s injury could 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.”

Liverpool rally to beat Brentford but suffer more injuries

Liverpool came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over nine-man Brentford but lost two more players to injury during a busy stretch of fixtures.

Trailing to Keane Lewis-Potter’s 44th-minute header, Liverpool found themselves with a numerical advantage when Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmoliuk was shown a red card in first-half stoppage time for aiming a head-butt at Jeremy Jacquet.

Liverpool capitalised after the break, with Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak scoring to hand Brentford their first league defeat of the season.

Vitaly Janelt became the second Brentford player sent off after receiving a second yellow card in stoppage time.

While Isak had only recently returned from an injury sustained on international duty with Sweden, Liverpool suffered fresh setbacks as Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong, who came on at half-time, were both forced off injured.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said Szoboszlai’s issue was a recurrence of the hamstring injury he suffered while on international duty with Hungary during the recent break.

Martinez suffers head injury in Chelsea win

Pedro Neto scored early and late in the second half to lead Chelsea to a 2-0 victory at Everton in a match overshadowed by a serious-looking head injury to Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez.

Neto opened the scoring 44 seconds after the restart before adding a second in the 90th minute after pouncing on a loose ball following a blocked free kick.

Chelsea handed Everton their first defeat of the season after seven rounds while recording their first clean sheet in nine months.

Martinez was conscious and in hospital, Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso said, after receiving 10 minutes of treatment on the field before being carried off on a stretcher following a head-on-head collision with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite at a free kick.

Martinez, Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper from 2022, was moving his arms as he was taken off the field. Branthwaite continued playing after undergoing a concussion assessment.

Fulham win eases pressure

Fulham eased the pressure on manager Alvaro Arbeloa by defeating Hull 1-0 for their first league win of the season.

Alex Iwobi scored in the 33rd minute to lift Fulham off the foot of the table, providing a welcome boost for Arbeloa, the former Real Madrid coach who arrived during the offseason.