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10/17 12:44 CDT Another Premier League win for scandal-hit Man City as Haaland
keeps scoring
Another Premier League win for scandal-hit Man City as Haaland keeps scoring
By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
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.
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, with Haaland netting
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.
"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 injuries Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at nine-man Brentford but lost two more players to injury in a busy stretch of fixtures. Trailing to Keane Lewis-Potter's 44th-minute header, Liverpool found itself with a man 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 took advantage, with Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak scoring after the break to consign Brentford to its first league defeat this season. Vitaly Janelt became the second Brentford player sent off after getting a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time. Isak has just returned from an injury sustained on international duty with Sweden but two players are back on the treatment table, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong --- a halftime substitute --- forced off with injuries. Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola says Szoboszlai's problem was the reoccurrence of the hamstring injury he got while playing for Hungary in the recent international break. Martinez head injury in Chelsea win Pedro Neto scored early and late in the second half to lead Chelsea to a 2-0 win at Everton in a match marred by a serious-looking head injury to Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez. Neto slotted home the opening goal 44 seconds after the resumption and then added the second in the 90th minute after pouncing on the loose ball following a blocked free kick. Chelsea handed Everton a first loss of the season after seven rounds, keeping a first clean sheet in nine months in the process. Martinez was conscious and in the hospital, Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso said, after receiving 10 minutes of treatment on the field and then 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 goalie from 2022, was moving his arms as he was taken off the field. Branthwaite carried on playing after a concussion test. Fulham win eases pressure on Arbeloa Fulham eased the pressure on manager Alvaro Arbeloa by beating Hull 1-0 for its first league win of the season. Alex Iwobi scored the goal in the 33rd minute, helping Fulham climb off the bottom of the table --- much to the relief of Arbeloa, the former Real Madrid coach who arrived in the offseason. ___ Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80 ___ See AP's full soccer coverage here |
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