Key events
And here’s the player of the match – Bruno Fernandes, who else? “Massive for us,” he says. “We lost three points last week, so [we wanted to] put in a good performance for our fans in the first game at home… We wanted to start the game on the front foot. I think we were in control of the game even if we conceded first, and then in the second half we played really well.”
“The goal knocked us back a lot,” says Harry Maguire, his friend and predecessor. “Lose one game at this club and there’s a lot of noise, it feels like a crisis. But we know we can score goals at any time.” Asked about the goal he so nearly scored, Maguire tactfully says he hasn’t seen it back yet.
Bruno is asked about the hat-trick, his third for United. “Score goals, it’s the best feeling in football, and doing a hat-trick in front of our fans, it’s amazing.”
“We knew today was massive,” Maguire adds. “Been a long time since we’ve been here.”
Back to the mailbag, which was a little neglected during that riveting second half. “Ipswich Town started their season on an equal footing with bigger clubs,” said AnhTuan Nguyen Huynh (when the result was still in doubt). “No matter win or lose, or draw against Man U, Ipswich Town are pressing forward, led by Paraguayan international Julio Enciso in attack. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Did Rashford live up to his early hype? Maybe not,” says Mary Waltz. “But I have a suspicion that the over-the-top hate has more to do with the fact that a young man of color stood up to the white political power structure. He played well in Spain and if properly positioned he is still a scoring threat.”
“Is Frank Ilett booking an appointment with his hairdresser?” asks Krish Krishnamoorthy.
Only if he’s a raging optimist.
“There have been 17 goals today,” says Kelly Cates. A quick recap: Chelsea 4-3 Brighton, Leeds 1-1 Brentford, Sunderland 1-0 Fulham (they don’t do seven-goal thrillers there), and now Man United 5-2 Ipswich. The highlights of this game will be well worth catching – it was fun to watch even when it was 0-1.
On expected goals, the score was the same, more or less. United’s xG according to Sofascore was 4.57, while Ipswich’s was 2.01.
Ipswich can leave Manchester with their heads held high. They were excellent for an hour and spirited throughout.
FULL TIME! Man United 5-2 Ipswich
United fell behind again, and were lucky to draw level – but then they turned on the style as Bruno Fernandes helped himself to a hat-trick. He even scored from the spot.
90+6 min Better from Dorgu, whose fierce shot draws a save from Scherpen and wins a corner.
90+4 min Dorgu shows his strength, racing away on the counter, and then his weakness – making decisions in the box. He can’t decide whether to shoot or cross to Mbeumo and ends up doing both, or neither.
90+3 min We’re having eight added minutes, so technically there’s time for Ipswich to get a couple more. As they advance down the left, Mbeumo resorts to a foul and collects a yellow card. But Davis’s free kick is an easy take for Lammens.
GOAL! Man United 5-2 Ipswich (Akpom 90+1)
And there it is! Martinez dawdles on the ball and has his pocket picked by Enciso, whose cross requires only a tap-in from Chuba Akpom.
89 min Ipswich push upfield, searching for the second goal they deserve. They do have a shot but it’s from way out and the whistle has gone for a foul on Tielemans.
87 min In case you’re just joining us, the scoreline is very hard on Ipswich, who played really well for an hour.
85 min United have had 31 shots, ten of them on target. And now they have their 32nd and their 11th – a flying header from Dorgu at the far post, straight at Scherpen.
GOAL!!!!! Man United 5-1 Ipswich (Mbeumo 82)
This one’s a beauty. Fernandes sends a gorgeous through ball to Mbeumo, who beats the advancing Scherpen with an equally gorgeous finish – crafty, calculated, elegant and worthy of a man who loves to play chess.
81 min Fernandes has yet another shot as the rain gets heavier. And another old friend is back: the Old Trafford leak.
80 min Rashford is going off now, along with Cunha and Mainoo. They’ve all been good. On come Sesko up top, Dorgu on the left and Andrey Santos in the pivot, for his home debut.
79 min The crowd roar for Rashford – because he’s tracked back and made a tackle!
73 min United advance again. Martinez plays a wonder-ball down the middle to Rashford, who twists and turns and nutmegs someone but can’t carve out the space for a proper shot. Cunha does get a shot away, from the right, and sees it well saved by Scherpen.
73 min Rashford pauses on the wing, twice, looking for his mate Shaw, who’s on the bench. Noussair Mazraoui hasn’t quite got the memo.
73 min It looks as if Ipswich have gone to a back five. This may be a case of the Tractor Boys shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.
73 min Two subs for either side: Maeda and Lukic give way to Furlong and Ouattara, and Carrick springs a surprise by replacing both full-backs – Dalot and Shaw off, Yoro and Mazraoui on.
70 min The move for United’s fourth goal was a comedy of errors from Ipswich. It began with Rashford advancing down the left. His cross was wayward, but the ball fell to Mainoo, whose rasping shot was deflected to Mbeumo. His shot was so tame that he apologised, but again there was a ricochet. Fernandes, lurking like a poacher, took one deft touch and then passed into the corner. The man has so much main-character energy.
69 min Fernandes has nearly scored a fourth! From the centre circle! But his swerving lob landed on the roof of the net. That was Beckhamesque.
GOAL!!! Man United 4-1 Ipswich (Fernandes 67)
It’s a hat-trick for Bruno Fernandes!
66 min A camera zooms in on Michael Carrick, who looks just as he did at 1-0 down – thoughtful, a touch quizzical. Rudyard Kipling would have approved of him.
64 min Shot! By Rashford – a rasping volley that Scherpen does well to tip away for a corner.
63 min As Alex Ferguson looks on, delightedly, Gary O’Neil may be thinking “Football, bloody hell.” He responds by reaching for his new toy, Exequiel Palacios, who replaces the unfortunate Nunez.
62 min The keeper, Scherpen, stood offf-centre. “The only person he confused,” says Gary Neville, “was himself.”
GOAL! Man United 3-1 Ipswich (Fernandes 61 pen)
Fernandes takes an age, but finds the corner!
60 min Bruno Fernandes has the ball. He missed his last two penalties…
PENALTY TO MAN UNITED!
Mainoo sends Cunha clean through and poor old Jacob Greaves brings him down. Craig Pawson points to the spot and gives him a yellow card.
GOAL CONFIRMED! Man United 2-1 Ipswich (Greaves og 57)
It’s given – because it was an own goal! And an accidental handball, which is allowed from anyone bar the scorer.
GOAL? United 2-1 Ipswich maybe (Maguire 57)
Harry Maguire scores with his foot! From the edge of the box. But did his hand play a part too? The VAR is on the case.
55 min Ipswich even get a corner, though nothing comes of it…
53 min “It’s a United siege now,” says the commentator. It’s certainly ping-pong in the box as Mainoo has a shot, possibly two, but Ipswich swith theiree off the danger with some quick wits and firm blocks.
52 min Mbeumo, slipped in by Fernandes, bustles into the box before picking the wrong pass. Then Rashford sends in a left-foot volleyed cross which Mbeumo has to score from – but he hits the bar!
50 min Sure enough, the first shot of the half comes from Enciso, who hits it over the bar from 25 yards. “He’s been the best player on the pitch,” says Gary Neville.
48 min United pass the ball around, harmlessly. Ipswich have less of the ball but use it more purposefully. They have the air of a team whose manager has just told them they can win this.
47 min United kick off, but Ipswich start sharply and Enciso wins a free kick off Cunha.
“As a United fan,” says David Flynn, “I feel like commentators and journalists are under some sort of mass psychosis when it comes to Marcus Rashford. He has spent his entire United career being massively inconsistent, more often than not playing poorly and there’s absolutely no evidence that has changed.
“He might very well score a hat trick today but the one thing you can be sure of is that there’s a ten month goal drought in his future. I think the press needs to accept that and stop getting excited when he starts.”
More often than not playing poorly? That’s quite a harsh view of a player who had scored about 130 goals in 400 games for United before turning 27. And who, as he has (gently) pointed out himself, has had to cope with inconsistent management – from Van Gaal to Mourinho to Solskjaer to Rangnick to Ten Hag to Amorim and now Carrick, who seems to have handled him well so far. Rashford has been bright today, for what it’s worth.
Time for a glance at the post. “United fan here,” wrote Joshua Keeling about 20 minutes ago. “Can’t wait to see who this season’s caretaker manager will be.” Ouch!
“They can spend a much as they want on their midfield and attack,” says Matthew Lysaght, “but persisting with any or all of Maguire/Dalot/Shaw makes that expenditure null and void.” You may be right, but one of them went to the World Cup and the other two were unlucky to be rebuffed by Thomas Tuchel.
“Hey Tim,” says Alan Steenstrup in Querétaro, Mexico. “You wrote: ‘As expected, Carrick has Mbeumo on the right, Mbeumo in the middle and Rashford on the left.’ A bit of multi-talking for Mbeumo, if anyone can, he can.” Good line! Sorry, I meant Cunha in the middle. He’s been better today than at Hull, though Sesko’s height will be handy, when he comes on, in the face of Scherpen.
HALF-TIME! Man United 1-1 Ipswich
It’s been a lively half, packed with action at both ends. Ipswich were very good for ten minutes in the middle and led through a classy shot from Leif Davis. But then Marcelino Nunez slipped on the damp, relaid turf and allowed Matheus Cunha to start a counter that ended with an equally fine finish from Bruno Fernandes.
45+1 min We’re into the first of two added minutes. Dalot’s shot takes a deflection and brings a corner, but all United get out of that is a throw-in or two … until Lisandro Martinez takes a long shot, crisply struck but too high.
42 min Buoyed by the goal, Fernandes brings out a back-heel (which doesn’t find its target). Then Tielemans goes down inside the box, the crowd roar for a penalty… and the ref refuses to play ball. It may have been a foul by O’Shea, but the dying fall was too theatrical to be convincing.
42 min We’ve seen that goal before from Carrick’s United, but usually it’s Fernandes playing the pass and Mbeumo supplying the finish.
GOAL!! Man United 1-1 Ipswich (Fernandes 40)
Nunez slips in midfield, Cunha breaks away on the counter and slips it to Fernandes, who blasts a left-foot shot past Scherpen.
38 min Fernandes tries a short-corner routine but messes it up by passing straight to a defender. Rashford manages a cross, only to see it gobbled up by the giant Scherpen.
37 min Another foul, and it’s an ugly one. Fatawu goes sliding in on Mbeumo and gets a booking. He may be in trouble with the Union of Right-Wingers too.
36 min Ipswich, by the way, haven’t won at Old Trafford since 1984.
35 min United’s turn to commit a gratuitous foul as Harry Maguire manhandles Emersonn near the halfway line. Tielemans is then caught napping, but United see off the danger.
34 min Sasa Lukic, who’s been a big presence in midfield, brings down Tielemans when he doesn’t need to, and gets a yellow card.
33 min The cameras find Michael Carrick looking pensive, as well he may. Are United disintegrating again in the face of a promoted team with a bit of spirit?
31 min Chance for Ipswich: Davis again! It’s another fine cross from Fatawu. Davis, perhaps surprised to find himself getting all these openings, shoots a bit limply at point-blank range.
GOAL! Man United 0-1 Ipswich (Davis 29)
It’s last weekend all over again! Fatawu surges down the right wing, shrugs off Shaw and crosses to Davis, whose finish goes in off the bar.
28 min Another minute, another United attack. Mbeumo curls in a cross from the right which is just too high for Fernandes and Rashford, coming in at the far post.
27 min “United’s midfield were criticised for not being positive enough last week,” Gary Neville says, “and they’ve been better here, Mainoo and Fernandes linking well.”
26 min Fernandes takes it himself and hits it into the wall.
