Ipswich came out with intent and were gifted the opener just four minutes into proceedings, when Sam Morsy’s long ball was met with calamity as Andre Onana rushed out and Patrick Dorgu passed the ball past him, allowing Jaden Philogene to roll it over the line.
Harry Maguire’s header forced Alex Palmer into a good save and the Red Devils had plenty of possession, but the hosts received some help for their equaliser with Morsy diverting Bruno Fernandes’ fizzed free-kick into his own net.
Another Fernandes set-piece caused chaos four minutes later, as Palmer denied Maguire and Diogo Dalot before Matthijs de Ligt reached the loose ball ahead of Jens Cajuste to turn it home.
Dorgu then had a venomous shot saved before a timely tackle from Axel Tuanzebe was required to deny Alejandro Garnacho.
However, the hosts were reduced to 10-men with Dorgu being shown a straight red card for his tackle on Omari Hutchinson, and matters got even worse before half-time as Philogene’s cross narrowly evaded Liam Delap and Onana on its way into the bottom corner.
Down to 10 men and with the scores level, United were in desperate need of a lift and received it within two minutes of the second period, as Maguire got a dominant head on the end of Fernandes’ corner to pick out the bottom corner.
Ipswich settled again after conceding but Maguire deflected Delap’s shot wide, Cajuste had two efforts blocked and Jack Taylor fired wide after being introduced from the bench.
With the pressure building, Fernandes blocked Tuanzabe’s attempt and made a lung bursting run up the pitch and delivered a pass that narrowly evaded Noussair Mazraoui.
George Hirst then headed wide from a corner and Onana held Philogene’s curling shot, as Man United held on to earn the first win from their last four Premier League matches.
They also inflicted the sixth defeat from Ipswich’s last seven league games, keeping the Tractor Boys five points behind Wolverhampton Wanderers and safety.