Manchester City decimated Ipswich Town at Portman Road with a ruthless six-goal display.
After a slow opening 25 minutes, the visitors exploded into life, with Phil Foden and Mateo Kovačić scoring within three minutes of one another to give their side a commanding lead. By halftime, it was 3-0, Foden grabbing a brace to put City out of touch already.
Come the second 45 minutes, it was more of the same. Jérémy Doku scored the goal his excellent performance deserved four minutes in, and Erling Haaland put his name on the scoresheet just before the hour mark. Not 10 minutes later, substitute James McAtee continued his recent goalscoring form with a goal of his own.
As it happened
Coming into this game with only one loss in their last four games, Ipswich would have been forgiven for having some optimism. This was the same Manchester City side with three wins in their last 12 Premier League games, after all, and the same side who blew a two-goal lead with seconds on the clock against Brentford in their last game. An upset was on the cards, and why not? Stranger things have happened.
Much to The Tractor Boys’ chagrin, this game would not yield such peculiarity. At first, it looked like it might have; they were alive and kicking for the first 25 minutes. Early on, former City boy Liam Delap would test his former side’s backline, cutting past Rúben Dias and hitting a shot on goal which cannoned off the back of Joško Gvardiol, and in the 24th minute Omari Hutchinson would fire just over from a well-worked free kick.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf they could’ve built on that bright start, they would have been well and truly in the game. But you’ve seen the scoreline. Build they did not.
Instead, just three minutes after the Hutchinson shot, City were in front. It was a slick move, Doku playing Kevin De Bruyne into the channel and letting him do the rest, playing the ball into he six-yard box for Foden to fire into the bottom corner.
Three more minutes came and went, and the visitors doubled up. This time it was Kovačić firing low, hard and first time into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Foden this time turned provider, laying the ball off for his midfield counterpart, but it was all about the finish; Christian Walton had no chance.
Following the second goal, Ipswich enjoyed a sweet, 12-minute-long period of respite before the ball squirmed into their net once more. It was Foden once more, the goal all but a carbon copy of the first. Doku playing De Bruyne into the box? Check. De Bruyne squaring it into the six-yard box? Check. Foden forcing a shot past Walton (albeit despite a sizeable touch from the keeper)? Check.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity were cruising. A 3-0 lead at the break is an unusual enough sight in itself for this season’s struggling Citizens. Extending it would be a sight seldom seen since… well, last season.
Doku, the man who had given Ben Johnson nightmares all throughout the first half, would score a goal of his own come the 49th minute after slaloming into the area and guiding a shot towards the bottom corner. This time Dara O’Shea got a huge touch, Walton given no chance.
The clock wouldn’t even hit the hour mark before four turned into five. Haaland, who had patiently waited for his moment, struck on 57 minutes. Jack Clarke’s under-hit pass was pounced upon by Doku, the Belgian proceeding to drive goalwards before playing his big, nine-and-a-half-year-bound centre forward into the perfect position to strike. When the ball met his path, he didn’t need more than one touch to steer his shot into the back of the net.
This was, quite frankly, brutal. Ipswich fought hard for 25 minutes before City had absolutely everything all their own way.
The sixth goal epitomised that. Kovačić was given all the time and room in the world to dink a ball behind a thoroughly disorganised Ipswich defence. Arriving into position was substitute McAtee, unmarked and more than happy to loop a header over a stranded Walton and into the back of the net.
Embed from Getty ImagesSix to the good, Pep Guardiola allowed them to rest on their laurels and give the kids a chance. Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly made rare Premier League bouts, Portman Road growing ever emptier, their fans having seen more than enough.
For one side, the only way appears to be up. Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are all set to join the Premier League champions rather imminently, those reinforcements arriving just as they’ve found their feet again. They may not win the league, but Manchester City are back in a position in which few will want to play them.
As for the other, things aren’t looking good. Sat 18th in the league with 16 points, their Premier League safety relies as much on the underperformance of Wolves as a minor miracle of their own. There’s little shame in losing to the team who have won the last four Premier League titles; putting up virtually no fight is another thing altogether.
Time will have to tell whether Ipswich Town can keep themselves alive in the topflight of English football – and on today’s evidence, things don’t look all too promising.
The lineups
IPS: Walton; Davis, Burgess, O’Shea, Godfrey, Johnson; Clarke, Morsy, Cajuste, Hutchinson; Delap
MCI: Ederson; Gvardiol, Dias, Akanji, Nunes; Gündoğan, Kovačić; Doku, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland
FEATURED IMAGE: Rob Atherton