Manchester City 6-0 Ipswich
Pep Guardiola’s team delivered a stunning performance, sending a clear message of their return to form.
It had been a long time since Manchester City showed their sharp, dominant side. They made light work of the weak Ipswich Town, flooding the net with goals and climbing back to fourth place in the league table.
In Sunday’s Premier League match at Ipswich’s home ground, City secured a 6-0 victory. In the first half, Phil Foden scored two goals, with Mateo Kovačić adding a third. The second half saw goals from Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland, and James McAtee.
Under Pep Guardiola, this marks the 13th time City has scored six or more goals in a Premier League match. Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal also achieved this feat 13 times, while only Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United (14 times) has done so more often in the competition.
After a setback in the last round against Brentford, where City lost two late goals and dropped points, the team came back strong with this commanding performance.
With 38 points from 22 matches, including 11 wins and 5 draws, City is now in fourth place. Despite having the same points, Newcastle United dropped a position due to goal difference.
Foden, who scored a brace against Brentford four days ago, opened the scoring for City in the 27th minute. A pass from Kevin De Bruyne found Foden, who controlled the ball and finished with a low shot past the goalkeeper.
Just three minutes later, Kovačić doubled the lead with a powerful shot into the net following a short pass from Foden in the box.
In the 42nd minute, Foden added another, this time with a low shot after a cutback assist from De Bruyne, making it 3-0.
City didn’t let up, and in the 49th minute, Jeremy Doku made it 4-0, with the ball deflecting off Ipswich defender Dara O’Shea into the net.
In their first encounter with Ipswich in August, Haaland scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win, and he added another goal in the 57th minute. Doku intercepted a poor pass from Ipswich and, after a quick run, passed to Haaland, who finished with a precise shot.
Haaland now has 17 goals in the league, one more than Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, who leads the scoring charts.
In the 63rd minute, De Bruyne was substituted for James McAtee, who scored within six minutes. McAtee converted a header from Kovačić’s well-placed through ball.
Ipswich made several counter-attacks, creating numerous shots, but they were unable to score.
In another match, Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 3-2. With 44 points from 22 matches, they are in third place.
Arsenal, with the same points but a better goal difference, are second, while Liverpool leads the league with 50 points from 21 matches.
Meanwhile, after two consecutive wins in different competitions, Manchester United was beaten 3-1 by Brighton at home.
This was United’s 12th loss of the season, leaving them in 13th place with 26 points from 22 matches. Brighton, with 34 points from the same number of matches, is in 9th place.
