Match report and 4 points to talk about the brutality of Portman Road

Manchester City put the disappointment of their midweek surrender to Brentford behind them to inflict a brutal 6-0 defeat on Ipswich Town.

The champions were absolutely brilliant from the first whistle, putting in an impressive performance that will no doubt leave many wondering how they lost six Premier League matches in eight games at one stage.

Two goals from Phil Foden and a low missile from Mateo Kovacic put City 3-0 up and going at half-time, and they kept their footing in the second half to add to their tally through Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee. .

How the game unfolded

City hit their stride almost immediately, effortlessly slotting the ball past their relegation-threatened rivals.

It did not take long for Erling Haaland to make a brilliant save from Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton, although the Norwegian will be frustrated that he put his effort within reach of the 29-year-old.

Omari Hutchinson fired a shot over the bar from a rare forward drive from Ipswich, but they then fell behind as Phil Foden continued his recent hot streak in front of goal. Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne were the engineers, before great footwork from Foden allowed him to slot the ball home.

Mateo Kovacic fired a shot high over the bar before adding it two minutes later, the Croatian curling the ball superbly into the bottom corner after more good work from Doku and Foden.

The game ended as a contest when Foden scored the third goal from close range, curling a shot straight under Walton’s body from De Bruyne’s midfield, but City continued to push forward after half-time.

The impressive Doku scored the fourth goal after taking a slight deflection off Dara O’Shea, before turning into a playmaker again, this time for Haaland, who celebrated his birthday. New contract for nine and a half years With the finished cut.

Substitute James McAtee made it six after being left unmarked in the Ipswich penalty area, curling a header over the stranded Walton.

Check out our Ipswich 0-6 Man City player ratings here.

The question has always been when, not if, Manchester City It would make everything click and tear someone who wasn’t from League Two Salford City.

The 4-1 win over West Ham United at the start of the year suggested, on paper at least, that the champions were starting to find their magic formula at the time, but the truth is that they weren’t actually that good against the Hammers despite scoring four goals. .

However, it felt like something big was on the horizon, and the chance to crush Ipswich to Ed Sheeran turned out to be just what City had been waiting for.

Here, they were untouchable. Racing from the first minute, they drove forward at will, playing fast but complex football, never allowing the home crowd to become a factor in the game. In fact, there was an eerie silence throughout the afternoon as both sets of fans absorbed the stunning display of attacking football.

Foden has spent the first six games of the 2024/25 season watching City from the bench, to the disappointment of many Premier League players. The 24-year-old then spent the next three months struggling to make an impression, as City unfathomably forgot how to play football.

So perhaps it is not a coincidence that City’s gradual rise in level coincided with Foden’s return to his brilliance, especially in front of goal. Only one scorer Premier League A goal before the turn of the year, Foden now has five goals in his last three matches. His brace in the first half wasn’t impressive, just the result of being street smart and knowing where to be at just the right moment.

With Foden shining down the right flank, there was also another beacon of sunshine operating down the left flank: the extremely quick Jeremy Doku. His performance in 8-0 FA Cup thrashing Salford City Perhaps it was the Belgian’s warning that good performances would become more and more frequent, rather than sporadic.

Ben Johnson really had no idea how to deal with Doku, who either raced down the sideline with ease or cut inside as if the former West Ham defender wasn’t there, and it was a surprise to no one when he fired in City’s home goal. The fourth shortly after the break.

When City play like this, it’s hard to understand why they would spend nearly £70m on this Banner Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush.

The Egyptian has enjoyed a breakout season in Germany, scoring 15 goals and making 10 assists in 17 Bundesliga appearances, and will undoubtedly provide a respite for Erling Haaland, who is not expected to play every week.

But a player of Marmoush’s quality, when City have Haaland, Foden, Doku, Savinho, Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva to trouble opposition defences? That’s just greed, Jeremy.

Ipswich Heads were understandably bowed at half-time at Portman Road, knowing they had been completely outplayed and, in all likelihood, already out of the game.

But Kieran McKenna’s team need not focus on such a performance, as it simply does not reflect where they are at this level. It would be an exaggeration to suggest that City have returned to Pep Guardiola’s absolute peak levels, but they were certainly not millions of miles away in East Anglia. Plenty of teams would have collapsed in this situation, let alone one that enjoyed successive promotions.

Containing City and going forward on the counter-attack was Ipswich’s game plan and it was the right thing to do. They have had their moments too, with Liam Delap showing his ability to collect the ball and get forward quickly on more than one occasion, but they must simply accept that City are generally operating on a very different planet.

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