Manchester City put the disappointment of their midweek capitulation against Brentford behind them to inflict a stinging 6-0 defeat on Ipswich Town.
The champions were absolutely outstanding from the first whistle, putting in an impressive performance that will no doubt have many wondering how on earth they ever lost six out of eight Premier League games in one go.
Two goals from Phil Foden and a great shot from Mateo Kovacic gave City a 3-0 lead at half-time, and they kept their foot on the gas pedal in the second half, adding to their tally through Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee.
How the game developed
City got going almost immediately and passed the ball with ease against their relegation-threatened opponents.
It didn’t take long for Erling Haaland to pull off an excellent save from Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton, although the Norwegian must have been frustrated at putting his shot within the reach of the 29-year-old.
Omari Hutchinson shot forward after a rare Ipswich push forward, but then they fell behind as Phil Foden continued his recent run of success in front of goal. Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne were the architects before Foden was able to shoot the ball into the goal thanks to clever footwork.
Mateo Kovacic fired a shot high over the crossbar before making it two minutes later – the Croatian drilled superbly into the bottom corner after further good work from Doku and Foden.
The game ended as a battle when Foden made it three from close range and first timed a shot under Walton’s body from De Bruyne’s center into the goal, but City continued to storm forward after the break.
The brilliant Doku scored the fourth goal off a slight deflection from Dara O’Shea before turning provider again, this time for Haaland, who celebrated his new nine-and-a-half year contract with a close finish.
Substitute James McAtee scored the sixth goal after being left unmarked in the Ipswich penalty area and firing a header over the prone Walton.
Check out the Ipswich 0-6 Man City player ratings here.
It was always a question of when, not whether Manchester City would go all out and tear apart anyone who wasn’t Salford City from League Two.
The 4-1 win over West Ham United earlier in the year suggested, at least on paper, that the champions had started to find their magic formula by then, but to be honest they weren’t really up to it against the Hammers despite scoring four goals good .
However, there was a sense that something big was on the horizon and it turned out that the opportunity to pulverize Ipswich in front of Ed Sheeran was exactly what City had been waiting for.
Here they were untouchable. At the races they strolled forward at will from the first minute, playing fast but clean, intricate football and never letting the home crowd become a factor in the game. In fact, there was an eerie silence for most of the afternoon as both groups of fans simply enjoyed the mesmerizing display of attacking football.
Foden spent the first half dozen games of the 2024/25 season watching City from the bench, much to the disappointment of many Fantasy Premier League players. The 24-year-old then spent the next three months trying to make an impression as City unfathomably forgot how to play football.
So it is perhaps no coincidence that City’s gradual upturn in form has coincided with the return of Foden’s impact, particularly in front of goal. While Foden only scored once in the Premier League before the turn of the year, he has now scored five goals in his last three games. His brace in the first half wasn’t particularly noticeable, just a result of how smart he was and knowing exactly where he needed to be at the right moment.
While Foden shone on the right, there was also another ray of sunshine on the left: the electrifyingly fast Jeremy Doku. His performance in the 8-0 FA Cup defeat to Salford City was perhaps the Belgian’s warning that good performances will become more frequent and not just in spurts.
Ben Johnson didn’t really have a clue how to deal with Doku, who either stormed to the byline with ease or cut inside like the former West Ham defender wasn’t there, and it was no surprise to anyone but him City’s shot home made it fourth just after the break.
With City playing like this, it’s hard to understand why they would spend almost £70m to sign Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush.
The Egyptian has enjoyed a breakthrough season in Germany, scoring 15 goals and providing a further 10 assists in 17 Bundesliga appearances. He will undoubtedly provide some breathing space for Erling Haaland, who cannot be 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 disrupt the opposition defense? That’s just greedy, Jeremy.
Understandably, Ipswich’s heads bowed towards the end of the first half at Portman Road, knowing they were completely outmatched and in all likelihood already out of the game.
But Kieran McKenna’s side need not concern themselves with such a performance simply because it does not reflect their standing at this level. It would be an exaggeration to claim that City were back to Pep Guardiola’s absolute pinnacle, but they certainly weren’t a million miles away in East Anglia. Many teams would have failed in this situation, let alone a team that has enjoyed back-to-back promotions.
Containing City and jumping forward on the counter-attack was Ipswich’s game plan and it was absolutely the right thing to do. They had their moments too, with Liam Delap showing more than once his ability to collect the ball and move forward with pace, but he just has to accept that City in general are operating on a completely different planet.