Manchester City avoided a scare on Saturday as they were forced to come from behind to beat newly promoted Ipswich Town 4-1 in the Premier League.
Sammie Szmodics put the visitors ahead early on, but it took less than ten minutes for City to turn the game around. Erling Haaland leveled things up from the penalty spot and, after Kevin De Bruyne found the back of the net, the big striker quickly put the game beyond doubt.
In the dying embers, Haaland grabbed his tenth City hat-trick, firing in from distance to secure all three points.
How the game developed
Ipswich found themselves defending an early move after Jeremy Doku’s low cross was headed for Haaland. The striker sneaked up on goalkeeper Arijanet Muric but the visitors managed to clear their lines.
With seven minutes on the clock, Ipswich took the lead. Szmodics went through on goal and fired a low effort past Ederson, whose deflection only put the ball on a slow run as it trickled over the line.
Ipswich’s lead lasted just five minutes, however, as a VAR check saw Leif Davis trip Savinho in the box, and Haaland made no mistake from 12 yards to level things up.
Almost immediately afterwards, City took the lead. Muric was caught in possession by Savinho, who fed the ball to De Bruyne to fire into an empty net from the edge of the penalty area. The third goal came just as quickly as Haaland rounded Muric and slotted home with 17 minutes on the clock.
Rico Lewis crashed over the bar as City went in search of a fourth and De Bruyne followed suit from range moments later, but Ipswich managed to weather the storm and keep their deficit at two heading into the break.
Ipswich clearly changed their approach to the game for the second half, dropping deeper at the back to finally try to stop City going through.
Haaland looked destined for a third when he headed home just after the hour, but a sensational save from Muric denied the Norway international.
city he never stopped looking to add to his tally, and with the clock ticking, Haaland finally grabbed his hat-trick. A ferocious strike from outside the area rocketed past Muric and into the bottom corner to cap off an excellent day for the home side.
GK: Ederson – 5/10 – He didn’t get enough of Szmodics’ opener, sparking debate over whether he would have saved Son Heung-min’s famous strike last season.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 7/10 – Comfortable at the back and regularly tried to get forward to support Savinho in attack.
CB: Ruben Dias – 7/10 – He controlled his defensive line well and was always looking to get things moving with the ball at those feet.
CB: Josko Guardiol – 6/10 – Solid and unspectacular. He just did his job.
DM: Rico Lewis – 7/10 – A real force in midfield. Involved in a lot and caused a lot of problems in the Ipswich box. Unlucky to see his shot crash against the bar.
DM: Mateo Kovacic – 7/10 – He worked incredibly hard to keep up City’s relentless pressure. Good energy off the ball and impressive composure in possession. He limped off early in the second half.
RM: Savinho – 8/10 – A massive threat. He won the penalty for the equalizer and then it was his pressure that led to De Bruyne’s finish. It caused all kinds of problems on the right side.
CM: Bernardo Silva – 6/10 – Remarkably calm. Really struggled to get involved despite City’s dominance of possession.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 9/10 – A goal and an assist in the first half. Another typically excellent performance from the Belgian.
Champions League: Jeremy Doku – 7/10 – Savinho stole the limelight at the other end of the pitch, but Doku remained his usual self, driving past defenders and firing in dangerous crosses.
ST: Erling Haaland – 9/10 – Haaland may not have been heavily involved in City’s formation, but he still left with three goals. It’s just what he does.
Substitutes
SUB: John Stones (50′ for Kovacic) – 6/10
SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (71′ for Doku) – 6/10
SUB: Jack Grealish (71′ for Savinho) – 6/10
SUB: James McAtee (90′ for Haaland) – N/A
SUB: Matheus Nunes (90′ for De Bruyne) – N/A
Subs not used: Stefan Ortega (GK), Issa Kabore, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake
manager
Pep Guardiola – 8/10 – Despite the early setback, City stuck to their game plan and ruthlessly picked off Ipswich.
GK: Arijanet Muric – 3/10 – A massive error for City’s second goal was quickly followed by another poor decision for the third. However, he produced a stunning save to deny Haaland after the break.
CB: Axel Tuanzebe – 5/10 – Really battled at the back as City refused to let the pressure drop. He didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as Johnson.
CB: Luke Woolfenden – 4/10 – I can’t fault the effort, but Woolfenden were chasing shadows for most of this game. He couldn’t come close to his elite opponents.
CB: Jacob Greaves – 5/10 – Make a change but he just couldn’t hold a candle to this level of opposition.
RM: Ben Johnson – 5/10 – He wasn’t always activated defensively, but at least he got the assist for Ipswich’s first goal.
CM: Sam Walrusy – 6/10 – Great work rate and decent composure on the rare occasions he was allowed to get on the ball.
CM: Massimo Luongo – 5/10 – Couldn’t keep up with City’s midfield. Easily chosen.
LM: Leif Davis – 5/10 – Mohamed Salah last week and Savinho this week. A real baptism of fire for Davis in the Premier League. He tried his best to keep up, but he definitely lost this battle.
AM: Omari Hutchinson – 5/10 – An occasional bright moment with the ball at his feet, but never got the chance to strut his stuff.
AM: Sammie Szmodics – 7/10 – He managed to maintain his excellent goalscoring form against the reigning champions. A memorable individual moment for Szmodics.
ST: Liam Delap – 5/10 – Through no fault of his own, Delap found it almost impossible to get involved against his former club. An impossible task.
Substitutes
SUB: Jack Taylor (72′ for Luongo) – 5/10
SUB: Marcus Harness (72′ for Szmodics) – 5/10
SUB: Ali Al Hamadi (83′ for Delap) – N/A
SUB: George Edmundson (89′ for Tuanzebe) – N/A
SUB: Conor Chaplin (89′ for Hutchinson) – N/A
Subs not used: Christian Walton (GK), Cameron Burgess, Conor Townsend, Jens Cajuste
manager
Kieran McKenna – 4/10 – He showed some naïveté and stubbornness as Ipswich refused to deviate from their usual style, but eventually realized that his team simply could not hang with this level of opposition.
