19 January 2025
Ipswich Town 0 Man City 6
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town welcomed Man City to Portman Road. After beating an in-form Chelsea at home to break their duck, the hosts were hoping to give Pep Guardiola’s side a tough afternoon. The visitors had managed to end their dreadful run but things weren’t looking like the side that had won four titles in a row just yet.
The Tractor Boys were outside of the bottom three on goal difference. They knew they would have to match Wolves’ result this weekend at the very least to ensure it stayed that way. Ipswich’s fans are enjoying this adventure in the top-flight and want it to be more than a flash in the pan. That will prove no mean feat.
Kovacic made a run through the middle before threading a superb pass into the path of Haaland. The Norwegian should have scored, one on one with Wharton, but the keeper made a good reaction save to deny him. You felt even at this stage that for the hosts to get anything from this game, he was going to have to put in some performance.
Man City were dominating the early stages of this match. Playing their passing game and getting people into the channels. Delap was the only Ipswich player causing any problems for Guardiola’s side. He was fouled out wide and the resulting free kick found Hutchinson on the edge of the box. He unleashed a shot of real venom that narrowly grazed the crossbar.
These are the small margins at this level. Man City went straight down the other end and Doku picked out Foden in the box. He shifted it onto his left foot and swept it past Walton to give the visitors the lead. The Tractor Boys were struggling to deal with all the attacking threat of the defending champions and the goal had been coming.
Foden turned provider soon after. He rolled the ball to Kovacic who struck a low shot into the bottom corner of the goal. Although deemed more of a deep lying midfielder, his passing and shooting is often overlooked. He has chipped in with some important goals for Guardiola’s side. This match was already looking beyond the hosts.
You couldn’t really say that Ipswich had done much wrong. It was just quality of Man City shining through. This has been something that had gone missing for some time, which has seen them all but mathematically fall out of the title race. There is still plenty of time to go but it would take something monumental to knock Liverpool off their perch right now.
Doku came striding forward and played in De Bruyne in the area. He got to the byline and then cut it back to Foden in the six yard box. His first-time shot squirmed through the grasp of Walton and trickled into the back of the net. McKenna will be concerned how easily the visitors were slicing through his defence, that needs addressing.
After the interval, the Tractor Boys started pushing forward. The physical side to Delap’s game causes most sides problems. He played it into Hutchinson on the edge of the box who fed it to his right to Johnson. He took one touch to control it before drilling a shot at goal. Ederson got down well to block it and gather the ball at the second attempt.
Just as they thought they could get back into this game, City countered. Doku cut inside from the flank and let fly at goal. His shot took a deflection off the boot of O’Shea, which was enough to fool Walton as it ended in the back of the net. Man City were looking clinical going forward, which is an ominous sign for the rest of the league.
Things then went from bad to worse as Clarke gifted the ball to Doku. He ran towards goal before passing to Haaland in the middle. As Walton came out to close him down, the striker dinked the ball past him to make it five-nil. With over half an hour remaining, Ipswich were in danger of getting a real hiding in front of their own fans.
Pep Guardiola was able to ring the changes and rest some of his big hitters. One player to come on was McAtee. He took full advantage of a home defence that lost the will to fight as he ghosted into the middle. Kovacic clipped a sublime pass to him and he calmly headed it over the keeper to put the icing on the cake for Man City.
This result should give the defending champions some confidence. They all seem resigned to just ensuring they qualify for the Champions League now this season. Don’t be fooled, that will be the official version but if they can put one of their runs together as they have in previous campaigns, they could still cause an upset.
However, this scoreline did not do Kieran McKenna’s side any favours. They fell back into the bottom three on goal difference. With Everton distancing themselves from the relegation places, it seems to be a battle between Ipswich and Wolves as to who is going to finish in that final spot. They will be looking to capitalise on a tough run of fixtures for their opponents coming up.
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