24 August 2024
Man City 4 Ipswich Town 1
New boys Ipswich Town have not been smiled upon by the fixture gods. In their first game back in the Premier League they faced Liverpool, next up was a trip to the Etihad Stadium to face reigning champions Man City. The other way to look at it is this is why they wanted to be in the top-flight, to pit their wits against the best sides in European football.
Most fantasy league managers had made Erling Haaland their captain for this weekend, or even triple-captain, expecting a rout and a deluge of goals. It seems Ipswich Town had not read the script as Sammie Szmodics was put in and ran through on goal with only Ederson to beat. His shot squirmed past the City keeper and trickled over the goal line to give the visitors the lead after seven minutes.
The Etihad Stadium fell silent apart from the small pocket of travelling fans who were understandably going wild. It was a first goal in the Premier League since their return and of all the places to do it, they were playing the dominant force in English football. Surely they could not do the unthinkable and win in Man City’s own backyard.
Savinho then picked the ball up on the right wing and made a bee line for the penalty area. As he skipped past the challenge from Davis he went to ground looking at the referee for a spot kick. He waved away appeals but a subsequent VAR review sent the official to the monitor. It did not take much time at all for him to reverse his decision and award the penalty.
Erling Haaland stepped up, with ice coursing through his veins. He sent the keeper the wrong way and stroked it into the bottom corner of the goal. The home fans erupted as they drew level with the Tractor Boys. It had taken them all of five minutes to get back on terms with the visitors. Now came the huge test for Kieran McKenna’s side with hosts in the ascendency.
Former Man City goalkeeper Muric then dwelled on the ball for too long and Savinho robbed him. As the ball broke loose, De Bruyne stroked it into the empty net to give the defending champions the lead. Two errors of judgement from the visitors had cost them their surprise lead. That is just how cutthroat the Premier League is. Mistakes will always be punished.
Things went from bad to worse as a clipped ball over the top was seized upon by the Norwegian striker. He headed it past Muric, who was caught in no-man’s land, deftly finishing from a tight angle to double Man City’s lead. In the space of four minutes, Ipswich Town had gone from dreamland, back down to earth with a hefty bang. If they didn’t know the size of the task for the season, to stay up, they did now.
The challenge for the visitors now was to weather the storm for the remainder of the first half and limit the damage before they could get into the dressing room and lick their wounds. As you would expect from a Pep Guardiola side, they controlled possession, passing it around and making Ipswich Town chase shadows. Despite this, the visitors went in at the break only two goals down.
In some respects, after the third goal, McKenna’s side managed to stem the flow of goals. The game hit a bit of a lull and try as they might, the hosts could not find another goal. Many fans in the ground expected the floodgates to open after their quick trio of goals. The Tractor Boys were focussed on not letting that happen. It was no doubt the gameplan from kick-off.
However, around the hour mark some questionable defending from the visitors saw the ball break to Haaland once again. He struck an effort from outside the box and buried it in the bottom corner of the goal. It was the Norwegian’s tenth hat-trick for the club, he really has been some signing. Arguably one of, if not the, best striker in world football right now.
He could have added another late on in the game but his effort went narrowly wide. Not that it will take any shine off his performance and he got to take the match ball home with him. All of his hat-tricks for the club have come at home. Guardiola was able to rest some of his stars in the latter stages of the game and bring on the likes of Stones, Grealish, McAtee, Nunes and Gundogan for his second Man City debut.
Everything is going according to plan for the champions, with their 100% record still intact. More importantly, they sit at the top of the Premier League table. Next weekend they travel to the capital to face West Ham, where they have a fantastic record. The manager will have to consider his moves in the transfer window before it closes, any injury to Haaland could be catastrophic with no cover for the striker as it stands.
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