‘Manchester City are back’, says Pep Guardiola after Ipswich Town Premier League rout

IPSWICH – Pep Guardiola claimed Manchester City are back to their best after Phil Foden starred in a 6-0 English Premier League rout of struggling Ipswich Town on Jan 19.

Foden netted either side of Mateo Kovacic’s eye-catching goal as City blew Ipswich away with three first-half goals at Portman Road. Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee scored after the interval to give City their biggest league win this season.

City moved into fourth place but can be displaced by Chelsea if the Blues beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on Jan 20.

Guardiola’s side have won three of their last four league games as they begin the long climb back to respectability after a dismal start to the season.

“We are really pleased. We are back in many things that have defined this team in the last decade, the last years,” Guardiola said.

“Really pleased for the players, they deserved it a lot. We recovered some identities that we lost in this path. Really pleased for the three points and to climb a little bit because qualification for the Champions League next season will be really tough.”

Sterner tests lie in wait for City, including a vital Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Jan 22 and looming league clashes with Chelsea and Arsenal.

But this was the kind of confident display City used to churn out routinely during their march to four successive English titles.

Retaining their title is almost certain to prove beyond them, as they trail leaders Liverpool by 12 points, having played a game more.

Guardiola will settle for restoring City’s pride this term as he rebuilds a team that suddenly grew old and inconsistent before his eyes.

“The most important thing is that the players, they themselves recognise what we are, so that is the best thing I can say,” he said.

Haaland, who has scored 112 goals in just 127 appearances for City, recently committed himself to the club until 2034 when he signed a new deal.

But Kyle Walker was again absent from the City side amid reports that AC Milan are ready to bid for the unsettled England right-back.

In City’s first visit to Portman Road since 2001, the champions emphasised how powerful they can still be at peak form.

Haaland scored a hat-trick when City beat Ipswich 4-1 in August and he threatened to net in the opening moments in Suffolk.

Kovacic’s pass split the Ipswich defence and sent Haaland clean through on goal, but the Norway striker’s shot was pushed away by Christian Walton.

Omari Hutchinson almost put Ipswich ahead against the run of play with a stinging strike from inside the area that hit Haaland and flashed just over. But City’s pressure was rewarded in the 27th minute when Doku and Kevin de Bruyne combined to set up Foden for a clinical close-range finish.

Foden turned provider as ruthless City doubled their lead three minutes later. Kovacic strode onto Foden’s pass on the edge of the area and smashed a superb low strike past the flat-footed Walton for his first goal since October.

Guardiola’s men were rampant and they struck again three minutes before half-time.

Set free by Doku, de Bruyne raced into the area and cut the ball back for Foden, whose shot evaded Walton’s weak attempted save.

The England attacker’s fifth goal in his last three league games maintained his recent improvement.

City have scored 24 first-half goals in 22 games, more than any other team in the Premier League this season.

Ipswich were powerless to stem the tide. Doku danced through their defence to score City’s fourth with a low shot that hit Dara O’Shea on its way past Walton in the 49th minute.

City showed no mercy and Haaland joined the party in the 57th minute.

Jack Clarke conceded possession and Doku teed up Haaland to drill past Walton for his 22nd goal in all competitions this season.

McAtee came off the bench to bag City’s sixth in the 69th minute, the 22-year-old looping a header over Walton from Kovacic’s cross.

For Ipswich, who remain in 18th place in the table on 16 points, the drubbing was a valuable footballing lesson.

“We didn’t execute our game plan how we wanted to,” O’Shea said.

“You can never write them off. It was always going to be tough...

“We need to regroup, look back on our mistakes and go again. The main thing is to learn from it and we cannot get too down on it.”
AFP, REUTERS