Man City’s perfect Premier League start continues with convincing 4-1 win over Ipswich

LONDON – Manchester City continued their strong start to their English Premier League title defence by defeating newly promoted Ipswich Town 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Aug 24, thanks to an Erling Haaland hat-trick.

Although they were huge favourites for this clash, nothing should be taken for granted in this league and the manner of victory delighted the team.

“We played a good game. Even 1-0 down we were playing good. I would say in general they changed (after that) and were less aggressive. I am really pleased with the game we played in general,” said City boss Pep Guardiola.

“We tried to provoke them with the high pressing. The patterns they have are really good. But of course when you come here... we feel comfortable playing in our stadium, and we can do what we have done again.”

It was the visitors who stunned the home crowd early in the seventh minute, when Sammie Szmodics broke through the City defence and scored with a precise strike past goalkeeper Ederson.

Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich, however, then got a taste of what it is like to play against the champions in the English top flight when they conceded three goals in five minutes.

Guardiola had looked concerned momentarily when his side conceded, but Norwegian hotshot Haaland eased some nerves when he converted a penalty in the 11th minute.

Three minutes later, Kevin de Bruyne made it 2-1 when he produced a perfect low drive into the middle of the goal.

The Belgium playmaker then turned provider in the 15th minute when he fed the ball through to Haaland, who picked up the pass inside the box and made no mistake with his shot into the bottom-left corner.

City were relentless at this point, and they nearly made it 5-1 before the half-hour mark, only to hit the crossbar twice in quick succession – first from Rico Lewis and almost immediately after from de Bruyne.

Guardiola’s men went into the break 3-1 up, with some fans perhaps wondering why the goal cushion was not bigger.

City were without star midfielder Rodri as the Spaniard was not fully fit, and they suffered a fresh blow when Mateo Kovacic had to come off in the 50th minute due to injury.

Guardiola opted to bring in defender John Stones, who can play as a midfielder, while the newly re-signed Ilkay Gundogan watched on from the bench.

The second half was played at a lower tempo than the first, with the three points all but sealed for City and Ipswich hanging on in damage-limitation mode and nothing more.

Haaland, however, was not satisfied and nearly claimed his hat-trick in the 65th minute when he connected with a cross and headed towards goal. But his shot was saved brilliantly by Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

Gundogan, who was Guardiola’s first-ever City signing in the summer of 2016, came on for his second debut five minutes later after joining from Barcelona earlier this week.

The former club captain, who won five Premier League titles and a Champions League, received warm applause and cheers from the Etihad crowd, who also rose to welcome the 33-year-old German.

Haaland then finally scored his third goal in the 89th minute with an impressive shot from just outside the box.

In the end, it was a comfortable win for City, who marched on to prepare for their forthcoming game at West Ham next weekend.