Manchester City fired Paris Saint-Germain a warning shot ahead of their key Champions League clash in midweek as the Premier League champions ran riot at Ipswich Town, recording a 6-0 win on Sunday that lifts them into the top four.
The hosts enjoyed a bright start, but City soon began to assert some control, though Erling Haaland wasted the chance to open the scoring when he fired straight at Christian Walton after being sent clear by Mateo Kovacic. However, that proved a brief respite for Ipswich, as Phil Foden broke the deadlock from close-range after Kevin De Bruyne’s cross deflected into his path.
City never looked back from there, and were 3-0 up by half-time as Kovacic fired into the bottom corner from just outside the penalty area before Foden made it five goals in his last three league games with his second straightforward finish of the afternoon.
Any hopes of a dramatic Ipswich fightback were extinguished four minutes into the second period as Jeremy Doku’s curled effort deflected in off Dara O’Shea before Haaland, fresh off signing his new 10-year contract with City, netted his 17th league goal of the campaign after being played in by Doku.
Pep Guardiola was able to rest a number of his star players for the final quarter of the match such was their dominance, and one of his substitutes, James McAtee, wasted little time in making an impact as he headed home the sixth on what was one of City’s most comfortable top-flight outings for months.
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