The resurgent Phil Foden scored two goals and set another one up as Manchester City hit lowly Ipswich for six.
Foden’s first-half brace sandwiched a superb strike from Mateo Kovacic, putting Pep Guardiola and Co. out of reach by the break. Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee then got on the scoresheet, giving City the perfect response to Tuesday’s calamitous 2-2 draw away to Brentford.
It’s a result which means that City, who are now fourth in the Premier League table, have won four of their last five games in all competitions, unbeaten since Christmas. Ipswich, meanwhile, couldn’t climb out of the bottom three by pulling off a shock result, as Kieran McKenna and his players face a huge challenge in the second half of the season.
Here are five talking points from Portman Road.
Having both enjoyed comfortable wins the FA Cup, Ipswich and City’s midweek matches brought them back down to Earth. That prompted both managers to make a number of significant changes.
Kieran McKenna made five alterations to his starting line-up, including handing new signing Ben Godfrey his Premier League debut for the Tractor Boys. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, dropped goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and recalled Ederson, despite claiming that the German had played well in Tuesday’s collapse against Brentford.
Will Kieran McKenna keep Ipswich in the Premier League? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
City may’ve been a shadow of their selves lately but the four-in-a-row champions can still punish you. Ipswich looked the brighter side in the opening stages, with Liam Delap having a chance in the eighth minute.
His twisting and turning saw Ruben Dias commit himself and go to ground, as Delap shaped up to shoot. Josko Gvardiol was in the way to make a block but it wasn’t the only sniff at goal which the hosts had before City broke the deadlock.
A well-worked free-kick saw Leif Davis pull the ball back to the edge of the penalty area, where Omari Hutchinson was waiting. The former Arsenal and Chelsea prospect unleashed a venomous strike which took a slight deflection off Erling Haaland and went for a corner. Davis took it and that created another chance, although Dara O’Shea saw his header saved by Ederson.
What a year Phil Foden is having. No, not the season but 2025 itself. City’s playmaker has rediscovered his form after an underwhelming first half of the campaign to score or assist in his last four matches across all competitions.
First it was goal at home to West Ham before assisting against Salford, and Foden notched both of City’s goals at Brentford. But the 24-year-old was on another level at Portman Road, scoring the opening goal after he was picked out by Kevin De Bruyne.
Foden then set up Mateo Kovacic to unleash a brilliant strike past the helpless Christian Walton three minutes later – and he wasn’t doesn’t there. The England international combined with De Bruyne again in the 42nd minute to score his second of the match and put the game to bed before half-time with his 100th senior goal.
Foden was denied the chance of a hat-trick, however, as Jack Grealish was brought on – another man who needs an upturn in output.
Another player who’s enjoying a much better start to his year than the end of 2024 is Jeremy Doku. City’s £55million signing enjoyed a promising first season at the Etihad but has stalled since.
Doku, 22, appears to be on the comeback, though, as his dazzling solo run just four minutes after restart made it three goals in his last 10 Premier League games. That’s as many as the Belgian managed in his previous 34 top-flight fixtures.
He soon turned provider, teeing Haaland up to make it 5-0 in the 57th minute. Doku should’ve had another assist for the Norwegian two minutes later but Walton kept it out.
James McAtee has an interesting two weeks ahead of him. Should he follow in Foden’s footsteps and continue to learn under Guardiola but with limited minutes?
Or should be bold like Cole Palmer, who pushed for a move and is now thriving? Either way, McAtee did himself no harm with his first league goal for City. The 22-year-old’s darting run shortly after replacing De Bruyne was spotted by Kovacic, who lofted the ball over Ipswich’s backline, allowing McAtee to glance home and make it six.
But the contest had been over long before.
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