After many days, Manchester City saw that sharp form. They toyed with weak Ipswich Town. Pep Guardiola’s team returned to the fourth place in the league table by flooding the opponent with goals. Mateo Kovacic found the back of the net between Phil Foden’s brace in the first half. In the second half, Jeremy Doku, Arling Holland and James McAtee increased the gap.
City scored 6 or more goals in 13 Premier League matches under Pep Guardiola’s coaching. Arsene Wenger’s coached Arsenal achieved this feat in equal number of matches. Only Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United (14) scored 6 or more goals in a match in this competition.
City, who have fallen far behind in their bid to retain the league title, conceded two late goals against Brentford in the last round to drop points. The team gave an eye-catching performance in the fight to return to the winning way. City is number four with 38 points from 11 wins and 5 draws in 22 matches. Despite getting equal points, Newcastle United fell one step behind in the goal gap.
Four days ago, Foden, who scored a double goal against Brentford, advanced on this day. In the 27th minute, the English midfielder took control of a Kevin De Bruyne pass from the left with his first touch, beating the goalkeeper with a low shot.
Foden was also involved in the goal that doubled the lead three minutes later. Croatian midfielder Kovacic sent the ball into the net with a strong shot after receiving his short pass in the face of the D-box.
In the 42nd minute, De Bruyne and the goal scorer Foden again played the role of assist. This time he got his cutback in the six yard box and made the scoreline 30 with a low shot in the first touch. The goalkeeper jumped and touched the ball but could not stop it. Entering the D-box from the left, Jeremy Doku created space between the two and took a shot, before the ball hit the feet of Ipswich defender Dara O’Shea and into the net.
Holland, who scored a hat-trick in a 41-run win over Ipswich on his debut last August, scored in the 57th minute. The Norwegian star caught the wrong pass of the opponent and entered the Dbox at a fast speed and gave a pass to the right side, and the Norwegian star beat the goalkeeper with a placing shot. In the 63rd minute, the coach brought De Bruyne down to Makati. The English midfielder got his name on the scoreline within six minutes of entering the field. He headed Kovacic’s lofted through ball into the net.
Relegation zone side Ipswich counter-attacked several times, taking several shots on goal. But the team could not be effective enough.
In another match, Nottingham Forest beat Southampton by 32 goals. They are in third place with 44 points in 22 matches.
Arsenal is two ahead with equal points and goal difference. Liverpool tops with 50 points in 21 matches.
Meanwhile, Manchester United lost their way again after two consecutive wins in two competitions. Brighton destroyed the team in their own field by 31 goals. The team is number 13 with 26 points in 22 matches and seven wins and five draws. Brighton is in ninth place with 34 points in equal matches.