Haaland hat-trick ensures early scare is short-lived

For five minutes, the 3,000 Ipswich Town fans who had made the four-hour drive from Suffolk to the Etihad Stadium lapped up a rare feeling that was only experienced by supporters from Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United last season.
Their side had done the unthinkable. They had come to the home of the Premier League champions and had taken the lead. After Sammie Szmodics’s seventh-minute finish had trundled over the line, pandemonium ensued across the three tiers of the stand at the other end of the pitch. Some Ipswich fans hugged each other, others punched the air. A few just stood there speechless.
What occurred in a four-minute period that followed soon after reminded them why Chelsea, United and Spurs came away from the Etihad without three points last season. It reminded them just how difficult a task they have on their hands this season following their promotion from the Sky Bet Championship and gave Manchester City’s rivals a reminder of how brutal they can be on their day.
Four minutes after equalising from the penalty spot, Erling Haaland rolled the ball into Aro Muric’s net for a second time. In between those strikes, Kevin De Bruyne had swept the ball into an empty net after Ipswich’s goalkeeper had been harried off the ball by the brilliant and tenacious Savinho, who was making his home debut after a £30million move from Troyes.
When Haaland was presented with a chance on the edge of the box at the death, it led to the inevitable outcome — an arrowed shot into the corner that brought up his tenth hat-trick for City.
Ipswich deserve credit for preventing City from going on to rack up an even bigger margin of victory. Muric got himself back in the good books with a superb save from Haaland midway through the second half and Szmodics looked lively on his full debut.
Pep Guardiola will be happy with the performance of Haaland and Savinho and the fact that Ilkay Gundogan slotted seamlessly into the City team during his 29-minute appearance as a substitute. The Catalan even tried an experiment at the end of the game, lining up in a 3-4-3 formation with De Bruyne at left wingback.
The last time that these two teams met in the top flight was on May 7, 2001, when Ipswich won at Portman Road to keep alive their faint hopes of Champions League qualification and send City down. Some City fans still remember the mocking banner unfurled in the home end at full time. “You are the weakest link, goodbye,” it read, referencing the put-down used by Anne Robinson in the BBC quiz show.
Alfie Haaland was in the City squad that season. These days, his son is often lauded in these parts, although this afternoon, he was upstaged for a short time by Szmodics. The £9million signing from Blackburn Rovers was the Championship’s top scorer last season with 27 goals and he showed his clinical touch to round off a brilliant counterattack.
Omari Hutchinson sped away from Josko Gvardiol before checking his run and slipping the ball to Ben Johnson, the underlapping right back. He clipped the ball between Rúben Dias and Manuel Akanji and raced away from the latter before drilling the ball between Ederson’s legs. The Brazilian took the sting off the shot but it just had enough energy to creep over the line.
The goal punctured the buoyant atmosphere that had been generated by the return of Gundogan, who was on the bench, and a pre-match show of might from City, who displayed the Premier League trophy at the side of the pitch and a banner in the stand that mocked Liverpool. “This means four” read the banner, with four Premier League trophies on it, mocking Liverpool’s “This means more” motto.
When Leif Davis tripped Savinho just inside the box, the home crowd came to life again. Sam Allison, who was drafted in to referee after an injury to Michael Salisbury, was not interested initially, but after analysing the pitchside monitor he changed his mind and Haaland sent Muric the wrong way from the spot.
Savinho’s tenacity brought City their second two minutes later. Muric, who played five times for City, spent too much time deliberating whether to pass or trick his way past Savinho on the edge of his own area. The winger took the decision out of his hands, stealing the ball from the goalkeeper and De Bruyne rolled the free ball into the empty net.
Manager Kieran McKenna did not look impressed by Muric. A couple of minutes later, Muric went walkabout again, this time rushing off his line trying to cut out De Bruyne’s through-ball. Haaland beat Muric to the chase, nodding the ball past the Kosovan before steering it into an empty net just before Jacob Greaves could clear.
Rico Lewis and De Bruyne struck the Ipswich bar with fierce shots as City piled forward, leaving Ipswich glad when the half-time whistle came. Muric acrobatically tipped over the Norwegian’s header on the hour mark.
John Stones came on for Mateo Kovacic after he suffered a knee injury following a challenge from Liam Delap. Gundogan came on to control the game from midfield and then when Jack Taylor failed to clear on the edge of the box with two minutes left, Haaland finished precisely.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson 7 – R Lewis 7, M Akanji 7, R Dias 7, J Gvardiol 7 – M Kovacic 7 (J Stones 50min, 7), B Silva 7 – Savinho 8 (J Grealish 71), K De Bruyne 8 (M Nunes 90), J Doku 7 (I Gundogan 71) – E Haaland 9 (J McAtee 90). Booked Dias, Grealish.
Ipswich Town (3-4-2-1): A Muric 4 – A Tuanzebe 5 (G Edmundson 89), L Woolfenden 5, J Greaves 5 – B Johnson 7, S Morsy 7, M Luongo 6 (J Taylor 72), L Davis 6 – O Hutchinson 6 (C Chaplin 89), S Szmodics 7 (M Harness 72) – L Delap 6 (A Al-Hamadi 83). Booked Szmodics, Morsy, Al-Hamadi.
Referee S Allison.