Manchester City avoided a scare on Saturday as they were forced to come from behind to beat newly promoted Ipswich Town 4-1 in the Premier League.
Sammie Szmodics put the visitors ahead early on but City needed less than ten minutes to flip the game on its head. Erling Haaland tied things up from the penalty spot and, after Kevin De Bruyne found the back of the net, the towering striker quickly put the game beyond any doubt.
In the dying embers, Haaland bagged his tenth City hat-trick, firing from range to secure all three points.
How the game unfolded
Ipswich found themselves defending an early scramble after Jeremy Doku’s low cross was directed towards Haaland. The striker slid in against goalkeeper Arijanet Muric but the visitors managed to clear their lines.
With seven minutes on the clock, Ipswich took a shock lead. Szmodics went through on goal and fired a low effort through Ederson, whose deflection only put the ball in slow-mo as it trickled over the line.
Ipswich’s lead lasted just five minutes, however, A VAR check spotted Leif Davis tripping Savinho in the box, and Haaland made no mistake from 12 yards to tie things up.
Almost immediately after, City were ahead. Muric was caught in possession by Savinho, who tapped the ball over to De Bruyne to fire into an empty net from the edge of the penalty area. The third goal came just as quickly as Haaland rounded Muric and slotted home with 17 minutes on the clock.
Rico Lewis crashed against the bar on City’s search for a fourth and De Bruyne followed suit from range just moments later, but Ipswich managed to weather the storm and keep the deficit at two heading into the break.
Ipswich clearly changed their approach to the game for the second half, dropping deeper at the back to try and finally stop City from getting through.
Haaland looked destined to bag his third when he sent a header towards goal shortly after the hour mark, but a sensational save from Muric denied the Norway international.
City never stopped looking to add to their tally, and with the clock ticking down, Haaland finally grabbed his hat-trick. A fierce strike from outside the box fizzed beyond Muric and into the bottom corner to cap off an excellent day for the hosts.
Source – Man City 4-1 Ipswich: Player ratings as Haaland hat-trick helps Cityzens avoid scare (90min.com)
