Phil Foden scored twice and Erling Haaland celebrated his new contract with another goal as Manchester City crushed Ipswich this afternoon.

City looked their best again at Portman Road although Ipswich held back a bit in a one-sided encounter.

Foden, who also grabbed two goals in the 2-2 draw at Brentford in midweek, opened the scoring and Mateo Kovacic doubled City’s advantage on the half-hour mark.

Foden made it 3-0 before half-time with goals from sensational Jeremy Doku, Haaland, who signed a nine-and-a-half-year contract on Friday, and James McAtee finished off.

Manchester City have five!

Erling Haaland gets his name on the scoresheet 📋 pic.twitter.com/tLqFQhHGfM

– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 19, 2025

It was a miserable afternoon for Ipswich, who remain in the relegation zone with 12 defeats in 22 games since being promoted. The extent of City’s success saw them leapfrog Newcastle into fourth place.

City on the case

City’s pre-Christmas woes now seem almost unremembered even if they leave their changes too late to compete.

Foden admitted a lot to the arrangement and it looks like City are playing with a free zone while keeping an eye on their hosts.

Haaland should have opened the scoring after 14 minutes but Christian Walton made a fine save following Kovacic’s delightful through ball.

Kovacic then fired home as City fell back in front and it was no surprise when he went over on 27 minutes.

Kevin De Bruyne was the architect, taking a pass from Doku and crossing for Foden to control and fire a left-footed volley past Walton.

Kovacic added three minutes later, firing powerfully into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

De Bruyne fired in a devastating shot before the Belgian made Foden’s second close to his first, the England international driving in a cross from the left.

Phil Foden doubles his number 💥

Manchester City are running riot in East Anglia! pic.twitter.com/Bj67biie9f

– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 19, 2025

The process continued during the break

Ederson saved Ben Johnson from a rare Ipswich City drive before adding a fourth in their next attack. Doku, whose pace and power tormented Ipswich all afternoon, cut in from the left and fired a shot that clipped Dara O’Shea’s foot past Walton.

The last thing Ipswich wanted was to help a rampant City but that was what Jack Clarke did after 57 minutes.

The striker struggled to impress at Portman Road after leaving Sunderland in the summer and did little to impress his home supporters with a poor pass that was intercepted by Doku and dropped to Haaland to slot home.

With the points in the bag, Pep Guardiola took off De Bruyne, Haaland and Foden and one of the substitutes brought on City’s sixth, McAtee nodding in Kovacic’s delightful pass.