Ipswich Town they would be hoping for another memorable night against one of their own Premier Leagueof the elite when Manchester City traveled to Suffolk, only to be met by Pep Guardiola’s men at their most ruthless.
Indeed, after the away side opened the scoring thanks to Phil Foden just before the half-hour mark, there would only be one emphatic winner as the City of Old came to the fore in a 6-0 demolition job. .
The visitors couldn’t believe their luck when they came up against each other Kieran McKennaHis men, with the Ipswich defense all over the place from the moment Foden fired home.
Shambolic defense from Ipswich
Annoyingly – before City finally rallied – Ipswich had a few half-chances here and there to shock Guardiola’s men, with Omari Hutchinson seeing an effort fly over Ederson’s goal thanks to a save by Erling Haaland, just about five minutes before Foden’s start.
But there would be no looking back after the number 47 gave his side the lead as a sea of Ipswich shirts couldn’t deal with the trickery of either Jeremy Doku or Kevin De Bruyne before the England international beat Christian Walton.
The home side simply couldn’t handle a City attack at their best as Ben Godfrey saw Mateo Kovacic convert a second while the new Tractor Boys recruit was not tight enough on Doku or De Bruyne. and again when Foden collected his easy arms.
The goals didn’t stop there as Godfrey’s bad day at the office continued into the second half as Doku and Haaland traded more strikes, with the former Everton man then replaced just after the hour mark by McKenna in which was disappointing for the first time. taste of Premier League action for his freshman side.
Godfrey was clearly not the only underperformer at the back for the relegation-threatened side, as Dara O’Shea also had a notable off-day in the heart of the defense despite usually standing out as a brave performer.
Performance in numbers
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O’Shea’s performance in numbers against Man City
Indeed, if you look at the numbers since Ipswich’s heroic 2-0 win over Chelsea from late December, the Irishman has been a brick wall for the underdogs with recorded three tackles over five tackles won.
It was anything but against the top-flight champions, however, with just one duel contested all night during a somewhat lackluster display from the former Burnley centre-back.
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O’Shea’s performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
touches |
66 |
|
Accurate passes |
50/57 |
|
Possession lost |
9x |
|
Clearances |
2 |
|
Blocked shots |
0 |
|
Wiretapping |
0 |
|
Total tackles |
1 |
|
Total duels won |
1/1 |
|
Statistics from Sofascore |
|
In truth, it was a very flat performance from the 25-year-old, who looked intimidated by the incredible quality of the show from the opposition, with no interceptions or blocks when the visitors attacked at will.
In addition, he would also drop the ball nine times when passing out from the back as the junior number 26 had a night to forget throughout.
East Anglian Daily Times reporter Alex Jones would put O’Shea down Rating 5/10 after the game then, with Ipswich hoping this is a one-pointer back to reality against a stuttering City side who finally came back to life.
After all, before the back-to-back league defeats, Ipswich were unbeaten in three with O’Shea looking to return to his best when the Tractor Boys face the grueling task of trying to topple Liverpool at Anfield next.
Even with another defeat to their name, McKenna will not want his troops to feel too down, with several crucial games away from playing the cream of the top flight that will decide their overall fate.
2025-01-19 23:10:00
