Ipswich Town would hope for another memorable night against one of the Premier Leagueelite when Manchester City traveled to Suffolk, only to be greeted by Pep Guardiola’s men at their rawest.
Indeed, after the away side opened the scoring thanks to Phil Foden just after half an hour, there was only one clear winner as the City of old came out on top in a 6-0 demolition.
The visitors would simply not believe their luck in the encounter Kieran McKennamen, with the Ipswich defense all over the place from the moment Foden scored.
Shambolic Ipswich defence
Annoyingly – before City eventually ran riot – Ipswich had a couple of half-chances here and there to shock Guardiola’s men, with Omari Hutchinson seeing an effort go wide of Ederson’s goal thanks to Erling Haaland’s deflection just five or so minutes before Foden’s opener.
But there would be no looking back after the No.47 put his side in front as the sea of Ipswich shirts couldn’t cope with the tricks of Jeremy Doku or Kevin De Bruyne before the England international beat Christian Walton.
The hosts simply couldn’t cope with City’s attack at their best, with the likes of Ben Godfrey just looking on as Mateo Kovacic grabbed a quick second, while the Tractor Boys’ new recruit didn’t get close enough to Doku or De Bruyne again as Foden picked up his easy brace .
The goals didn’t stop there as Godfrey’s bad day at the office continued in the second half as Doku and Haaland traded further blows and the former Everton man was replaced by McKenna just after the hour mark in the first sobering move in the history of the Premier League which is preparing for his fresh side.
Godfrey was clearly not the only underdog at the back for the relegation-threatened side, as Dara O’Shea also had a significant day off in the heart of the defense despite usually standing out as a brave player.
Performance in numbers
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O’Shea’s performance in numbers against Man City
Indeed, if you look at the numbers from Ipswich’s heroic 2-0 win over Chelsea at the end of December, the Irishman was a brick wall for the underdogs with three fights were registered on top of the five duels won.
He was anything but against the reigning Premier League champions, however, with just one tackle lasting the night during what was a somewhat lackluster display from the former Burnley centre-back.
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O’Shea’s performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
It touches |
66 |
|
Precise passes |
50/57 |
|
Lost property |
9x |
|
Move apart |
2 |
|
Blocked shots |
0 |
|
Interceptions |
0 |
|
Total calculations |
1 |
|
Total number of duels won |
1/1 |
|
Statistics according to Sofascore |
|
In fact, it was a very flat performance from the 25-year-old who looked stiffly frightened by the incredible quality displayed by the opposition, with no interceptions or attempted blocks when the visitors attacked at will.
What’s more, he would also give the ball away nine times when he passed out from behind, as the 26-under par had a night to forget throughout the round.
East Anglian Daily Times reporter Alex Jones would give O’Shea a low rating Rating 5/10 after the game that followed, with Ipswich hoping this was a one-off return to reality against a struggling City side that had finally come back to life.
After all, before back-to-back league defeats, Ipswich were unbeaten in three and O’Shea will be keen to return to his best when the Tractor Boys face the daunting task of trying to topple Liverpool at Anfield next.
Even with another defeat to their name, McKenna will not want his soldiers to feel too down, with many crucial games away from playing the cream of the crop that will decide their overall fate.
