IPSWICH, England (Reuters) – Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said his side were back to their old selves following a 6-0 demolition of Ipswich Town on Sunday that moved them into the Premier League top four.
City put their struggles over the last two months behind them as Phil Foden scored twice and set up another goal and Erling Haaland also got on the scoresheet in a much-needed win that moved them up to fourth on 38 points.
“We are really pleased, we are back to doing things that define this team for the last 10 years. Really pleased for the three points and to climb into qualification for the Champions League for next season,” a beaming Guardiola told Sky Sports.
After some less-than-convincing efforts either side of Christmas, City finally found their groove against Ipswich, and the Spanish coach was impressed with how his side played.
“Much better, maybe not our best, but closer with the consistency we have in our game … everyone with the ball was clever, quicker, faster, everyone is related. You cannot be quick, wise and good if you are not connected defensively,” Guardiola said.
For Ipswich, who remain in 18th place in the table on 16 points, the drubbing was a valuable footballing lesson.
“We didn’t execute our gameplan how we wanted to. You can never write them off. It was always going to be tough, and we wanted to give a good account of ourselves – we probably didn’t do that,” defender Dara O’Shea said.
“We need to regroup, look back on our mistakes and go again. The main thing is to learn from it, and we cannot get too down on it. There is massive belief in this group and the club.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Toby Davis)
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