Wednesday 25 / December / 2024
LONDON: Manchester City needed just four minutes to wake Ipswich Town up from a dream start and bring them crashing back to reality at the Ethiad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Ipswich impressed for an hour against Liverpool last weekend and took a seventh minute lead when Sam Szmodics scored with a low shot.
Their time in dreamland lasted the five minutes needed for Erling Haaland to level from the penalty spot, and two minutes later Kevin de Bruyne put City ahead, before turning provider for Haaland to make it 3-1 after 16 minutes.
Pep Guardiola's side were in complete control against their newly promoted rivals and Ilkay Gundogan made his return to action in the second half, before Haaland completed his tenth Man City hat-trick two minutes from time.
Elshwhere, second half goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey gave Arsenal a 2-0 win away to Aston Villa.
The home side saw Ollie Watkins miss a great first half chance to put them ahead, but after the break, substitute Trossard scored from a Bukayo Saka pullback, and Partey assured a big win with a low shot from outside the area.
Brighton made it two wins in two games with a 2-1 win at home to Manchester United, thanks to a first half goal from veteran former United striker Danny Welbeck after 32 minutes and a late finish from Joao Pedro.
Amad Diallo equalized for Erik ten Hag's men after the hour and they were unlucky not to go ahead after Alejandro Garnacho's close-range finish was ruled out after the ball brushed the offside, Joshua Zirkzee with 20 minutes left.
Joao Pedro's far post header five minutes into injury time gave Brighton all three points and Ten Hag will look at his defense, who allowed the Brighton player to steal in completely unmarked to score.
Tottenham cruised to a 4-0 win at home to a desperate Everton, who have now conceded seven goals in their first two games of the season.
Back in favor, Yves Bissouma put Tottenham ahead with a thumping shot and then a rare error from Jordan Pickford gifted a second to Son Heung-Min after 25 minutes.
James Maddison set up Cristian Romero for Spur's third in the 71st minute, before Son netted his second of the game.
Second half goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen saw West Ham bounce back from last weekend's defeat to Aston Villa with a 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace, who have still to click after their positive end to last season.
Alex Iwobi gave Fulham their first win of the campaign as they beat Leicester City 2-1. Record signing Emile Smith Rowe put Fulham ahead in the 18th minute and although Wout Faes gave Leicester hope with their 38th minute equalizer, Iwobi's effort was decisive.
Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal of the game as Nottingham Forest won 1-0 away to Southampton, with the forward poaching from the edge of the six-yard box as Southampton failed to deal with a corner.
