**Gary O’Neil** talked about a 4-2 defeat for **Ipswich Town** against **Arsenal**.
After conceding twice in the first nine minutes of the match against **Liverpool** and a second half to forget in a 5-2 loss to **Manchester United** at **Old Trafford**, the manager wanted the hosts to show a different face at **Portman Road** in the third round of the **Carabao Cup** against one of the big boys.
**·‘Similar to the Liverpool game’**
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But **Max Dowman** broke the deadlock after seven minutes, and a gamble from **Christian Walton** was eventually punished by **Noni Madueke**: the **Premier League** champions were 2-0 up in 16 minutes. Dowman then doubled his tally for the evening at the start of the second half, and **Mikel Merino** followed up on a dummy from the teenager to put the visitors four goals to the good.
**Anis Mehmeti** and former _Gunner_ **Chuba Akpom** made the scoreline more respectable, but it was another example of a collapse against a ‘Big Six’ opponent being costly for the _Tractor Boys_.
_“I thought we got heavily punished. It was a game that was made to look really one-sided by the scoreline, but probably wasn't really. We made a couple of mistakes. The first two shots ended up in the goal, and then they produced a couple of moments of quality in the second half to get to four._
_“But I thought we looked a threat all night. I thought we should have probably scored more._
_“It was a tough test with a group that hasn't played much, and I thought a lot of them came out, or all of them, came out with real credit. I thought they had the right go, stuck at it. It didn't feel like a 4-0 game at any point, but the quality that they have meant that it was._
_“We found a way to fight our way back into it. Losing by two goals against them is not a dreadful effort. I’m disappointed that we didn't win because that's what we're here for, but lots of positives._
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_“I think they're a good side defensively. They don't concede many chances at all, and we were still able to get through. We were still able to create problems for them. But we gave ourselves an uphill battle, obviously, conceding two as early as we did, similarly to the_ **_Liverpool_** _game._
_“It seems like, similar to the_ **_Liverpool_** _game, two errors, two nil down, and then a mountain to climb._
_“I’m disappointed with those. The second goal especially, just a bit of a lack of understanding. The first one's just a mistake, a misplaced pass. The second one is us trying to do the right things, but not quite getting it right._
_“But then there was lots of good play to enjoy. I thought it was some really exciting stuff, some really good attacking stuff._
_“We've managed to freshen a few up. We've managed to get some minutes into some. We've managed to have a good go against the best team around. Now we need to get ready for a big game at Everton at the weekend.”_