Manchester City 2-1 Ipswich Town - Half-Time
Saturday, 17th Oct 2026 15:58
The Blues are 2-1 down to Manchester City at half-time at the Etihad Stadium.
Town made two changes of personnel and switched to three at the back for the first time under Gary O’Neil.
Jacob Greaves came into the XI as the third centre-half on the left with skipper Dara O’Shea on the left and Issa Diop in the middle. Abdoul Ouattara and Leif Davis were the wing-backs.
Exequiel Palacios returned to the centre of midfield alongside Florentino Luis with Sasa Lukic missing from the squad due to a knock. Julio Enciso and Daizen Maeda were behind striker Emersonn.
Jaden Philogene dropped to the bench having started last week’s 2-1 victory over Fulham with Abdul Fatawu returning to the 20 following his one-match ban with Sindre Walle Egeli not included.
Manchester City made four changes from last weekend’s 3-0 Premier League victory over 10-man Liverpool with Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Mateo Kovacic coming into the team.
Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo all moved to the bench.
With late 1980s-style inflatable bananas being waved in stands, the players took the field with the Premier League anthem roundly booed by City fans, at Etihad for the first time since the independent commission found their club guilty of their financial charges.
Town, wearing their black and gold third kit for the first time, found themselves defending from virtually the first seconds. On five, Foden swept over a free-kick from the right but home skipper Ruben Dias’s header tamely bounced through to Christian Walton.
On seven, Nico O’Reilly cut in from the left and hit a shot across goal which Walton batted away.
Soon after, Emersonn won a free-kick on the left which came to nothing as the linesman’s flag was raised as it came across.
Off the field, the two sets of fans were trading banter, home supporters singing that Town were “going down with the City”.
Town were doing well to frustrate the league leaders but on 17 Dias struck a sharp first-time strike from 25 yards which Walton did well to paw away from his top corner.
But the home supporters didn’t have to wait too much longer for a goal. In the 19th minute, Doku tricked his way on from the left before cutting across to Foden, who had broken to the edge of the six-yard box having escaped Florentino and the England international turned into the far corner of the net.
However, the lead lasted only two minutes. Ouattara played a superb ball round the outside of Marc Guehi for Maeda, who held off the England centre-half, took it into the area and slipped it between Gianluigi Donnarumma and his near post, the Japanese international’s first goal for the Blues.
Having seemed to lose their intensity in the minutes after going in front, City looked to get back at it having conceded but Town were able to snuff out their attacks before they got into a dangerous area.
As the half-hour approached, Emersonn struck a powerful 25-yard effort which flew only just beyond Donnarumma’s left post.
Erling Haaland had had a quiet first half hour, but in the 32nd minute, Foden slipped the Norwegian phenomenon in on the left of the box, but Greaves did brilliantly to slide in and divert the ball over the bar.
However, a minute later, Haaland restored his side’s lead. Mateo Kovacic rode a rash Florentino tackle on the right and was then able to take the ball on towards the byline before standing up a cross to the far post from where Haaland nodded down and into the net, Walton only managing to get a hand to it.
As the half moved into its final five minutes, the Blues’ penalty area came under increased pressure, Greaves stopping Foden in his tracks before subsequent efforts from the edge of the box were blocked.
On 43, Dias unleashed another powerful strike from distance which Walton saved well high to his left.
Enciso won a late free-kick on the left just prior to the whistle but Town were unable to make anything of it.
The Blues will have been largely happy with the way they had frustrated City in the first half but equally will feel the goals came from errors with Foden untracked on the first and Kovacic allowed to take the ball into a dangerous crossing position on the second, Haaland then making the most of the situation as he so often does.
City had dominated possession - 80/20 - but Town had had one or two promising breaks with Ouattara’s excellent pass creating Maeda’s goal, which the former Celtic man took with great confidence.
The Blues will be disappointed not to have made anything of their set pieces in the City half, something they will feel have to improve in the second half if they are to get anything from the game.
Manchester City: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias (c), Guehi, O’Reilly, Bouaddi, Kovacic, Ndiaye Foden, Doku, Haaland. Subs: Rulli, Anderson, Cherki, Fernandez, Ait-Nouri, Gvardiol, Elias, Semenyo, Khusanov.
Town: Walton, Ouattara, O’Shea (c), Diop, Greaves, Davis, Florentino, Palacios, Enciso, Maeda, Emersonn. Subs: Scherpen, Furlong, Kipre, Matusiwa, Fatawu, Flemming, Philogene, Akpom, Clarke. Referee: Farai Hallam. Assistants: Adrian Holmes and Simon Long. Fourth official: Tom Reeves. VAR: Andrew Kitchen. Assistant VAR: Paul Howard.
_Photo: Reuters_