The Blues fell behind to Phil Foden slick finish, but responded less than three minutes later as Daizen Maeda equalised from a quick counter.

The Cityzens turned things around with two goals from Erling Haaland either side of the break, with the Norwegian seeing his hat-trick goal disallowed late on.

Zian Flemming reduced the deficit to 3-2 with a penalty following Marc Guehi’s foul on Abdul Fatawu, but despite 12 minutes of added time, Town couldn’t find a way to take a point from the game.

Man City XI: 4-2-3-1: Donnarumma; Nunes (Khusanov 76’), Dias, Guehi, O’Reilly (Gvardiol 61’); Bouaddi, Kovacic (Fernandez 50’); Ndiaye, Foden (Anderson 77’), Doku (Semenyo 77’); Haaland

Ipswich XI: 3-4-2-1: Walton; O’Shea, Diop, Greaves (Clarke 90+1’); Ouattara, Florentino (Matusiwa 71’), Palacios, Davis; Maeda (Fatawu 71’), Enciso (Akpom 78’); Emersonn (Flemming 77’)

Attendance: 60,817

Gary O'Neil changed tactics by switching to a back five (Image: Ross Halls)

SYSTEM SWITCH

Under Gary O’Neil, Ipswich had stuck to a 4-2-3-1 formation up until their trip to the Etihad Stadium. Facing Man City away from home was the game that he referenced as a match where he could change tactics to be more pragmatic.

So it proved. The Blues switched to a 3-4-2-1, operating with three centre-backs. Leif Davis and Abdoul Ouattara operated as wing-backs either side of them, with central midfielders Florentino and Exequiel Palacios sitting in midfield behind an attacking line of Julio Enciso and Maeda either side of lone striker Emersonn.

The plan was clear. Out of possession, they could operate as a proper back five, protected by the midfielders to create a low block that would frustrate the Cityzens.

That worked, to an extent, but the hosts’ quality proved too much at times, and slip-ups opened gaps which were ruthlessly exploited.

Offensively, they looked to strike on the counter. Once again, this worked to hurt Man City, but not enough to get a result.

Daizen Maeda bagged his first goal for the Blues (Image: Ross Halls)

MAEDA’S MOMENT

Maeda has had a mixed start to life at Ipswich. For all his hard work, his end-product has been lacking in certain games.

Finally, he got the goal he deserved for his efforts.

It was the type of goal that Ipswich fans had been waiting to see from the Japanese wide man, playing on the right flank once again.

He latched on to a superb lobbed ball from Ouattara before racing through on goal, shrugging off Marc Guehi before slotting the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

It was reminiscent of Sam Szmodics’ opener at the Etihad Stadium two years ago. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same.

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland struck twice to but the hosts in control (Image: PA)

CITY STRIKE

It goes without saying that Man City have a lot of quality. Even with Enzo Maresca making four changes, the starting lineup was remarkably strong, and they had plenty of options on the bench.

Their first goal came from a slick cross-field ball from Mateo Kovacic to Jeremy Doku. The winger found loads of space behind Ouattara and set up Foden for a clinical finish.

They struck back after Maeda’s equaliser. Kovacic danced past Florentino’s lunge before crossing from the right for Haaland. Perhaps Christian Walton – who got a hand on the header – could have kept it out.

I actually thought the Blues’ approach, at 2-1 down, was spot on. It felt like they were in the game and continued to go toe-to-toe in search of an equaliser. In the end, it was a clinical second for Haaland that killed the match off after he brushed past Ouattara in the box.

It’s another reminder of the levels that the best teams in world football can reach. Ipswich didn’t feel like they were blown away, however – another sign of significant improvement from their last Premier League campaign.

That’s six goals for Haaland in three games against Town.

Sasa Lukic missed the match with a knock (Image: Ross Halls)

THE MISSING MAN

Last weekend against Fulham, I felt that the midfield partnership of Florentino and Sasa Lukic lacked a bit of spark and tenacity, which changed when Palacios was introduced in the second half.

I’m sure that, in an ideal world, O’Neil would have started Lukic alongside Palacios in this game, but the Serb was ruled out with a knock, which meant that Florentino kept his place.

This isn’t to criticise Florentino. While I felt he could have done better in moments, he wasn’t the sole reason for Town’s defeat. He showed some good glimpses and control on the ball.

But the Blues’ lacked Lukic’s ability to dictate play, and they lacked his experience in a game like this too. He offers a bit more when Ipswich go forward, while Florentino is more comfortable sitting deeper – which isn’t as important with three centre-backs behind.

Lukic and Palacios are the strongest options in midfield, in my eyes. Hopefully the former returns to action soon.

Town gave the league leaders a late scare in 12 minutes of added time (Image: PA)

WHAT IT MEANS

There’s a whole separate debate about what this will mean for Man City going forward, given the potential punishment for financial charges.

For Ipswich, it’s one to shrug off and move past, while taking the positives from giving one of the best teams in Europe a real fright.

There are moments to dissect, be it individual errors or some required tweaks to do with positioning and shape, but they were ultimately beaten by a ruthless side who remain top of the Premier League with a 100% record.

I hope Town work on the 3-4-2-1 system going forward, even if they stick with a 4-2-3-1 in the coming weeks – which I think they should. There will be times where a back five is the stronger option for a certain game, even if it’s not O’Neil’s preferred one for this group of players.