IPSWICH, England — Pep Guardiola claimed Manchester City is back to its best after Phil Foden starred in a 6-0 rout of struggling Ipswich on Sunday.

Foden netted either side of Mateo Kovacic's eye-catching goal as City blew Ipswich away with three first-half goals at Portman Road.

Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee scored after the interval to give fourth-placed City its biggest league win this season.

Guardiola's side has won three of its last four league games as it begins the long climb back to respectability after a dismal start to the season.

"We are really pleased, we are back in many things that have defined this team in the last decade, the last years," Guardiola said.

"Really pleased for the players, they deserved it a lot. We recovered some identities that we lost in this path.

"Really pleased for the three points and to climb a little bit because qualification for the Champions League next season will be really tough."

Sterner tests lie in wait for City, including a vital Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and looming Premier League clashes with Chelsea and Arsenal.

But this was the kind of confident display City used to make look routine during its march to four successive English titles.

Winning is almost certain to prove beyond it as it trails leader Liverpool by 12 points.

Guardiola will settle for restoring City's pride this term as he rebuilds a team that suddenly grew old and inconsistent before his eyes.

"The most important thing is that the players, they saw themselves recognize what we are, so that is the best thing I can say," he said.

Haaland, who has scored 112 goals in just 127 appearances for City, last week committed himself to the club until 2034 when he signed a new nine-and-a-half year deal.

But Kyle Walker was again absent from the City side amid reports that AC Milan is ready to bid for the unsettled England right back.

In City's first visit to Portman Road for 23 years, the champion emphasised how powerful it can still be at peak form.

Ruthless

Haaland scored a hat-trick when City beat Ipswich 4-1 in August and he threatened to net in the opening moments in Suffolk.

Kovacic's pass split the Ipswich defense and sent Haaland clean through on goal, but the Norway striker's shot was pushed away by Christian Walton.

Omari Hutchinson almost put Ipswich ahead against the run of play with a stinging strike from just inside the area that hit Haaland and flashed just over.

But City's pressure was rewarded in the 27th minute when Doku and Kevin De Bruyne combined to set up Foden for a clinical close-range finish.

Foden turned provider as ruthless City doubled its lead three minutes later.

Kovacic strode onto Foden's pass on the edge of the area and smashed a superb low strike past the flat-footed Walton for his first goal since October.

Guardiola's men were rampant and they struck again three minutes before halftime.

Set free by Doku, De Bruyne raced into the area and cut the ball back for Foden, whose shot from five yards evaded Walton's weak attempted save.

The England forward's fifth goal in his last four games maintained his recent improvement.

City has scored 25 first-half goals in 22 games, more than any other team in the Premier League this season.

Ipswich was powerless to stem the tide. Doku danced through its defense to score City's fourth with a low shot that hit Dara O'Shea on its way past Walton in the 49th minute.

City showed no mercy and Haaland joined the party in the 57th minute.

Jack Clarke conceded possession and Doku teed up Haaland to drill past Walton for his 22nd goal in all competitions this season.

McAtee came off the bench to bag City's sixth in the 69th minute, the 22-year-old looping a header over Walton from Kovacic's cross.

AFP