Alfie worried by City's slump

Alfie Haaland took scant consolation from the knowledge that Manchester City's worrying fifth successive defeat came at the hands of Ipswich's most accomplished side in a decade. George Burley's confident young team not only climbed to third place in the Premiership with a deserved 3-2 win at Maine Road, they look far better equipped to avoid the subsequent freefall that was the fate of the last Ipswich side to hit such dizzy heights in 1993 under John Lyall.

Better teams than City will fall victim to the slick attacking that has already brought Ipswich five away wins on the spin in a Premiership patently not prepared for Burley's simple yet effective passing style.

But skipper Haaland was more concerned at the ease with which Marcus Stewart cut through City's defence to within a crossbar's thickness of a hat-trick, and with the prospect of a Maine Road season shaping up into a long, hard winter.

The adrenalin-charged comeback which brought goals for Paulo Wanchope and Steve Howey, as well as abundant thrills for a 33,000 crowd, could not disguise the flaws in City's make-up, even allowing for the cavalier team choice that made manager Joe Royle wince in hindsight.

Stewart's goals - the first a glorious diving header, the second an indictment of City's defenders - were sandwiched around centre-back Herman Hreidarsson's headed first goal since a £4million move from Wimbledon but it could have been a whole lot worse for Royle's men.

David Johnson hit the foot of a post and the irrepressible Stewart, with nine goals already this season, saw an 83rd-minute effort come down off the bar before Nicky Weaver clawed it away to safety.

So the difference in the end was Stewart's second, which he walked around Weaver, a goal City players continued to insist was offside when cross-examined by Royle 'They stood like pillars of salt,' he moaned. 'You don't just stop, you have to get back and make an attempt to get the ball.' Haaland acknowledged that Royle's verdict - 'defensively, we were a joke' - was accurate, and, with one eye on a December fixture list that includes three away games, he said: 'We let goals in too easily. We have to tighten up because we need better than a point a game to reach the 40 mark and we're already behind. If we do have a bad game, we have to make sure we don't lose it.' Ipswich skipper Matt Holland, on Royle's shopping list had Ipswich failed to join City in the Premiership, also added a touch of reality when he said: 'People expected us to be another Watford but we've been together long enough to play well as a team. After talking about relegation, people are now talking about Europe, but it's early days and there's a long way to go. If we survive, it's been a good season.'