Plenty has changed at Manchester City in the last 14 months, yet the sight of Ilkay Gundogan jogging onto the Etihad pitch felt like nothing had changed at all.
Erling Haaland was crashing in penalties and rounding goalkeepers, Kevin De Bruyne is still running the show, and the Blues defence are still susceptible to conceding direct goals.
John Stones was even back in midfield. It felt just like the 2023 run-in with most of City's main protagonists in their familiar roles.
City beat Ipswich in four first half minutes, a ruthless welcome to the Premier League despite falling behind. Even with that early shock, they were never in danger of losing this game.
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