I saw Man City reaction to setback that could convince Pep Guardiola to rethink his future

We are only 180 minutes into the new season, but Pep Guardiola has already spotted a title-winning trait - and it came from a defensive mix-up.

Ipswich's Sammie Szmodics timed his run perfectly to dissect the Manchester City defence and squeeze a shot under Ederson. Ipswich boss Keiran McKenna admitted they had targeted that specific move as their best chance of scoring, and the jubilant away end erupted when it worked just seven minutes in.

City developed a frustrating habit of conceding opening goals last season, often thanks to a direct ball through the middle, and this was a sense of de ja vu. Yet by 15 minutes City were 3-1 up and in control. Those eight minutes could turn out to be mightily important in the overall arc of the campaign.

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"After winning what we have won in the past, if we think about if Ipswich is not good enough, for what we achieve, this is the only problem we can have," Guardiola warned on Saturday evening.

"But when I see the team from the first minute, it was completely opposite. How they respect Ipswich. I said to them a team who is promoted from League One to the Premier League in two seasons, it's because they are something special. We play front foot, we could have won the game 4 or 5, the game would be over but 3-1 isn't over.

"I think we behave and play in the level we started at Stamford Bridge and today with the lack of preparation we have from most of us, two from two is really good."

It was not just the respect paid to Ipswich - which in fairness City often pay to any visiting team. It's