Birmingham City were narrowly beaten by Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Easter Monday
17:07, 06 Apr 2026Updated 19:37, 06 Apr 2026
Carlos Vicente of Birmingham City celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Birmingham City at Portman Road
Birmingham City succumbed to a sixth defeat in eight games in the Championship after surrendering a lead to promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town.
Carlos Vicente gave Blues the lead in Suffolk before late first half goals from Ben Johnson and Kasey McAteer changed the picture on a day where Chris Davies’ side showed some guts.
Few people gave Blues a prayer at Portman Road and the hosts almost took the lead inside a minute. Makeshift left-back Jonathan Panzo lost a 50/50 challenge with Marcelino Nunez and he slipped in McAteer to whistle a shot over the bar from the edge of the box.
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Blues recovered well from that early scare and started to hold their own by occasionally playing through the thirds, or going long to August Priske who was proving to be a useful focal point.
Then came 30 seconds that showed football’s fine margins.
McAteer latched onto a clever knockdown from George Hirst and toed the ball past last man Phil Neumann to face up goalkeeper James Beadle. Beadle stayed on his feet until the last moment and got a strong right hand to McAteer’s finish before jumping on the ball.
Blues went straight up the other end and took the lead through Vicente. Jay Stansfield’s left-wing cross reached Vicente and the Spaniard swept home his second Blues goal with a smart left-footed finish.
Carlos Vicente of Birmingham City celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Birmingham City at Portman Road
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna used an injury to midfield anchorman Azor Matusiwa to bring on Anis Mehmeti to beef up his attack. Nunez dropped back into midfield and Mehmeti joined Hirst in the attack.
Their attacking intent showed immediately and Johnson levelled matters in the 41st minute. Darnell Furlong’s cross from the right was misjudged by Bright Osayi-Samuel and Johnson’s mishit shot bamboozled Beadle and just about crossed the line.
Ipswich’s tails were up and it was third time lucky for McAteer in first half stoppage time. The Tractor Boys cut their way through Blues’ defence with Hirst finding McAteer to slot underneath Beadle.
Panzo’s struggles continued in the second half when he completely misjudged a pass from Nunez that he really should have intercepted to gift McAteer another opportunity to score. The Ipswich winger dragged his shot wide of goal on this occasion.
Ethan Laird and Ibrahim Osman’s arrivals gave Blues greater attacking threat on the left wing and the latter thought he had crafted an equaliser with 20 minutes to play.
Osman skipped to the byline and fired a ball across that deflected in off Ipswich skipper Dara O’Shea but Blues’ celebrations were cut short by a flag on the far side. The assistant referee adjudged the ball to have crossed the line and a goal-kick was awarded to Ipswich, much to Blues’ frustration.
Osman had the beating of Furlong and danced his way into the box again before forcing a good save from Christian Walton at his near post.
The on-loan Brighton man tried his luck again from 20 yards but Walton tipped his shot onto the post and Laird’s follow up was blocked.
Osman and Co couldn’t find the equaliser but there were no boos from the away end on this occasion. In fact, Davies and his players were applauded off by their fans.
James Beadle 6
The goalkeeper made one really good stop from McAteer but he didn’t set himself quickly enough for the equaliser. Beadle’s short distribution was fine but he overhit long balls constantly in the first half.
Bright Osayi-Samuel 5.5
Osayi-Samuel misjudged the cross for Johnson’s equaliser and isn’t always the best in possession, but he made some good defensive contributions too in a decent display.
Phil Neumann 6
A tad ropey in possession, which has been a slight on Neumann all season, but no one can say they don’t look more secure with him at the back next to Klarer.
Christoph Klarer 6
Klarer was steady enough on his less favoured left side, even if Ipswich skipped in behind him a couple of times when they quickened their play. He could have been better in his build-up but that is a consequence of him being out of position.
Jonathan Panzo 4
Panzo isn’t a left-back. He kept losing McAteer and he was fortunate the winger only punished him once because on another day he might have scored a hat-trick. Panzo hasn’t done enough to warrant another contract.
Jhon Solis 6.5
Showed a wonderful burst of pace to run through midfield in the second half but picked the wrong option when he reached the box. Nevertheless, this was another display that suggests Blues should sign him permanently if their balance sheet will allow it.
Paik Seung-ho 5
Paik and Solis seemed to have control of the midfield before Nunez dropped deep and started pulling the strings. Paik was bypassed too many times towards the end of the first half in another average away performance.
Carlos Vicente 6.5
Vicente produced a really tidy finish to give Blues the lead but we need to see more of him in one-v-one situations. When he breezed past Johnson in the first half he ballooned a cross behind and he appeared to tire in the second half.
Jay Stansfield 7
Stansfield ran back 50 yards late on to stop a fresh Jaden Philogene from having a clear run at goal. You can criticise his goals return recently, but you can’t question his commitment to the cause. The striker made some very good runs off Priske and set up Vicente’s opener.
Demarai Gray 5
Based on what we saw from Gray before his injury on Boxing Day, it’s hard not to feel short-changed at the moment. The 29-year-old isn’t showing his true quality.
August Priske 7
Not only was Priske’s play up against two of the Championship’s best centre-backs encouraging, so too was his partnership with Stansfield. Priske was happy to occupy O’Shea and Greaves with Stansfield buzzing around him. Same again against Wrexham, please.
Jacob Greaves and Ben Johnson of Ipswich Town jump for the ball with August Priske of Birmingham City
SUBS
Tomoki Iwata (for Paik, 46) 6
Iwata was tidier than he has been on recent midfield outings and actually proved to be a good foil for Solis in the second half.
Ethan Laird (for Panzo, 56) 6.5
Laird gave Blues an attacking edge down the left and shored Blues up defensively after McAteer had taken Panzo apart.
Ibrahim Osman (for Gray, 56) 7*
On this evidence, Osman has to play – irrespective of whether he’s a loan player or not. The winger carried the fight to Ipswich in the second half and was desperately unlucky not to breach their goal.
Patrick Roberts (for Vicente, 81) N/A
Marvin Ducksch (for Stansfield, 81) N/A
Not used: Allsop, Robinson, Doyle, Fujimoto
How did you rate the players? Let us know in the comments…