Ben Johnson kickstarted Town’s comeback with a well-taken equaliser (Image: Steve Waller)
FINALLY A COMEBACK!
April 1st, 2024 – Easter Monday. Ipswich come from 2-1 down to beat Southampton 3-2 on Suffolk soil. A game that goes down in history for Jeremy Sarmiento’s winner, when it really felt like back-to-back promotions was on the cards.
Since then, no comeback wins, not helped by a tough season in the Premier League. That’s until April 6th, 2024. Easter Monday once again.
Town go behind to Birmingham, with Carlos Vicente slotting the opener into the bottom corner in the 32nd minute. Fear and frustration filled Portman Road.
But that all changed nine minutes later. The visitors failed to properly clear the ball around their own box, kicking it into Kasey McAteer, which saw it deflect into the path of Darnell Furlong.
The right-back crossed over everyone in the box, finding the onrushing Ben Johnson, who fired past James Beadle. Phil Neumann couldn’t prevent the ball from crossing the line.
Ipswich didn’t wait long to turn the game on its head. McAteer and George Hirst combined well with clever movement to cause Birmingham’s back line problems. That allowed McAteer to turn into space and fire his first Town goal into the back of the net.
Kasey McAteer won the game with his first goal for the Blues (Image: Ross Halls)
MATCH-WINNER MCATEER
If anyone needed a goal in this game, it was McAteer.
Prior to facing Birmingham, the wide man was goalless in 23 matches for Ipswich, having taken 20 shots in the Championship. It’s obviously been a tough start for him at Portman Road, but nothing fell for him in that time.
It so easily could’ve been the same old story. He should’ve opened the scoring around the half-hour mark, doing all the hard work with a clever flick to open up space before firing a shot at Beadle. Birmingham then went up the other end and scored.
But he didn’t let it get to him. He took his goal really well and everyone could see how much it meant to him. It’s a reward for all his hard work, having shown a marked improvement from the win at Derby County in February onwards.
He was excellent in this game, showing confidence and skill on the ball while doing his defensive work out of possession. He was rightly named as the sponsors’ Man of the Match in a game where he wasn’t even supposed to start, only brought in when Wes Burns pulled up with an issue over the weekend.
Does he make the XI at Carrow Road on Saturday? He’s certainly in with a shout.
Ipswich struggled to sustain their performance levels once again (Image: Ross Halls)
SAME ISSUE REMAINS
Ipswich were a little flat at the start of the first half, but turned it around with a period of real quality before the break.
But the second half? Town were poor, there’s no denying it. Kieran McKenna admitted that they didn’t play the way they wanted do. It was disappointing. We’ve seen this happen too many times in recent weeks.
Just three shots, none on target. Birmingham really should have scored an equaliser, having had a goal ruled out when the referee deemed that Ibrahim Osman let the ball run out of play. I’m yet to see an angle where that’s the case.
If that had gone in, who knows? Chris Davies’ side could’ve had the momentum to go on and win it.
Town were due a rub of the green after some refereeing howlers went against them, but they were way off it, only escaping with three points thanks to Birmingham’s underwhelming end product. Brighton loanee Osman, who looks a real talent off the left wing, was their only outlet.
Middlesbrough were held by Swansea City after Millwall’s home defeat to Norwich City (Image: PA)
THE STATE OF PLAY
Easter weekend couldn’t have gone much better for Ipswich, all things considered.
They did what they needed to do, winning their game. Town didn’t play on Good Friday, when Middlesbrough hosted Millwall. The Lions won that match 2-1, taking them second in the division.
But they crumbled when Norwich showed up at The Den, surrendering a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1. Could Middlesbrough capitalise? No, they were held to a 2-2 draw at Swansea City.
That keeps the Blues in the automatic promotion places, level on points with Middlesbrough and Millwall, but ahead of them on goal difference.
Crucially, they have two games in hand on both – away at Southampton and Portsmouth. That gives them a huge advantage in the run-in.
Unless there’s a big swing in goal difference, Ipswich just have to match the points tally of Middlesbrough and Millwall between now and the end of the season. Those two only have five more games to play, while Town have seven.
In fact, there’s room for McKenna’s men to drop points. Even then, nobody in this race will win all their remaining games.
Boro are winless in five and still have to come to Portman Road. Millwall have lost two of their last five ahead of a trip to resurgent West Brom. Neither can finish with more than 87 points.
Ipswich are unbeaten in eight now – a run of form that would likely see them over the line, if sustained. They can still reach 93 points.
There’s still a sense that Town are falling upwards a bit. Performances aren’t at the level fans want, but they’re getting results regardless – that’s what the best teams do.
Azor Matusiwa was brought off with a dead leg (Image: Steve Waller)
THE SQUAD SITUATION
Azor Matusiwa was withdrawn in the first half with a dead leg. The move to drop Marcelino Nunez deeper and play Anis Mehmeti in the no.10 role opened up the game, but hopefully Matusiwa is okay to return for Saturday. The second-half drop-off was partially due to losing him.
There are more question marks over Ivan Azon, who has a calf injury.
He’s a doubt to face the Canaries, which puts more pressure on Hirst and Chuba Akpom.
What about Burns? With his recent injuries, Town won’t want to rush him back, especially off the back of a setback.
I don’t think anyone would be disappointed to see McAteer start the derby.
This is where squad depth shows. Despite key absentees, the group still feels strong. That bodes well for the rest of the run-in.