Ipswich leaves it late to win Rotherham Roller Coaster

Ipswich Town won a seven-goal thriller against Rotherham United to retain their chances of automatic promotion to the Premier League.

With Socceroo Cam Burgess playing the entire 90 minutes in the heart of defence and Massimo Luongo coming off the bench midway through the second half, Ipswich squandered a 3-1 lead before Omari Hutchinson’s stoppage-time winner sealed a thrilling game.

The victory propelled Ipswich over Southampton, who suffered their first home defeat since mid-September with a 2-1 loss to Hull, to third in the Championship table, trailing second-placed Leeds on goal difference.

The top two teams receive immediate promotion to the Premier League, while the next four teams compete in the play-offs, culminating in the ‘richest game in football’, a one-off Wembley battle to determine the third promoted side.

Tom Eaves put the struggling visitors ahead after only two minutes at Portman Road, but Ipswich immediately equalised through Wes Burns and appeared to be on pace for a comfortable win courtesy to further goals from Kieffer Moore and Burns.

Hakeem Odoffin leveled on the hour mark, then Rotherham equalised brilliantly in stoppage time with a ‘panenka’ penalty from Cafu, only for Hutchinson to score seconds later.

It was a bit of a wild game,” Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna explained.

“It wasn’t a terrific start, and we never really recovered throughout the game.

“Having said that, we scored four goals at home and managed to win the game.

“Every game in the Championship is challenging. I anticipated it would be a tough game.

“The players have found a way to come out on top again and credit to them for that.”

Joe Aribo struck late for Southampton, but the hosts were unable to recover from Hull’s first-half goals, which sent them back into the play-offs.

West Brom are one point ahead of Hull after a 3-0 victory against Plymouth, with Cedric Kipre scoring from close range in the 61st minute after a lackluster first half

Mikey Johnston doubled his team’s lead with a beautiful curling shot, and Tom Fellows sealed the scoring in stoppage time.