Ipswich Town 3-1 Birmingham City: Players rating – Opinion

Conor Chaplin, Jeremy Sarmiento, and Omari Hutchinson scored as Town defeated Birmingham City 3-1 at Portman Road, making it four wins from four.

Chaplin gave the Blues the lead with a deft flick from a Sam Morsy shot in the 31st minute as the home side dominated the first half, but Jordan James levelled for the visitors in first-half injury time, and Town had to wait until the 81st minute to go back in front through Sarmiento from an Axel Tuanzebe cutback, before Hutchinson sealed a thoroughly deserved victory with his second injury-time goal in two games.

Town manager Kieran McKenna made three changes from Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over Rotherham United, bringing back Tuanzebe, Massimo Luongo, and Nathan Broadhead.

Tuanzebe replaced Harry Clarke, who sustained a serious leg injury against the Millers, at right-back, while Luongo and Broadhead replaced Lewis Travis and Jeremy Sarmiento in central midfield and on the left, respectively. All three players who had dropped out were on the bench.

Birmingham, who are currently led by former Blues defender Mark Venus, with fellow Town legend Tony Mowbray away for six to eight weeks for medical treatment, made one change from the team that defeated Sunderland 2-1 at St Andrew’s last week, with skipper Dion Sanderson replacing Krystian Bielik, who did not make the 20-man squad, at the heart of the defence.

The visitors’ starting lineup included former Town midfielder Andre Dozzell and long-time target Jay Stansfield.

The Blues took the game’s first shot in the fourth minute, a loose ball falling to Broadhead on the right side of the box, and the Welshman’s effort caught a Birmingham player and went behind for a corner.

The ball was half-cleared to Luongo just outside the area following the flag-kick, and the Australian’s low shot bounced wide off an offside Town defender, according to the linesman.

As the clock passed the five-minute mark, both sets of fans clapped their support for Birmingham manager and former Blues captain and coach Mowbray.

During the ovation, Chaplin sent Wes Burns away on the right, with the Wales international delivering a low ball across the box towards Kieffer Moore at the far post, but Marc Roberts slid in to prevent the Town striker from scoring.

On seven, Chaplin made a wonderful pass that found Moore on the right side of the box, but the on-loan AFC Bournemouth forward fired high and wide to the right of goal when he should have shot across Birmingham keeper John Ruddy.

Moore missed another chance three minutes later after moving swiftly to be first to a loose ball on the right side of the box, but scuffed a shot from a tight angle.

Town maintained their impressive start, and inside a minute, Leif Davis sent a cross in from the left to Chaplin, who had been entirely unmarked just inside the box, but the forward was unable to generate any power on his shot, which ex-Norwich City keeper Ruddy comfortably collected.

The Blues maintained their control, and on the quarter hour Moore was found in a good position on the left side of the box, but he chose to cut back towards Chaplin, albeit slightly behind the former Pompey player.

On 18, Luongo did well to retain the ball in play on the left before cutting across to Moore, whose sliding effort at the near post was deflected over.

Chaplin smashed a header towards goal after the flag kick, but Ruddy used his strong hands to push it out to his left.

In the 20th minute, Chaplin won the ball in the air again but could only loop over from a Broadhead free kick on the right.

While Birmingham prepared to take the penalty kick, the Blues were obliged to make a change, with Burns being replaced by Omari Hutchinson, the Wales international having suffered an injury on two previous occasions.

Hutchinson was eager to get into the action, creating space on the right before clipping over a cross to Moore, which the Midlanders cleared.

Town, who had rarely been this dominant in a game this season, maintained their pressure, with Chaplin curling a 23rd-minute shot that was headed for the top corner until Marc Roberts came in the way and sent it out for another Blues corner.

Birmingham began to see more of the ball and took their first shooting of the game in the 26th minute, but Tyler Roberts’ attempt struck Cameron Burgess directly in front of him.

A Town goal had been on the way for the majority of the first half hour, but it finally arrived after the visitors’ first time on top.

Hutchinson teed up Morsy in a central position 20 yards out, and the skipper hit a shot that appeared on target but was deflected by Chaplin into the opposite corner, beating the wrong-footed Ruddy to his left, with the keeper claiming offside along with a number of his teammates, and they may have had a case.

However, no flag was raised, and Chaplin and the rest of the Town club celebrated the forward’s 11th goal of the season, tying him with Broadhead for the league lead.

The Blues went in search of a second goal after ultimately taking the lead. On 38, Hutchinson twisted and pivoted, creating space for Moore to cross at the far post. The striker leaped above his opponent, but his header landed too close to Ruddy.

On 43, Birmingham pulled Vaclav Hladky into a rare save, with Tyler Roberts firing a shot from a tight angle on the right that the Czech goalkeeper palmed away. Burgess received a yellow card just before the corner for reasons that were not immediately apparent.

Birmingham leveled within the first four minutes of injury time. Broadhead dropped the ball in a favorable position just inside the visitors’ half, allowing the Midlanders to break down the right flank. Koji Miyoshi rushed into the area from the right and cut back to James, who swept past Hladky for the first time.

In less than a minute, Town nearly reclaimed its lead. Broadhead was located on the left side of the box, found space, and fired a shot that rippled the side-netting, deceiving those on the ground into thinking it had gone in.

The 1-1 half-time score did not accurately reflect the period as a whole, as the Blues had been in complete control for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.

Prior to Chaplin’s clever finish, Town had numerous chances to take the lead but were unable to capitalize, and were then caught off guard on the break, as has been the case on numerous occasions this season.

Birmingham’s first shot of the second half came a minute after the restart, with Ethan Laird firing wide from just outside the box following a free kick for the visitors.

On 50, Luongo was booked for a foul on Paik Seung-Ho at midway, but Town swiftly took control.

Three minutes later, Chaplin felt he should have been given a penalty as Dozzell looked to haul him over as the two rushed towards a ball in the box. Referee Ward demonstrated little interest.

Town did, however, win a corner, which Tuanzebe headed into the ground and toward the top corner, but Ruddy managed to claim.

The official irritated the Blues striker and the Portman Road crowd again seconds later when Dozzell appeared to foul Chaplin midway through the Birmingham half, but Ward was hesitant to call a foul.

Moments later, Morsy was booked for using his hand to stop the succeeding Birmingham attack and expressing his dissatisfaction with the prior free-kick.

Bacuna immediately posed a problem for Town, striking an early shot from an angle on the left that Hladky didn’t expect but was able to turn wide.

Town had briefly found themselves under pressure, with Morsy inexplicably kicking the ball away from the edge of the box to terminate a Birmingham attack.

However, the Blues were close to regaining the lead in the 67th minute when Moore found Hutchinson in space on the right, brought the ball forward, cut in, and fired a shot that Ruddy pawed behind to his left.

A minute later, Chaplin’s precise approach work resulted in Sarmiento’s shot being too high.

Town began to apply more persistent pressure on the visitors, and in the 74th minute, Hutchinson crossed from the right, and Davis hooked a header into Ruddy’s arms from deep on the left side of the box.

Two minutes later, Hutchinson crossed from the right following a well-worked move for Sarmiento, but his scuffed effort flew across the goal.

Play swiftly switched to the other end, and Stansfield forced Hladky into a stop with a strike from just beyond the area, the keeper not quite confident in putting the ball out to the Town left.

Chaplin saw a shot blocked in the 78th minute, following further superb work by Hutchinson, and Morsy forced Ruddy to save low to his left. The on-loan Chelsea player dived for the rebound and reached it at a very tight angle, throwing it out of play as Ruddy upended him, but referee Ward ignored Town’s penalty requests.

The Blues had been gathering momentum, and in the 83rd minute, they took the lead again.

Hutchinson fed in Tuanzebe, who advanced deep into the right side of the box for the first time, and the former Manchester United player cut back to Sarmiento, who scored his third goal for the Blues from six yards out. Portman Road celebrated with a mix of joy and relief.

Birmingham made another change on 86, with Gary Gardner replacing Cody Drameh, before Chaplin suffered what appeared to be a serious injury but was allowed to continue after treatment.

However, the Blues were not taking any chances with Chaplin, who had put in another superb performance, and replaced him with Marcus Harness, who turned 28 today, in the final planned minute as the fourth official indicated an additional six minutes.

The Blues sealed the three-point win in the second minute of added time. Moore flicked the ball into Hutchinson’s path, and he displayed calm and confidence beyond his years to sneak the ball past Ruddy and into the net, his sixth goal for the Blues and second in injury time in two games.

That was the last serious action before referee Ward blew his whistle, eliciting another enormous shout over Portman Road.

The win, Town’s fourth in four games, keeps the Blues level with second-placed Leeds but five points ahead of Southampton in fourth, who lost 2-1 at home to Millwall this afternoon, their third loss in four games.

The Blues thoroughly deserved the victory. Aside from the Maidstone Cup tie, they have rarely dominated a half as much as they did in the first quarter, and they deserved to be comfortably ahead at the break.

The Blues’ second-half performance dipped in the middle of the time, but the substitutions reenergized them, and a goal was on the way when Sarmiento converted a cutback from Tuanzebe, who had been immensely impressive throughout.

Hutchinson, who seems better with each game, sealed the victory with a confident finish.

Town now have a free midweek before facing Plymouth Argyle, who won 2-0 away at Middlesbrough today, on Saturday.

Town: Hladky, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo, Burns (Hutchinson 20), Chaplin (Harness 90), Broadhead (Sarmiento 60), Moore. Unused: Walton, Clarke, Humphreys, Travis, Jackson, Al-Hamadi.

Birmingham: Ruddy, Drameh (Gardner 86), M Roberts, Sanderson (c), Laird, Dozzell (Dembele 64), Paik (Bacuna 64), Miyoshi, T Roberts (Sunjic 64), James, Stansfield. Unused: Etheridge, Buchanan, Hogan, Jutkiewicz, Aiwu. Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey). Att: 29,363 (Birmingham: 1,979)