Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Ipswich Town; players rating as Plymouth star…

Kieffer Moore scored as Ipswich Town beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0 at Home Park, boosting their chances of automatic promotion.

Following positive results elsewhere, the Blues returned to the top two in the Sky Bet Championship standings with two second-half goals, the first of which came from a Brendan Galloway own goal.

Moore’s fifth goal in seven outings since signing on loan from Bournemouth secured the deal after a messy first half, giving the Blues their first five-game winning streak in the second tier since October 2003.

The Blues are now two points ahead of third-placed Leeds United and only three points behind Leicester City, who have suffered their third consecutive defeat.

Town manager Kieran McKenna made three forced changes to the squad that defeated Birmingham City last Saturday, with Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns out with muscle strains and Massimo Luongo out with illness.

They were replaced by Jeremy Sarmiento, Omari Hutchinson, and Lewis Travis, with George Edmundson, Dominic Ball, and Jack Taylor joining on the bench.

Axel Tuanzebe, who impressed the previous time out, started back-to-back league games for the first time and remained at right-back.

Meanwhile, Plymouth manager Ian Foster chose an unchanged starting lineup from the Pilgrims’ triumph over Middlesbrough last Saturday, with former Norwich City midfielder Adam Forshaw returning from injury among the replacements.

The hosts dominated the first five minutes of the game, causing issues for Vaclav Hladky. The Czech punched Morgan Whittaker’s threatening cross away before seeing Darko Gyabi fire just wide of his near post from the edge of the area.

Moments later, Ryan Hardie pounced onto a long ball forward and outran Hladky in a no-man’s land, but Tuanzebe handled the threat admirably.

The Suffolk side attacked for the first time on 14 minutes, when Moore flicked Hutchinson’s left-footed cross into the bottom corner, but Conor Hazard saved brilliantly.

After a quieter spell of play in which Hutchinson’s blocked shot was all that troubled either defence, the Pilgrims generated a few more opportunities.

First, Hardie sent a first-time attempt over the crossbar from the edges of the box, and then the hosts missed a golden opportunity with Whittaker at the heart of the attack.

Plymouth’s star man found Mickel Miller in acres of space inside the penalty box, and his volley beat Hladky but missed Luke Woolfenden, whose last-ditch save prevented Argyle from taking the lead.

Moore then wriggled through the penalty area before a block deflected off the frontman and into Hazard’s safe arms.

The final action of the half saw Adam Randell’s feeble shot on the backfoot pushed away by Gyabi and Miller, and the two teams headed into the break goalless.

The first action of the second half saw Whittaker miss a 40-yard lob to Hladky, while a Plymouth corner caused a bustle, but the Blues were able to clear.

Then it was Town’s chance to step forward. Moore exchanged passes with Leif Davis to latch on to the end of a cross, and after winning the aerial duel, the Wales international’s downward header landed cleanly for Hazard.

Just before the hour mark, Sarmiento became the first man in referee Josh Smith’s book for a high boot on Julio Pleguezuelo.

Hutchinson’s footwork produced an opportunity for the Blues when his ball across the face of goal was palmed away by Hazard. Conor Chaplin reacted fast to head back into Moore, but his final finish went over the crossbar.

Town took a fortuitous lead on 63 minutes. Sam Morsy’s pass to Chaplin allowed him to fire from outside the box, which cannoned off Galloway and into his own net, eliciting jubilant cheers from the 1,700 away supporters behind the goal.

Chaplin nearly caught Hazard attempting his luck from the halfway line before Marcus Harness replaced Sarmiento.

Chaplin was then punished for blocking Galloway’s breakaway, before the Plymouth defender reciprocated by joining him in the book for lunging in on the Town forward as tensions rose.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, the Blues had increased their lead. After Cameron Burgess kept Davis’ deep cross in, Moore slammed home Chaplin’s lay-off for his sixth goal since signing on loan from Bournemouth on deadline day.

Following the second goal, Travis was booked for delaying the resumption of a goal kick.

The hosts were looking for a fast comeback and almost got it if not for Hladky and the woodwork. The Town goalkeeper saved Miller’s low shot onto the post before Whittaker blasted over.

McKenna returned to his bench as the game neared the final ten minutes, replacing Chaplin and Moore with birthday boy Harry Clarke and Ali Al-Hamadi.

In stoppage time, Travis was replaced in midfield by Dominic Ball, and Town comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to round off a near-perfect afternoon in Devon.

The Blues begin a hectic week at Portman Road on Tuesday, when they host Bristol City (8pm).

Plymouth Argyle (3-4-2-1): Hazard; Galloway (Phillips 81), Gibson, Pleguezuelo; Miller, Houghton (c) (Forshaw 65), Randell (Devine 81), Sorinola (Edwards 65); Gyabi (Bundu 75), Whittaker; Hardie. Subs: Cooper, Mumba, Sousa, Waine.

Booked: Galloway.

Ipswich Town( 4-2-3-1): Hladky; Davis, Burgess, Woolfenden, Tuanzebe; Travis (Ball 90), Morsy (c); Sarmiento (Harness 68), Chaplin (Clarke 80), Hutchinson; Moore (Al-Hamadi 80). Subs: Walton, Edmundson, Harness, Taylor, Jackson, Humphreys.

Booked: Sarmiento, Chaplin, Travis.

Referee: Josh Smith(Lincolnshire).

Attendance: 16,871 (1,735 Ipswich).

SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Conor Chaplin. Plenty of contenders for a strong second-half display, but Chaplin had a hand in both of the crucial goals at Home Park. His strike deflected off the unfortunate Galloway to give the Blues the lead, and his knock-down led to Moore sealing the points.