Andre Dozzell was controversially red-carded as the Blues were beaten 2-1 at Sunderland, former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter winning the game with a late penalty. The Black Cats took the lead on eight via Charlie Wyke but Jack Lankester levelled for Town seven minutes before the break and the Blues were on top on the second half until Dozzell was harshly dismissed for a 72nd-minute challenge on Leadbitter, who netted the winner from the spot 12 minutes later after Mark McGuinness had handled.

Jack Lankester’s first goal of the season seven minutes before the break sees the Blues and Sunderland locked at 1-1 at the break, Charlie Wyke having given the Black Cats the lead in the eighth minute.

Striker Kayden Jackson made his first start of the season and Toto Nsiala and Lankester returned to the Town team.

Jackson took over as the lone central striker from Oli Hawkins, who dropped to the bench, while Nsiala was back at the heart of the defence with Luke Woolfenden absent as he is self-isolating for a minimum of 14 days having come in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Lankester came into the advanced midfield role with Alan Judge moving out to the right of the front three, Gwion Edwards to the left, with Freddie Sears among the subs.

The Black Cats made one change from the team which won 2-0 at Gillingham at the weekend with Chris Maguire replacing Aiden O’Brien, who was on the bench, while ex-Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter started in their midfield.

After kick-off had been delayed for half an hour due to technical issues relating to the online streaming broadcast, the home side went ahead via the game’s first serious attack in the ninth minute.

Lynden Gooch played a low pass into the area for Wyke, Mark McGuinness slipping and allowing it to reach the striker, who confidently beat Tomas Holy with Stephen Ward unable to get across to tackle and claiming offside, perhaps with good reason.

The Black Cats continued to have the better of it and in the 19th minute Denver Hume crossed from the left and Josh Scowen headed over.

The Blues were struggling to get going. They were seeing a lot of the ball but were passing it around in their own half for the most part, and not always comfortably with the Wearsiders keenly pressing from the front.

In the 23rd minute Teddy Bishop was upended not far outside the Sunderland box but Andre Dozzell’s free-kick was hit straight into the wall, Scowen requiring treatment, the ball having hit him in the face.

Just before the half hour, Conor McLaughlin crossed from the right and Wyke headed high and wide.

Town had shown little sign of levelling - and equally Sunderland hadn’t gone close to adding a second - but in the 38th minute they got on terms via a superb second career goal from Lankester.

Edwards burst past his man on the left and cut it back to the academy product who took a touch and hit a well-struck shot across the previously untested Lee Burge and into the net off the inside of the far post.

Lankester’s excellent goal, his first since opening his career account against Millwall at Portman Road in January 2019, seemed to wake up the previously soporific Blues, who began to push for a second.

On 41, following a corner which had been cleared, Chambers found Edwards with a terrific cross-field ball. The Welshman sent over a potentially dangerous cross but a Wearsiders’ boot cleared.

In injury time, Jackson almost embarrassed Hume on the byline on the right, robbing him of the ball before trying to pick out Lankester in the middle. However, the ball bounced off a defender to Burge.

That was the final action of a half in which the Blues had been second best for the most part, although Sunderland had created little aside from their goal which owed much to McGuinness’s error.

Town seemed to wake up in the minutes after their goal which was cleverly created by Edwards and clinically finished by Lankester.

The Black Cats swapped Scowen for Max Power ahead of the second half with the Blues unchanged.

The home side gave the ball away in their own half of the field twice in the opening couple of minutes, first to Edwards who was quickly dispossessed, then to Chambers, who crossed low for Lankester, who looked to be tripped by Wearsiders’ skipper Bailey Wright. However, Town protests were muted and referee Peter Wright showed no interest.

As the game approached the hour mark, Maguire sent over a corner from the left and Tom Flanagan rose highest but flicked over the bar.

Lankester went within a few inches of netting his second of the game in the 63rd minute. Judge picked up a loose ball on the Town right and sent over a cross which Jackson allowed to reach Lankester, who took it down on his chest when under pressure but was unable to keep his shot down and the ball flew just over the bar.

On 68 Sunderland, who had been very much under par since the break, swapped Maguire for Danny Graham.

As in the first half chances were hardly a frequent occurrence but the Blues were having the better of it on balance with Sunderland forced to give away numerous free-kicks when Bishop and Edwards were breaking, surprisingly with referee Wright keeping his yellow card in his pocket.

And when a card finally came in the 72nd minute it was red, and it was shown to Town’s Andre Dozzell.

The midfielder had been trying to twist and turn out of a tight area in the centre circle and he and Leadbitter both slid for the loose ball, Dozzell catching the former Blues skipper as they did so. A yellow card looked the most likely outcome but referee Wright evidently adjudged that Dozzell had gone in recklessly with his studs high and issued a red card, the first of the former England U20 international’s senior career.

It looked a very harsh decision and the Town players argued vehemently with the official but to no avail and they were forced to play the final 17 minutes with 10 men.

Two minutes following the dismissal, shortly after Luke O’Nien had shot wide for the Wearsiders, Hawkins replaced Jackson.

Wyke hit an effort well over for the Black Cats, who were still to trouble Holy aside from the goal, before Leadbitter finally became the first Sunderland player to be shown a yellow card in the 78th minute for a foul on Bishop. Hume joined him on 81 for tripping Lankester.

Three minutes later, the Wearsiders were awarded the penalty which would win them the game when McGuinness cleared the ball against his own hand and then his face.

Referee Wright pointed straight to the spot. Again it looked a very tough decision on the Blues and there were no Sunderland appeals, even if it may perhaps have been warranted under the current interpretation of the laws. Leadbitter confidently slammed the ball past Holy to make it 2-1.

Town were forced to commit more men forward and it might have been 3-1 in the 87th minute when sub Graham knocked it down for Wyke, who somehow put it over the top from eight yards.

Keanan Bennetts replaced Lankester for the final scheduled minute and the Blues forced a couple of corners but without being able to create a chance before referee Wright confirmed their defeat.

The result was harsh on the Blues who had started the game poorly but having got their equaliser were the better side in the second half and might well have gone in front when Lankester shot just over the bar.

If the red card was harsh, the penalty was unfortunate for McGuinness, who had been at fault for the Black Cats’ first goal, and tough on Town who deserved to take something from the match.

The Blues, who are still to beat anyone in the top 11 in the table, stay second, three points behind leaders Peterborough, and ahead of Charlton in third and Lincoln in fourth on goal difference.

Sunderland: Burge, McLaughlin, Wright (c), Flanagan, O’Nien, Scowen (Power 46), Leadbitter, Gooch (Sanderson 90), Hume, Maguire (Graham 68), Wyke. Unused: Matthews, O’Brien, Grigg, Diamond.

Town: Holy, Chambers (c), Nsiala, McGuinness, Ward, Dozzell, Bishop, Judge, Lankester (Bennetts 89), Edwards, Jackson (Hawkins 76). Unused: Cornell, Wilson, Kenlock, Huws. Referee: Peter Wright (Merseyside).

Photo: Action Images

runaround added 22:01 - Nov 3 No doubt those fans who have axes to grind with the club will just focus on the result, saying we lost, rubbish, mid table at best, Lambert out, Evans out etc etc but having listened to sky & seen the main incidents replayed we were on the end of some poor luck tonight in terms of the big decisions . Sunderland first goal was borderline offside, the red card was extremely harsh as Dozzell didn't dive in & Leadbitter actually ran into him whilst the handball was ridiculously harsh & freaky. Shame as sounded like we at least deserved a point. Balls

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bluelodgeblue added 22:03 - Nov 3 Maybe Crewe 1 ITFC 1 ?
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coolhand added 22:04 - Nov 3 Ok, couple of bad decisions but how many shots on target against a average side, how many dangerous attacks?. We will be on the end of a lot of bad referees decisions and some good ones, that's the game but when the bad ones come we should still be able to win against an average side. Sunderland will not get automatic promotion
6

Lathers added 22:07 - Nov 3 The standard of L1 refs is appalling. 2 points dropped from Lincoln and Sunderland thanks to the ref. I thought we were ‘once again' far to pedestrian with our passing 1st half, but the game was there for us to win 2nd half before the idiot in the middle changed the game. Sunderland are not going up based on what I saw tonight. Their fans must be worried. I'd like to see us go 4-4-2 and play Hawkins and Jackson together. The midfield 3 doesn't really work and the 2 wide attackers don't really work either. Bish is getting better by the game and with Dozza out now maybe stick Huws in to hold and let Bish get forward and support a front 2. Tough outcome tonight, I'm still shaking with anger and need a milky drink before bedtime to calm down.

2

Saxonblue74 added 22:09 - Nov 3 Coolhand, I don't get it? You can play like Barca but how do you legislate for those decisions? I wasn't expecting us to tear them apart tonight but I believe we did enough to win
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Suffolkboy added 22:10 - Nov 3 It is a tough job being an official in Pro sport ,and errors of judgement will occur, you will have ‘off ‘ moments just like the players ;BUT the secret ,at any level , is to know exactly when to give yourself, or create for yourself, that additional instant / break to get the decision absolutely correct ( maybe an artificial moment to talk to an Asst ?) . Whatever ITFC can appeal a Red if desired – AND the answer is to actually put the ball in the net more often than the opponents !! Time to move on , improve ,build on several individual good performances and trust Lady Luck will be on our side soon ! COYB

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algarvefan added 22:13 - Nov 3 Sh1t happens, move on, think we are playing OK and as most have said a 'tadge' unlucky tonight. We are still a work in progress but will do OK.
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Bluearmy_81 added 22:14 - Nov 3 Awful decision. The standard of reffing in this league is shocking. We got ourselves in it though...
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Cloddyseedbed added 22:15 - Nov 3 We were really robbed tonight and I feel sorry for the players. The sending off was a yellow at the worst. The penalty well, couldn't really see why that was given as the ball was blasted at a player from point blank range and if it did hit a hand or arm it was very, very harsh. We struggled up front yet again tonight, but we were the better team in the 2nd half and overall I feel. Jackson had little to feed off but is touch and control were poor. He isn't a lone striker. I'd like us to go 2 up front but I know Lambert prefers one with midfield supporting and getting in goal scoring positions. All the lads did well and can consider themselves unfortunate tonight. We more than matched Sunderland but couldn't overcome the ref.

3

istanblue added 22:17 - Nov 3 What goes around comes around. We unjustly beat Crewe last game and now we have some injustice done upon us tonight. But let's not kid ourselves about how good we were. We had 2 shots on the target the whole game - not exactly a good basis to say we deserved to win the game. Sure, Sunderland were no better and a draw would probably have been the most fair result, but the same problem of little real attacking threat continues to plague us and I fear that we haven't made much real progress since last season.

7

Buryblue78 added 22:21 - Nov 3 We were marginally the better side They were very average however Luck has evened itself up following Crewe game Lots of good things but still only two shots on target And one of those would never go in That's simply not good enough to challenge at the top Ref poor but that's what you get as you tumbled down the pyramid sadly
1

dreblue added 22:25 - Nov 3 fallguy1234 - sounds like your post was mainly aimed at wanting PL out, rather than actually giving your opinion on the game (which doesn't sound like you even watched it anyway)..... my comments and I am guessing other people's comments, in response to yours, was purely based on this game. Not our overall opinion on PL and what he has done for the last 2 seasons. I don't think anyone on this site will ever be happy with what happened last season, HOWEVER, what we can do is comment on the latest game. Based on that, your initial comment doesn't make sense and it is fair to say that the best team lost and it was mainly because of the ref. You can't blame PL for that

1

Countryboyblue added 22:25 - Nov 3 Paul Lambert and the players could not have done anymore tonight. We were in total control, playing nice possession football, until two shocking refereeing decisions. We robbed Crewe on Saturday, tonight Sunderland robbed us. We move on.
3

shouldistayorcounago added 22:28 - Nov 3 I was unable to watch tonight so can't comment on anything myself, but sounds from all reports, comments and conversations I've had with those who did watch, that this was a night not dissimilar to the Wycombe game at PR last season. We're still 2nd, but we don't play another league game until the 21st, by which time I would imagine we will find ourselves just outside the playoffs at worst. Important couple of weeks of recovery, training, and rotation ahead with the two cup fixtures. I remain optimistic, COYB

0

DifferentGravy added 22:37 - Nov 3 Er....countryboyblue.......yeah we could have done more. We could have been more attack minded at times. We could of had more than 3 shots . We are struggling to create chances and all the passing around at the back wont change that. There was encouragement in certain moments, great work ethic and togetherness....but we need to be more of a threat the other end of the pitch......because otherwise we will get undone by this ridiculous decisions. Has to be an alternative approach at times Tonight we could only have won 2-1....because they were the only two goalscoring chances we created. Statistically we stand more chance of scoring with a greater number of attacks and shots. Cant keep riding our luck like against Crewe

2

gixxeral added 22:48 - Nov 3 Dozzell is a dirty player. He seems to try to get booked. He will be marked by the refs and the teams we play will look to get him sent off. Fact.
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anditractor added 22:50 - Nov 3 Watched the penalty decision and Dozzell sending off and came to the simple decision ref is a Sunderland supporter !! Absolutely disgraceful decisions, we were the better team
3

Linkboy13 added 22:55 - Nov 3 I cant understand why Hawkins wasn't playing with Jackson up front, i thought that was the reason we signed him. We are not good enough to play possession football we are not Barcelona or Manchester city. With two up front it gives us another option.
1

ArnieM added 22:59 - Nov 3 These outrageous ref decisions tonight have the hallmark of a betting scam about them.
1

Northstandveteran added 23:02 - Nov 3 Unfortunately Fallguy, you are being made the..err..fall guy. Had you posted around now you would have got a mixed response. As soon as you post first and get up or down votes, everyone follows. Tonked at Doncaster, beaten at Lincoln, scraped a win against a very poor Gillingham side and a lucky win against Crewe. No luck wasn't on our side tonight but that is now two wins in five. We weren't good tonight, just slightly better than the last four games. But being supporters of Ipswich any slight crumb of hope is grabbed on to by all ten fingers and ten toes by the majority. Trying not to be negative but can't pretend, not even to myself, to not view this realistically. Lots of possession in our own half, two shots on target. We have, at best, been average so far this season. But then perhaps that's all we need to be to get out of the Sunday morning pub league.

4

runningout added 23:18 - Nov 3 going back to our lucky win v Crewe, there were too many petty challenges going in. Similar again giving ref no option to send one off. Soon as our midfield learns to tackle and realises they are supposed to be professional we will do ok
0

ringwoodblue added 23:28 - Nov 3 Yes we were robbed of a point tonight cos of a bad penalty decision but we'll never know if we could've won the game if Doz hadn't been sent off. Personally I doubt that particular bad decision made much difference. The fact remains that, like not winning an East Anglian derby for so long, the longer it goes on that we don't beat any of our promotion rivals, the harder psychologically it becomes and the less likely we are to be in the top six come May. Our players and the manager don't seem to be able to move up a gear when it's needed and win games from losing positions which is a true sign of a team with belief and determination. Not being negative, just being realistic and saying things as I see it.

2

therein61 added 07:14 - Nov 4 Unfortunate defeat and bad decisions against us we were more cohesive tonight when under the cosh which would not have happened last season we would have been mullered. While it's not sour grapes something has to be done about the standard of officials it's appalling.
2

MonkeyAlan added 08:37 - Nov 4 Yes, the ref is a Wally, but we are so predictable every game. We never beat a top 6 side, because the team is so weak.
3

smellmycheese added 08:41 - Nov 4 Absolutely must have been an envelope involved last night. No other explanation.
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