| AFC Wimbledon 1 v 3 Ipswich Town FA Cup Saturday, 6th January 2024 Kick-off 12:30 |  |
AFC Wimbledon 1-3 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 6th Jan 2024 14:31 Town reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the second successive season for the first time since 2010 following a 3-1 victory over 10-man AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane. Town went in front via a Josh Davison own goal on eight but home skipper Jake Reeves levelled from the penalty spot nine minutes later, before Axel Tuanzebe’s first career goal five minutes before the break and then a third from Jack Taylor right on time saw the Blues to victory over the Dons, who had been reduced in number just before the hour following Harry Pell’s dismissal for two bookable offences. Christian Walton was in goal with Tuanzebe continuing at right-back and playing successive matches for the first time since joining the club, with Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson the centre-halves. Cameron Humphreys was at left-back. Skipper Sam Morsy was partnered by Jack Taylor with Omari Hutchinson, Marcus Harness and Nathan Broadhead behind number nine Freddie Ladapo. New loan signing Jeremy Sarmiento was on the bench but Town’s other new loan addition, Lewis Travis, wasn’t involved as he starts training with the squad on Monday. AFC Wimbledon have two players at the AFC Asian Cup, both regulars, Omar Bugiel with Lebanon and Ali Al-Hamadi with Iraq. They missed out along with Joe Lewis, who is reportedly set to be recalled by parent club Stockport, with former Norwich centre-half Alex Pearce, Pell and Aron Sasu coming into the side. After a quiet opening as the sides found their feet, the Blues created their first opportunity in the seventh minute, Hutchinson crossing from the right and a defender turning over the bar ahead of Broadhead. Following the corner, Humphreys crossed from the left and Ladapo tried to turn the ball goalwards but it struck Ryan Johnson and loops over. And from that flag-kick, the Blues went in front. Taylor played the now familiar low ball to the edge of the box towards Broadhead, whose shot looked on its way wide before it took a big deflection off Ryan Johnson and then Davison before nestling in the corner of the net, home keeper Alex Bass having been completely wrong-footed. Johnson wasn’t far away from a goal at the other end in the 13th minute, powering a header over from a short corner on the left. A minute later, the Blues went close to a second when Humphreys floated a cross to the far post from the left but Ladapo and Hutchinson appeared to get in one another’s way. On 16, the Dons were awarded a penalty. A corner was whipped over from the left by Armani Little, it flicked off Tuanzebe’s head and struck Taylor’s raised arm. While the midfielder protested, with good reason, that he could have done little about it, by the letter of the law, referee Matt Donohue made the right decision. Home skipper Reeves took the kick and sent it high into the net to Walton’s right to level the scores. In the 23rd minute, Hutchinson gave the ball away following a Town corner, but then chased back to see the ball safely out of play after Sasu had ridden a Humphreys challenge. Two minutes later, Davison crossed low from the left following a well-worked move but Harry Pell breaking into the area sent his first time shot across the face of goal and very wide. Moments later, Pell was shown the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Morsy. Soon after the half hour, Broadhead might have made it 2-1, having burst away from Pearce on the left of the box but hit his shot from a tight angle well over. On 33, Harness was yellow-carded for a clumsy challenge on Pell. Wimbledon were forced to withdraw Pearce due to injury in the 35th minute with Paul Kalambayi taking over. Two minutes later, Broadhead found Ladapo in the middle with a low ball from the left of the box but the striker’s scuffed effort was too close to Bass in the home goal. Broadhead was looking increasingly dangerous and on 40 cleverly turned away from two men before hitting a shot from the left of the box which Bass palmed wide. And from the corner, the Blues restored their lead. Broadhead whipped the ball over, it looped up off a defender and Tuanzebe powered his first senior goal into the back of the net. The Wombles went about getting back on terms and in the 43rd minute Connor Lemonheigh-Evans screwed a low shot into the side-netting when found in space on the left of the box. The former Torquay man will feel he ought to have done better. As the half moved into four additional minutes, Hutchinson brilliantly turned and nutmegged Johnson on halfway before breaking towards the penalty area, cutting inside from the left and hitting a shot which Bass saved. Just before the whistle, the on-loan Chelsea man played a sloppy pass which Sasu picked up by Woolfenden stepped across to stab it away as the Wimbledon youngster broke towards goal. Town were good for their lead at the break having looked the more dangerous side without being at their best. Wimbledon had given a good account of themselves but Broadhead’s quality in and around the box in particular illustrated the two divisions between the teams. The Blues almost added to their lead within 30 seconds of the restart. Broadhead laid the ball off to Humphreys to his left inside the box and the youngster struck a low shot which looked destined for the far corner until it was diverted back across goal off Johnson and hit the post. The loose ball fell to Hutchinson but his effort was blocked. Broadhead continued to present Town’s main threat and on 49 played a low ball across the area for Harness, but it caught a defender on its way and Bass was able to claim. Within a minute, Walton was forced into his first save of the second half, Pell rising high to nod goalwards from Little’s cross but the Town keeper was able to pluck the ball from the air. On 54, Hutchinson brought the ball along the edge of the penalty area from the right before feeding Ladapo, whose shot from the 12-yard mark was blocked. Soon after, as Wimbledon counter-attacked, Edmundson was booked for a foul on Sasu. Three minutes later, after Walton had flipped a dangerous cross from the right away from under his bar, Sarmiento was handed his Town debut for Ladapo. The on-loan Brighton man slotted in on the left with Broadhead now the number nine. AFC Wimbledon were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute when Pell caught Edmundson in the face with a flailing arm. Having been booked for a foul on Morsy in the first half, the former Colchester and Accrington man was shown a second yellow card and then a red. Pell protested at great length before eventually making his way to the touchline. With the man advantage, Town began to turn the screw. Broadhead was crowded out after lifting a ball over a defender, then Harness struck a shot from distance which was blocked. However, the Blues weren’t having it all their own way. On 66, Wombles sub Kalambayi was found beyond the far post from a corner on the right but the ball looped away from danger off his shin. Town were denied what looked a stonewall penalty in the 68th minute a cross from the left bouncing up into Kalambayi’s arm. Despite having awarded the spot-kick in not dissimilar circumstances in the first half, referee Donohue waved away the protests. Tuanzebe’s name was added to Donohue’s book a minute later after the former Manchester United man had left Jack Currie in a heap following an aerial challenge. Following the free-kick, Little burst towards goal and unleashed a powerful strike which Walton batted away to his left. The home crowd were lifted by the chance, their side’s best of the half, but the Blues quickly got back on top and on 74 almost netted a third. Harness stood up a cross to the far post where Humphreys headed towards the top corner, only for Bass to paw it wide. A minute later, Sarmiento nearly netted a debut goal, the Ecuador international sweeping towards goal from Broadhead’s pass after good work from Taylor, but found Bass in his way. From the resultant corner, the ball was flicked on to Woolfenden at the far post, where the centre-half turned home, but with the linesman’s flag having been raised. Moments later, the Dons switched Lemonheigh-Evans for James Tilley. On 79, Hutchinson curled a shot well over having cut in from the right before the loanee was one of three players subbed along with Broadhead and Harness. Wes Burns, Sone Aluko and Gerrard Buabo, the 18-year-old striker from Barking, who was given his league debut late on against QPR, took over. Aluko shot over from distance on 87 with the Blues comfortable and still looking for a third goal but without too much urgency. And in the final scheduled minute, the win was sealed by Taylor. With Tilley on the ground injured. Morsy fed in Burns on the right from where the Welshman hit a powerful cross-shot which Bass saved but couldn’t hold and Taylor slammed into the net from close range, the former Peterborough man’s fifth goal of the season, his third in cup competition. As the game went into four additional minutes, Dom Ball having replaced Morsy, Walton grabbed a looping ball which had bounced off a couple of heads as players challenged in the air, Wimbledon having made the game’s final change, James Ball having replaced Huseyin Biler. The Blues had been well in charge in the second half even before the red card but following Pell’s dismissal there was only going to be one winner. Town might have added a third via Humphreys, while Broadhead had continued to be the Blues’ main threat and would have deserved to get on the scoresheet. The fourth round draw will take place on Monday at 7.50pm ahead of the Wigan-Manchester United third-round tie, which kicks off at 8.15pm. Fourth round ties will be played over the weekend of January 27th, meaning the Blues’ Championship game against Rotherham United at Portman Road will be rearranged. AFC Wimbledon: Bass, Biler (Ball 90), Reeves (c), Johnson, Pell, Davison, Little, Pearce (Kalambayi 35), Lemonheigh-Evans (Tilley 77), Currie, Sasu. Unused: Tzanev, Leach, Brown, Jennings, Ogundere, Clarke. Town: Walton, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Humphreys, Morsy (c) (Ball 89), Taylor, Hutchinson (Burns 81), Harness (Aluko 81), Broadhead (Buabo 81), Ladapo (Sarmiento 57). Unused: Slicker, Luongo, Chaplin, Jackson. Referee: Matt Donohue (Manchester). Att: 8,595 (Town: 1,319).
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