Jordan Ayew netted in the 94th minute to deny 10-man Town their first Premier League victory of the season as the Blues and Leicester drew 1-1 at Portman Road. Leif Davis gave Town the lead with a superb volley, his first top-flight goal on his 100th appearance for the club, on 55 but the Blues were reduced in number for the second successive game when Kalvin Phillips was harshly dismissed for a second bookable offence, seconds after Conor Chaplin had been denied a clear penalty. The 10 men held out until the fourth minute of injury time when Ayew levelled for the Foxes with Town unhappy that Morsy may have been fouled early in the build-up.

Skipper Morsy, Omari Hutchinson, Liam Delap and Ben Johnson all returned to the Town starting XI.

Morsy missed last week’s 4-3 defeat at Brentford due to a hamstring problem, but rejoined Phillips in the centre of midfield.

Johnson, who had been out with a thigh injury, came in for Harry Clarke at right-back, with the former Arsenal youngster unavailable due to his red card last week.

Hutchinson was over the illness which sidelined him at the Gtech Community Stadium and started on the right with Chaplin in the centre and Sammie Szmodics on the left. Delap got the nod ahead of former Leicester frontman George Hirst as the lone striker.

Hirst was among the subs alongside Jens Cajuste and Jack Clarke, who started last week, Nathan Broadhead, yet to appear for Town this season, and Massimo Luongo, back from an ankle injury.

As well as Davis making his 100th appearance for the club at left-back, Cameron Burgess was making his 100th start for the Blues at the centre of the defence.

Leicester, whose manager Steve Cooper was serving a one-match touchline ban despite some confusion whether that was the case in the run-up to the match, made two changes from the team which lost 3-1 at home to Nottingham Forest last week with James Justin and Caleb Okoli dropping to the bench and Victor Kristiansen and Jannik Vestergaard coming into the XI.

The Foxes saw virtually all of the ball in the early stages and in the third minute created the first chance from which they will feel they should have scored.

Skipper Vardy was played in towards the right of the box and cut across towards Stephy Mavididi in space on the left breaking towards goal. Fortunately for Town, O’Shea got a touch and Mavididi hit the ball against his own foot and Aro Muric was able to claim.

Leicester continued to dominate and in the eighth minute Abdul Fatawu cut in from the right and hit a shot which Muric palmed away to his right for a corner.

Town went close for the first time in the ninth minute. Hutchinson stole the ball from Vestergaard after a poor touch on the edge of the area and crossed for Szmodics, who headed what was a difficult chance over.

On 11, Chaplin brought the ball in from the right and hit a shot wide following a neat exchange of passes on the right.

A minute later, Town claimed a penalty when Delap broke towards goal and appeared to be clipped by Vestergaard’s heel. VAR official Stuart Attwell took a look but opted not to award a penalty.

As the game reached the quarter-hour mark, with Leicester still largely in control of the game, Facundo Buonanotte skipped his way past a number of Blues defenders to work his way to the left of the box before hitting a shot which Muric batted away and Leif Davis cleared.

In the 21st minute, Davis curled over a corner from the left to the penalty spot where Phillips’s volley was blocked. The loose ball fell to O’Shea and the Irishman’s effort was also stopped.

From the resultant flag-kick, O’Shea claimed he’d been hauled down as he sought to get a head on Phillips’s ball but again referee Tim Robinson wasn’t interested. Play moved to the other end and Mavididi was penalised for fouling Phillips on halfway. Buonanotte was subsequently booked for kicking the ball away.

Town were taking charge and Hutchinson saw a curling effort from the edge of the box blocked, then saw a teasing cross headed away in front of Delap and Szmodics.

On 29, Delap brilliantly turned Wout Faes on halfway and brought the ball forward before finding Hutchinson on the right but the former Chelsea man’s cross was blocked and deflected behind off him for a goal-kick.

Within a minute, Town had their best chance of the afternoon up to that point. Davis’s deep corner from the right reached an unmarked O’Shea, who headed into the ground but over. The Irish international defender’s reaction showed he knew he should have scored.

Visitors keeper Mads Hermansen took an age over the goal-kick and was spoken to by the referee but not carded.

Hutchinson continued to be a threat on the right and in the 34th minute was found by Chaplin, the England U21 international’s strike deflecting behind for another corner.

From that flag-kick, the ball was won back by Phillips who brought it forward and eventually Chaplin found space but pulled his right-footed shot wide of Hermansen’s right post.

Town were by now well in control and in the 39th minute Chaplin came very close to a stunning first Premier League goal. The former Portsmouth man exchanged passes with Delap, then took the ball on and inside before shooting only inches away from the top corner.

Four minutes later, a slick Town move ended with Chaplin flicking a lofted pass through for Szmodics but Hermansen was able to punch away.

Soon after, with Town increasingly dominant and Portman Road upping the volume, Johnson side-footed an effort from the edge of the box towards the top corner but the Leicester keeper claimed.

On 44, Phillips was booked for a late charge on Buonanotte, who made a lot of the challenge. VAR looked at the incident following claims of an elbow but cleared the Town midfielder. While the Argentina international was receiving treatment, the fourth official’s board announced two additional minutes.

Neither side was able to create an opportunity in that time but the Town fans will have been the happier with their side at the break.

The visitors had started much the stronger - as they did in the two games between the teams last season - and should have gone in front via Mavididi early on.

But as the half progressed the Blues gradually began to take control and were well in charge in the last 20 minutes with O’Shea’s header Town’s best chance.

Chaplin and Hutchinson had been among the Blues’ best performers with the club’s record signing showing why there had been such a clamour for him to move out to the wing.

Six minutes after the restart, with neither side having created a chance, O’Shea and Vardy tussled after the former England striker had fouled the Town defender but referee Robinson felt a talking-to was sufficient.

Town had been knocking on the door before the break and 10 minutes after the restart they finally went in front.

Morsy played a superb cross-field ball over Ricardo Pereira and Davis volleyed his first Premier League goal across Hermansen and just inside the post before celebrating at length with the North Stand supporters and subs.

A frustrated Mavididi got his name in the book in the 59th minute for throwing the ball away after a throw was awarded against him on the Leicester left.

The Foxes struck their first effort of the second half in the 64th minute, Harry Winks, a youth player at Tottenham under Town boss Kieran McKenna, hitting a 25-yard effort which Muric again batted away to his right.

Two minutes later, Delap was tripped by Wilfred Ndidi not far outside the area, Davis requiring treatment before Phillips hit the free-kick into the wall before continuing.

On 71 Leicester made their first changes, Kasey McAteer replacing Mavididi and Boubakary Soumaré taking over from Ndidi.

Town made their first changes in the 74th minute, Szmodics and Delap making way for Jack Clarke and Hirst, facing his old club, the departing duo receiving a warm ovation from the Blues’ support.

In the 77th minute, Town felt they should have been awarded a penalty when, following a free-kick sent in to the box by Davis to O’Shea, whose header was saved, Chaplin was barged over by Fatawu, who made no attempt to win the ball.

In the aftermath, with the ball now on the left edge of the box, Ricardo cleared ahead of Phillips and went to ground. Referee Robinson showed Phillips a second yellow and then a red card, while VAR decided Leicester had no case to answer regarding the penalty incident.

Having been reduced to 10 men for the second successive game for the first time in the McKenna era, the Blues swapped Chaplin and Hutchinson for Cajuste, who moved into central midfield, and Wes Burns. Having left the field, Chaplin was booked for continuing the protests regarding the penalty, and you could see his point, it looked as blatant a spot-kick as they come. On 84 Muric joined him for holding up a restart.

Town dug in as Leicester went looking for an equaliser, not particularly convincingly. On 86, Buonanotte blazed over.

The Foxes switched Kristiansen for Ayew moments later and the Ghana international almost scored seconds after being introduced.

Cajuste tried to haul down Buonanotte as the Argentinian drove forward - and was later booked - before the ball was played to Ayew on the left of the box, who seemed to have scored until Burgess somehow cleared off the line with the back of his calf.

Hirst was booked for time-wasting, before Buonanotte hit a shot through a crowd of players after cutting in from the right, Muric batting it up in the air.

The fourth official indicating eight additional minutes triggered groans from the Town support, which quickly went back to getting behind their side.

The Blues defended a corner in the 94th minute, Morsy taking the ball into the Leicester half. The danger looked to be gone but Morsy was upended - fairly according to the referee and VAR - by Soumaré, who brought it forward down the left. Ayew and Vardy played a one-two and the sub slipped the ball past Muric to level.

Town were left hoping that VAR would for once help them out regarding the challenge on Morsy but again were out of luck.

The Blues now had to see out the final minutes of additional time to claim a point with a number of Leicester shots blocked and the ball bouncing around the box before being cleared.

The final whistle signalled boos around Portman Road aimed towards the officials, the Blues again having been on the wrong end of the poorest refereeing at Portman Road this season and once again VAR decisions.

Town would have been well worth a first Premier League victory with Davis’s goal good enough to win any match and the performance their best of the campaign, dominating from around the half-hour mark until the red card.

But it was always going to be tough after Phillips’s red card, the on-loan Manchester City man having done little to warrant the second booking.

Whether that challenge was a foul should have been a moot point with Chaplin clearly having been fouled in the incident a moment earlier, while Town can also feel hard done by regarding the goal with Morsy having been felled early in the move.

Despite the disappointment of not recording a first Premier League win, a draw - the third 1-1 stalemate in a row between the teams - does end the Blues’ run of three successive losses - the longest run of losses under McKenna - but they remain in 18th place, now only a point ahead of Southampton, who beat Everton 1-0. Only Wolves and Town remain without a win.

The Blues are next in action a week tomorrow when they take on Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Town: Muric, Johnson, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Phillips, Hutchinson (Burns 81), Chaplin (Cajuste 81), Szmodics (J Clarke 74), Delap (Hirst 74). Unused: Walton, Woolfenden, Burns, Townsend, Luongo, Broadhead.

Leicester: Hermansen, Pereira (El Khannouss 80), Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen (Ayew 86), Ndidi (Soumaré 71), Winks, Fatawu, Buonanotte, Mavididi (McAteer 71), Vardy (c). Unused: Ward, Justin, Coady, Okoli, Skipp. Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex), VAR: Stuart Attwell (Nuneaton). Att: 29,874 (Leicester: 2,991).

Photo: Matchday Images

tractorboybig added 17:41 - Nov 2 phillips was sent off for two bookable offences the man let us down again.
-17

TimmyH added 17:42 - Nov 2 Well that's 3 points we've blown from the last 2 games, 3 points that could be crucial at the end of the season. A game for a large part that we were the better team, but unfortunately once we were down to 10 men again the writing was on the wall, lucky in fact not to concede twice! we were very poor in that time not holding onto the ball and back peddling into our box continuously. Real shame as our quality goal was good enough to win any game, really struggling to see where our win will come from...to frantic in general and not enough measured heads on the pitch - saying that would like to see that Chaplin penalty incident again as that could have been the turning point of the game!

1

atty added 17:44 - Nov 2 Even if we were winning 2-0 in injury time l’d be sweating. Injuries aside l can’t see us winning 10 games minimum to stay up. Pray that lm wrong. Shearer saying there are no easy games in the premiership except for Ipswich.Nice.
1

atty added 17:44 - Nov 2 Even if we were winning 2-0 in injury time l’d be sweating. Injuries aside l can’t see us winning 10 games minimum to stay up. Pray that lm wrong. Shearer saying there are no easy games in the premiership except for Ipswich.Nice.
0

Bert added 17:45 - Nov 2 Blueboy1981 only has canary friends such is his warped posts. Probably best ignore him if he cannot contribute wisely,
8

Leejames99 added 17:48 - Nov 2 Here we go, the same doom and gloom posts, turning on the manager now is a joke, we shouldn't even be in the Premiership at the moment and as I've said before, I feel KMC did a blinding job with recruitment buying the best from Chamionship, if we go down just like Burnley, Leicester or many others have then the players will all have Prem experience, we have Premiership infrastructure and will have everything in place to bounce straight back up, unstoppable in Championship with our players and all on long contracts. I actually think a season with this squad in the championship having a winning mentality will give us all the positives we need to return to the Prem and become a solid fixture and not a yo yo team. Mckenna, Ashton and his team know exactly what they are doing. Nobody on here 2 years ago expected un to be in Prem this year, its just a bonus and if we do stay up by skin of our teeth then great we can go again but I actually see a positive of going down for a season, it beats losing and drawing for the players and gives our players and coaches time to really turn this team into something special, all additions are still young aside Szmodics who is coming into his prime. Considering all our injuries we are doing great. Phillips was immense today, Hutchinson, Morsy, Delap etc Burgess cleared a certain goal off line and Muric made some fine saves and looked much safer today. Please stop with the moaning it's the hardest league with the best players in the world so give Mckenna and team continued support not negativity and enjoy the amazing rebuilding this club has done. Enjoy the games and if we go down then we know it will be a winning season. Sometimes taking one step back to take 2 steps forward is no bad thing. And we will make more additions in Jan. Happy Saturday. COYB

28

warktheline added 17:53 - Nov 2 @blueboy, remain ‘speechless’ and do yourself and so many others a massive favour!
9

ChingShady added 17:55 - Nov 2 Reality_2021 - I understand it's all based on opinions, but from your description of what happened, the Leicester didn't "stand his ground" he just blatantly ran into Chappers after his quick feet. I'm the opposite, if one of our defenders did that, what argument could we have? IF the player closed down and actually just "stood" his ground, then you are completely right.

6

Lukeybluey added 17:56 - Nov 2 We played really well after the nervy first 10 mins or so, and were by far the better team up until the sending off. Ref was diabolical snd wanted to make it all about him. Card happy agsinst us, VAR non existant on a blatant penalty..robbed.
8

Orraman added 18:00 - Nov 2 Back in the days spent in League 1 the cry around Portman Rd was that we only get sh1t refs. However are they really much better in PL. It seems to me that if you are not one of ‘The Big 6’ then don’ expect too many rubs of the green. I am of the opinion that VAR is a big cause of that. With today’s potential penalty, despite it being pretty obvious but it was not even reviewed. How many times do we see on TV innocuous tackles being reviewed? Obviously not today.VAR is a crutch for incompetent refs. They decide “Oh that’s borderline but I’ll play on and if VAR override my decision and award a penalty, that’s down to them”. There is without a doubt unconscious bias towards the top clubs. Also that was never a foul by Phillips just as Clarke’s ‘foul’ last week. 2 red cards in two weeks - ridiculous. However just as at Brentford we left with much less than we deserved and I am sure on a level playing field we would have earned more points than we currently have. Still a long way to and surely soon we will start to get the breaks our team spirit and play deserve

15

Bluearmy_81 added 18:00 - Nov 2 VAR doesn’t exist for us…
10

Suffolkboy added 18:08 - Nov 2 Perhaps somebody could ‘persuade’ Howard Webb to come to PL , along with today’s Official Team and competently explain the ‘inexplicable’ ! COYB
8

EssexTractor added 18:09 - Nov 2 By half time we were in the ascendancy playing nice foorball space being created and some skilful moments, Delaps turn8ng a man sensational , Chaplin looked like the man of last two seasons and Johnson for whom I had great doubts was looking the best relight back of the season, but alas no goals . Leicester have some intelligent footballers , their Argentinian in midfield very classy but we had not just matched them but out matched them at half time . So please a goal we need …came the half time prayer and what a goal , one that should have won us this hard fought tussle . Leif Davis positioning himself to connect Morsys cross( Alan Shearer May argue later he was offside !) And had Mr Robinson decided against swishing his yellow card ffor the second time at Phillips those so deserved three points should have been won . But he did and our patterns were destroyed but and unfortunately our skipper breaking out of defence found himself losing possession on the half way line and the Foxes hurried forward and despite the earlier defensive heroines heroics their one man advantage earned themselves an under serving point Today Johnson and O Shea played their best games, Morsy was brilliant until that fateful moment . It was a powerful passionate encounter and despite the enormous disappointment felt at Tim Robinson 99th minute final whistle the players should be immensely proud of todays performance in this hardest of hard leagues.

14

inghamspur added 18:11 - Nov 2 Appalling ref, always has been, why is he in the Premier League? Daft stuff from Phillips to get sent off. Blatant penalty before that, can't believe no VAR check. Have to keep pushing on, performance was good today, Muric had hardly anything to do. Come on you Town.
5

Flight_of_Shefki added 18:15 - Nov 2 Not the biggest of confidence booster so far this season. I said it at the end of the last season and it remains the case: I have no expectations of us to set fires in the PL this season, and so far we lack the spark - but I'm just glad we're here. Make it or not we have some cracking investment on and off the pitch and our club has elevated to a place we've not witnessed for generations. Up or down, we follow the Town. Chin up folks.

3

bluebullet29l added 18:15 - Nov 2 The Premier league is corrupt.... I hate it...bring back the good honest football of the championship. They really don't want us to win a game... best league in the world? Your having a laugh.
11

ImAbeliever added 18:22 - Nov 2 Deserved the win up to sending off. We were far best team for 75 minutes. Well done Ben J, keep it up.
4

Bluearmy_81 added 18:31 - Nov 2 Phillips needs to step up big time or be dropped. Haven’t got time to carry players. Cajuste/Morsy
-6

TimmyH added 18:33 - Nov 2 Better team between 20 to 75 minutes...you do have to wonder about why VAR didn't even look at that incident, the whole crux of the game then changed. VAR looked at the most innocuous hand ball at the end of the Bournemouth V Newcastle game and disallowed it even though the ref allowed it, the more you look at that incident the more it raises eyebrows if something is corrupt is going on.

10

TimmyH added 18:37 - Nov 2 ...and to overturn the ref's decision it HAS to be clear and obvious which it was far far from.
1

pablo123 added 18:42 - Nov 2 Love k Mc but he's not won a single game out of 10 !!! Potter now plz b4 it's too late
-22

Thegeniusofmuhren added 18:53 - Nov 2 It feels like referees are empowering themselves against us because nobody outside of Ipswich really gave us a chance or cares. The pundits - Shearer, Murphy, Sutton et al have no time for promoted clubs, I'm sure Linekar will be waxing lyrical about Leicester tonight and we'll probably be last on MOTD. I've seen enough to show we're capable, I'd like to see another forward and an experienced centre back in Jan if possible to maybe help us survive. Even if we don't survive, I've seen us give our all and hopefully we can rebuild and bounce back next year IF we go down. Anyone calling for KM to go needs a reality check and needs to think back to 4 or 5 years ago. We go again!

10

chepstowblue added 18:53 - Nov 2 I hate being a balanced individual. For me, no penalty on Chappers, definitely no foul on Morsy, and difficult to tell on the K-Phillips incident. Silly challenge to make though when already on a yellow. Other than for those incidents, the ref got nothing right !!
-6

blueboy1981 added 18:58 - Nov 2 Warktheline and other knockers, you should all be as concerned as I am, instead of continuously blaming others for our failings, and inability to achieve a Win thus far. If you think our Club Owners will be remotely interested in Relegation, or accept, then you need to think again. Dropping back to the Championship could so easily be a Disaster, and change everything. It will be imperative to them to stay up I’m sure - and that means Winning some Games, as we keep ticking them off without doing so ! Excuses / Reasons don’t yield POINTS, or change end results. Never have, never will - it has to be risen above !

-15

ChingShady added 18:59 - Nov 2 Honestly anyone calling for McKenna's head, even if we go down this year. Please don't bother supporting our club. Absolute disgraceful comments. Self entitled pillocks with the stupidest of expectations that we should be smashing teams in the best league in the world and should just be flying? We were playing Forest F'n Green Rovers 2 years ago. Yes it's frustrating that results haven't gone our way, outside of the City, Everton and West Ham game, we have been competitive, we aren't being battered and we a lot of times are putting the pressure to the opposition and competing. This is no Sheffield Unt scenario, but it's not going to be easy. But I have full faith even if we are bottom of the table by Christmas, I still believe we have the ONLY man in football who could pull us out of it. He's taken top end league one and lower end champ players to the premier league. We've bolstered our squad with the cream of the crop of championship proven players. Give the guys a chance, I still see enough in our play to be optimistic. Yes it feels utterly deflating after a set results like this, but this is why we support our club. Through thick and thin. Take your self entitled deluded comments up the road with your 6 fingered family members. It's called having some god damn perspective.

19

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls