| Ipswich Town 1 v 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers FA Premier League Saturday, 5th April 2025 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Ipswich Town 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers - Match Report Saturday, 5th Apr 2025 17:07 Town’s hopes of staying in the Premier League appear to be over after Wolverhampton Wanderers came from a goal down at half-time to beat the Blues 2-1 at Portman Road, stretching the gap to safety to 12 points with only seven games remaining. Liam Delap gave Town the lead with his 12th goal of the season in the 16th minute, but the visitors improved after the break and levelled through sub Pablo Sarabia on 72 before Jorgen Strand Larsen netted a deserved winner 12 minutes later. Manager Kieran McKenna named the same side which beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday evening, the first time he had selected an unchanged side this season. Alex Palmer, one of three ex-West Brom players in the XI, was in goal behind a back four of Axel Tuanzebe, Dara O’Shea, another former Baggie, Cameron Burgess and Conor Townsend, the other ex-Hawthorns favourite. Skipper Sam Morsy, who started his career with hometown club Wolves, continued in central midfield alongside Jens Cajuste with the trio ahead of them, from the left, Julio Enciso, Nathan Broadhead and Ben Johnson. Liam Delap was the number nine. Leif Davis, who missed Wednesday’s 2-1 win at Bournemouth with a leg injury, was on the bench in the league for the first time since the 1-0 win at Burton in August 2022, but Omari Hutchinson again missed out with his hamstring issue. Wolves were also unchanged from their 1-0 victory at home to West Ham on Tuesday evening with star striker Matheus Cunha suspended and manager Vitor Pereira and his assistant Luis Miguel both serving touchline bans. In their absence, first-team coach Andre Monteiro ran things from the dugout. Ahead of kick-off, both teams took a knee with the Premier League promoting its No Room For Racism campaign this weekend. There was widespread applause but with some boos audible. Town started brightly, keeping Wolves pinned back in their half as they probed for an early opening. On four, after Cajuste had won back possession on halfway, Townsend sent over a dangerous cross from the left but no one was able to profit from it. Wolves threatened for the first time on six, Joao Gomes breaking down the middle before feeding Rayan Ait-Nouri, who was red-carded in the melee after the whistle in the corresponding game at Molineux, on the left from where the Algerian international cut back to Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who shot not too far over. The visitors forced Palmer into his first save of the afternoon in the 11th minute, Strand Larsen shooting low at his near post having been played in on the right of the area and the keeper bundling it behind. From the corner, Toti headed into the ground and the ball looked to be looping under the bar until Palmer flicked it over for another flag-kick. This time, Delap half-cleared to Gomes in space on the edge of the box, but his low strike deflected behind for a third corner which came to nothing. Town immediately won two flag-kicks of their own, then kept the play at the other end of the field and in the 16th minute Cajuste cleverly tried to play in Enciso on the left of the box, but the ball was forced out for a corner. And in the aftermath of that flag-kick, the Blues went in front. Tuanzebe crossed deep from the left, O’Shea nodded back into the middle from beyond the far post and Delap turned home his 12th goal of the season and second in two games from close range. After what seemed an unnecessarily lengthy VAR check for offside against Delap, with the striker appearing well onside when O’Shea headed back across, the goal was confirmed, to big cheers from the Portman Road faithful. Wolves looked to hit back straight away and in the 20th minute they weren’t too far away. A looping Ait-Nouri corner from the right avoided everyone and would have nestled inside the post had O’Shea not turned it away from in front of the line ahead of Toti. Three minutes later, Bellegarde tried to catch Palmer out with a free-kick from the left which he shaped to cross into the area before hitting low towards the near post, the ball going into the side-netting and Toti failing to add a touch before it went out. In the 29th minute, following a Town free-kick, O’Shea wildly lashed a shot at a right angle from the right of the box across the area and out for a throw on the far side. Moments later, after the Blues had quickly won back possession, Morsy strode forward before hitting a shot which Jose Sa in the Wolves goal was able to stop and then claim at the second attempt. Town were comfortable at 1-0 with Wolves presenting little threat but with both teams giving the ball away too often and too easily. However, on 36 there was a huge scare for the Blues. O’Shea played the ball back to Palmer from 25 yards out, but the keeper somehow allowed it under his boot under no pressure whatsoever. To his credit, the former West Brom man showed superb reactions to dive across to his right to push it off the line, but referee Peter Bankes blew up and awarded an indirect free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box for the keeper handling a back-pass. Palmer was subsequently booked for rushing out of the pack of Town players filling the goalmouth before Wolves had taken the free-kick. The ball was eventually laid off to Emmanuel Agbadou but Morsy was fastest off the line to block, the ball looping behind for a corner, to a huge cheer from a relieved North Stand. After Town had cleared the corner, a Wolves player appeared to kick out at Enciso when he was on the ground, an incident missed by the officials. The Blues saw out the remainder of the half to go in 1-0 up at the break having taken their one big chance. Town had started very brightly but without creating an opportunity before Wolves came into it more and threatening from set pieces and Strand Larsen’s effort from the right of the box. But the Blues were never under any serious pressure and were largely in control of the game, albeit while not carving out any serious chances in the latter stages and surviving the back-pass free-kick. The visitors began the second half very strongly, skipper Nelson Semedo seeing a shot blocked three minutes after the restart, then Marshall Munetsi diverting a low left-sided cross wide, although the Zimbabwean may not have known an awful lot about it. On 49 the Old Gold came within inches of levelling, Gomes bringing the ball forward towards the right before hitting a shot which slammed against Palmer’s left post from the edge of the box. The ball cannoned back to the Brazilian international and his follow-up deflected over for a corner. Wolves kept up the pressure with a number of strikes blocked on the edge of the box before the Blues briefly began to get a foothold in the half, winning a corner on 56. Town subsequently kept the ball at the Wanderers end of the field and two minutes later, after a long throw from Cajuste had been nodded out, Tuanzebe played it back to the Sweden international, who crossed and O’Shea headed well over with the Irishman and Burgess appearing to get in one another’s way. But Wolves began to put the Blues back under pressure, O’Shea heading a cross from the right wide ahead of Strand Larsen, and on the hour mark the ball fell to Ait-Nouri inside he box but the full-back shanked his effort well wide of goal when it seemed easier to hit the target. Both teams made their first changes in the 65th minute, Jack Taylor replacing Broadhead, who had had a quiet game on his 27th birthday birthday, for Town, while Wolves made a double change with Matt Doherty and Bellegarde making way for Rodrigo Gomes and Sarabia. In the 71st minute, Town claimed a penalty after a bouncing ball following a long throw caught Andre on the arm. The Wolves midfielder was booked moments later for waving an imaginary yellow card after being fouled by O’Shea and VAR took a look at the penalty incident but decided against a spot-kick. Wolves went back on the offensive, Palmer saving a low Ait-Nouri strike and in the 72nd minute they equalised. Strand Larsen knocked back having run in behind on the left of the area, sub Sarabia’s first effort was blocked but his second beat Palmer to the keeper’s left to send the away fans wild. VAR took a look at whether Strand Larsen had been offside when he made his run, and it appeared close, but quickly gave the goal. Four minutes after the leveller, Norwegian international Strand Larsen wasn’t too far away from his side’s second of the game, looping a header from a Semendo cross over the bar. Town were struggling to get into dangerous areas in the Wolves half and on 81 Joao Gomes shot low past Palmer’s right post. The Blues made a quadruple change, swapping Townsend, Tuanzebe, Cajuste and Delap for Davis, Conor Chaplin, making his first appearance of 2025, Jaden Philogene and George Hirst. Davis quickly got into the action, crossing low from the left but Wolves keeper Sa dived to save. But in the 84th minute, Wolves went in front. Andre crossed deep from the left, Sarabia knocked back into the middle and Strand Larsen turned home from close range while falling. After another lengthy VAR check for offside, the goal was given, while the Norwegian striker was booked for his celebration. Ahead of the restart, Wanderers swapped the excellent Ait-Nouri for Santiago Bueno, then as the game moved into its final scheduled minute, ahead of seven added on, Enciso was booked for a dive, illustrating the Blues’ frustrations in attack during the second half. With Wolves looking more likely to score their third than Town their second, the Midlanders switched Strand Larsen for Yacouba Nasser Djiga two minutes before referee Bankes’s whistle. A result which almost certainly ends the Blues’ hopes of staying in the Premier League. Twelve points, plus Wolves’ significantly superior goal difference, looks far, far too much to make up in the seven remaining matches. Town were worth their lead at the break, even if they had to some extent ridden their luck on the back-pass incident. But Wolves began the second half on the front foot and the Blues were never really able to impose themselves on the game, the effects of Wednesday’s tough game at Bournemouth perhaps having an impact. O’Shea’s header the only real chance Town had after the break. A Wolves goal seemed only a matter of time, despite the Town backline defending in their usual heroic manner and, having got on terms, Wolves continued to present the greater threat. A disappointing way to end a week in which the win at Bournemouth and today’s half-time lead had restored a glimmer of hope that the Blues might somehow drag themselves out of trouble. But ultimately, while the management and players will continue to strive for a miracle, starting at Chelsea next Sunday, a return to the Championship next season seems all but certain. Town: Palmer, Tuanzebe (Philogene 82), O’Shea, Burgess, Townsend (Davis 82), Johnson, Morsy (c), Cajuste (Chaplin 82), Enciso, Broadhead (Taylor 65), Delap (Hirst 82). Unused: Walton, Woolfenden, Phillips, Clarke. Wolves: Sa, Doherty (R Gomes 65), Ait-Nouri (Bueno 88), Munetsi, Andre, J Gomes, Strand Larsen, Agbadou, Semedo (c), Toti, Bellegarde (Sarabia 65). Unused: Johnstone, Hee-Chan, Doyle, Forbs, Guedes, Djiga. Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside). VAR official: Andrew Madley. Att: 29,549 (Wolves: 2,959).
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