| Ipswich Town 2 v 0 Stoke City SkyBet Championship Saturday, 12th August 2023 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Ipswich Town 2-0 Stoke City - Match Report Saturday, 12th Aug 2023 17:05 Town hit the top of the early-season Championship table after goals from Luke Woolfenden and sub Kayden Jackson saw them to a deserved 2-0 victory over Stoke City in their home opener. Woolfenden nodded the Blues into the lead in the 23rd minute, then Jackson confirmed the three points on 81. Boss Kieran McKenna named the same team which started the opening fixture at Sunderland. Vaclav Hladky was in goal with Janoi Donacien at right-back, Leif Davis left-back and Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess the centre-halves. Skipper Sam Morsy was joined by Massimo Luongo in the centre of midfield with Wes Burns wide on the right, Conor Chaplin in the middle and Nathan Broadhead on the left behind striker George Hirst. Stoke made one change from the team which won 4-1 at home to Rotherham last week with on-loan Wolves winger Chiquinho coming in for Jacob Brown, who has moved to Luton, and making his debut. Town, with a near-capacity 29,000 crowd including former loanee Tyreece John-Jules watching, struck the game’s first shot in the third minute when Burns picked up a loose Stoke pass midway inside the visitors’ half, drove forward and, with Broadhead breaking one side and Hirst the other, hit a shot which Potters keeper Mark Travers tipped over for the first of three Blues corners. McKenna’s side continued to take the game to the Potters and on six Broadhead brought the ball into the area on the left before teeing-up Luongo, whose strike was blocked. The ball ran to Davis, whose cross was just about cleared with Stoke looking panicky at the back in the early stages. The Staffordshire side threatened for the first time in the 12th minute but Chiquinho’s cross from the right of the box was nodded away by Woolfenden. On 18, Chaplin battled for the ball with Daniel Johnson just outside the Stoke area before hitting a snapshot wide. Two minutes later, Michael Rose was shown the first yellow card of the game for body-checking Davis as the full-back burst away on the Town left. Within a minute, Chiquinho was lucky not to join him for going through the back of Davis’s ankles. Stoke fouls were coming with greater and greater regularity as the visitors sought to break up the flow of Town’s play. On 23 Burns was blocked off by Enda Stevens on the right as the Welshman looked to receive a return pass. And from the resultant free-kick, the Blues went in front. Morsy wafted the ball over and Woolfenden rose highest to nod his first Championship goal to Travers’s right and into the net. Having got their noses in front, Town continued to dominate and weren’t too far away from a second on the half hour. Broadhead broke forward but the ball was stabbed away from him. The Wales international subsequently played a one-two with Chaplin and burst through into the area but his effort looped over the bar off Ben Wilmot. From the resultant corner, the ball was initially cleared but Morsy returned it and Broadhead hit a shot on the turn which Travers saved down to his left. Soon after, Chaplin hit a low 30-yard effort not too far wide. Stoke made their first change, a tactical switch, in the 34th minute, debutant Chiquinho making way for Brazilian striker Wesley, another of manager Alex Neil’s 11 summer additions. Having made their change, the visitors began to get more of a foothold in the game and on 38 Blues keeper Hladky was forced into his first stop of the game. Stevens, a close season recruit from Sheffield United, cut across from the left to Daniel Johnson, who hit a low effort which Hladky did well to save with his feet. Johnson, another of the summer signings having left Neil’s former club Preston, will feel he should have given the Town keeper no chance. In the final scheduled minute of the half, the Blues almost made it 2-0. Chaplin won the ball on the right and sent Burns away. The wideman whipped over a cross towards the near post and Hirst turned a first-time half-volley only just wide. In injury time, after a Town pass had ricocheted towards their area, Ryan Mmaee looked in on goal but was outmuscled by Donacien and Hladky claimed. The Moroccan claimed a penalty but referee Josh Smith wasn’t interested. That was the last penalty area action of the first half, the Blues well worth their 1-0 lead at the break. Having quickly got into their stride and were starting to dominate when Woolfenden’s towering header gave them the lead. Town had chances to add to their lead but Stoke had begun to look more dangerous after big front man Wesley replaced Chiquinho. The Potters began the second half on the front foot and two minutes after the restart, they weren’t too far away from levelling. The ball was half-cleared to Ben Pearson not far outside the area and the former Preston and Bournemouth man’s shot was diverted wide by the diving Burgess. From the corner, Mmaee header powerfully wide. In the 51st minute, Hladky was shown his second yellow card in two games for time-wasting as he prepared to take a free-kick. Stoke continued to take the game to Town looking a different side to the one which had been so poor for much of the first half and went close again in the 53rd minute. Wilmot found himself through and past Hladky following a one-two with Wesley but a Town toe did enough to cause the ball to cannon off the Stoke man and wide, although referee Smith gave a corner much to Town’s annoyance. Having made a scruffy start to the second half, the Blues began to threaten again with Johnson very fortunate not to get his name in the book for a foul on Chaplin as Town counter-attacked. Hirst hit a shot on the turn but didn’t get enough on it to seriously test Travers, then Chaplin struck a more powerful effort but too close to the Irish international keeper. The Town crowd once again showed their frustration with referee Smith for failing to book a Stoke player, this time Wilmot for a foul on Luongo. In the 59th minute, Town felt they should have been awarded a penalty when the Australian was fouled as he cut into the area on the right. Referee Smith gave a free-kick, believing the initial challenge was outside the area, which was probably the case. Wilmot again avoided a card. Town were back on top after their slow start to the half and on the hour a Broadhead cross appeared to strike visitors’ skipper Josh Laurent’s arm but referee Smith thought otherwise. With the game opening up and the Blues looking more and more dangerous on the counter-attack, Chaplin struck a shot from inside the area on the right which very obviously deflected wide, but referee Smith, who was becoming less and less of a home fans’ favourite, gave a goalkick. On 64, Chaplin played a superb ball for Burns to chase towards the area on the right but the Welshman opted to cut inside rather than head for goal and his low ball towards Hirst was cut out. Stoke subsequently had a brief spell on the ball but without creating a chance, Johnson sending a cross from the left behind the goal when in a dangerous situation. After Chaplin had seen a shot blocked after a trademark cut back from the right from Burns, Town made their first two changes of the afternoon in the 68th minute, Hirst and Broadhead making way for Kayden Jackson and Marcus Harness. Jackson was quickly into the action, getting round the back on the right and sending a low ball across the six-yard area, which was hacked clear. In the aftermath, the ball dropped to Luongo just inside the are but the midfielder’s scuffed effort was easy for Travers. On 72, following a Donacien long throw on the right, Davis sent over a dangerous cross from the left which was just flicked away from Burns as the Welshman prepared to head home at the far post. Two minutes later, Woolfenden stabbed the ball away from Andre Vidigal on the edge of the area and Wesley struck a shot which caught Burgess and flew well wide. Dwight Gayle replaced Mmaee for the visitors on 75. In the 77th minute, Donacien was shown Town’s second yellow card of the game for time-wasting, referee Smith having been rather less quick to issue cautions for cynical fouls than for tardy restarts. Wesley’s chance had been a rarity with the Blues having looked the more dangerous side since the early stages of the second half and in the 81st minute they made it 2-0. Hladyky, Luongo and Burgess played the ball out from the back on the left, Harness turned away from his man and played it inside the Chaplin, who brought it forward into the Stoke half before sending Burns away on the right. The Welshman burst to the edge of the area, then sent across a low ball to Jackson, who stroked into the net from eight yards.
With Portman Road loudly celebrating a superbly-worked goal, boss McKenna swapped Chaplin for Omari Hutchinson, while Stoke switched Johnson for Sol Sidibe. The on-loan Chelsea man went looking for a first goal for the Blues, hitting a low shot from just inside the area which Travers did well to save with an outstretched arm to his left. Morsy, seconds after having been announced as the man of the match, was booked for a foul on Sidibe midway inside the Town half in the final scheduled minute. Hladky dealt with the free-kick before the fourth official’s board indicated four additional minutes. Town swapped Luongo, still to feature on the losing side for the Blues, for Town league debutant Jack Taylor for the final few minutes. Vidigal blazed well wide from the right of the area during injury time but the sting had gone out of the Potters following Town’s second goal. Referee Smith’s whistle was the prompt for a huge roar around Portman Road as the Blues continued their winning start to their return to the Championship. Town were well worth their victory having been the better side aside from brief spells and having created enough chances to have won more comfortably. Boss McKenna will have been delighted to net from a set piece in the first half and then via such a well-worked goal building from the last third in the second via Jackson. Town have now now equalled their all-competitions unbeaten record of 20 matches previously achieved in the 1980/81 season, while they are now 21 matches without a loss in the league, the record 23 achieved in 1979/80. The Blues are also now unbeaten in 21 games at home in all competitions, stretching back to Lincoln’s smash-and-grab 1-0 win in October.  Town fans and boss McKenna couldn’t have hoped for a better first six days of the season with the Blues recording three wins and topping the early-season table on goal difference from Leicester City. Next up, a trip to QPR next Saturday, the West Londoners having won 2-1 at Cardiff today. Town: Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy, Luongo (Taylor 91), Burns, Chaplin (Hutchinson 83), Broadhead (Harness 68), Hirst (Jackson 68). Unused: Evans, Ladapo, Ball, Slicker, Leigh. Stoke: Travers, Hoever, Stevens, Wilmot, Rose, Pearson, Laurent (c), Johnson (Sidibe 83), Vidigal, Chiquinho (Wesley 34), Mmaee (Gayle 75). Unused: Bonham, Tymon, Thompson, McNally, Okagbue, Lowe. Referee: Josh Smith (Bedfordshire). Att: 29,006 (Stoke: 1,749).
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