Ipswich Town 3-0 Burton Albion - Match Report Saturday, 19th Feb 2022 17:02 Man-of-the-match Kayden Jackson scored one and assisted two as the Blues beat Burton Albion 3-0 at Portman Road. Jackson put Town in front in only the 42nd second with his first league goal of the season and then laid on the Blues’ second for Wes Burns in the 62nd minute and the third for Bersant Celina on 78 as Town boss Kieran McKenna continued his 100 per cent home record. Lee Evans returned to the centre of midfield alongside skipper Sam Morsy having missed last week’s 0-0 draw away against the MK Dons due to illness with Tyreeq Bakinson dropping to the bench. Joe Pigott also came into the side and started as the central striker with Jackson keeping his place in the side to his left and Sone Aluko, also returning to the team, on the right. Celina and Conor Chaplin moved onto the bench alongside Macauley Bonne and James Norwood. The Brewers made two changes from the team which impressively beat Bolton 3-1 on Tuesday with Frazer Blake-Tracy and Jacob Maddox coming into the side for Michael Mancienne and Ciaran Gilligan. New signing Oumar Niasse was among the subs as was Jonny Smith, back after a calf injury. After the teams had taken a knee to applause, the game got under way in heavy rain and within a minute the Blues took the lead. Burns played in Jackson, who took the ball across his man before hitting a low shot from just outside the area across the wet turf and into the corner of the net as the clock passed the 42-second mark, the striker’s third goal of the season and his first in the league since December 2020. Visiting keeper Ben Garratt will feel he should have saved it with the pace off the sodden pitch perhaps having beaten him. Conditions caused both sides a few problems in the minutes after the goal but the Blues settled more quickly with Evans clipping a cross into the area which was nodded away just ahead of Pigott. Burton threatened for the first time in the 12th minute when, after a corner from the right had been half-cleared, Maddox hit a shot just under the bar that a combination of Evans and keeper Christian Walton kept out. From the resultant corner, Walton did well to flick the ball away from danger from under his bar. But it was mainly Town and Janoi Donacien sent over a cross towards the far post which just evaded Jackson. Burton began to present the bigger threat, Conor Shaughnessy heading wide on 18 from a long Tom Hamer throw which had been flicked on by Sam Hughes. The Brewers won a number of other corners and throws which the Blues repelled, not always entirely comfortably however. Evans was shown the game’s first yellow card in the 27th minute for a foul on Gassan Ahadme, the Welshman having been continuing a lively dialogue with referee Carl Brook having been caught high by an earlier challenge which had gone unpunished. Two minutes later, with the rain appearing to have stopped, Aluko sent Burns away on the right and the former Fleetwood man sent over a low cross in front of Pigott and Jackson when he looked to be in the area from which he has scored most of his Town goals this season. On 35 Joe Powell tried to catch Walton out with a swiftly-taken free-kick from just outside the area but the Blues keeper moved quickly across his goal to turn it behind. From the corner, the ball fell to Hamer and Walton again saved, the ball diverting out for another flag-kick off Donacien. Town should have gone 2-0 in front in the 38th minute. Burns and Evans exchanged passes on the right and the wing-back sent over a low ball which deflected out to Pigott, who shot past Garratt but off the post. The loose ball fell to Dominic Thompson but as from a similar position at Sheffield Wednesday, the on-loan Brentford man blazed well over. The Blues did have the ball in the net two minutes later, Luke Woolfenden turning Aluko’s free-kick from the right into the corner but having strayed offside. Town fans had been frustrated with referee Brook’s decision-making all half but the volume of their annoyance increased in the 44th minute after Pigott appeared to be fouled just outside the area, then George Edmundson similarly looked to have been tripped a few moments later. In the final scheduled minute, the Blues again should have doubled their lead when two against one in the Brewers’ half. Aluko was inadvertently sent away by Blake-Tracy and took it on before playing to Morsy to his left but behind the Town skipper, who perhaps should have held back. It fell to Jackson behind him, but the earlier scorer’s low cross-shot flew past the post and also too far in front of a number of team-mates in the box. Following the whistle, referee Brook was booed as he made his way to the tunnel, the home fans having felt their team had been on the wrong end of a number of decisions, and with some reason. Town might well have been home and hosed had they taken their two late chances but the half had been far from easy affair with the conditions having made Burton’s set pieces more difficult to defend. However, for the most part, Walton and the Blues rearguard had been resolute with Maddox’s early effort the visitors’ only really big chance. Morsy struck the second half’s first effort from the edge of the area in the 48th minute, the ball striking a defender and cannoning behind. Four minutes later, Burns shot wide from 20 yards after a Blues free-kick had been half-cleared. But Burton began to see most of the ball and on 54 Hamer hit a low shot which Walton watched past his left post. Three minutes later, Aluko sent Burns away on the right but the Welshman again overhit his cross. On 59, Evans looped a shot well over from 25 yards after good work from Aluko and Burns, then in the 61st minute Aluko twisted and turned on the edge of the box before hitting a low shot which Garratt palmed away down to his right before claiming ahead of Jackson. But Town fans didn’t have to wait too long for their side’s second goal of the game. Aluko sent Jackson away on the left with a superb pass, the striker cut inside and chipped the ball to the far post for Evans, who appeared to scuff his effort into the ground but with enough power and in the right direction to find the corner of the net. The summer signing from Fleetwood celebrated with his now familiar handshake and bow with Donacien having taken his season’s tally to nine. Burton brought on new signing Niasse for Ahadme as the teams lined-up, the one-time £13.5 million Everton signing having joined the Brewers on Thursday. In the 66th minute referee Brook drew more ire from the Portman Road crowd for pulling back play for a foul on Jackson with the striker having shaken off Blake-Tracy and away and in the clear on the right. Blake-Tracy was shown a yellow card. Niasse’s first involvement saw him pick up a booking for a late challenge on Walton as the keeper ran out of his area to clear. The former Brighton man looked to have been hurt by the tackle but was OK to carry on. Town swapped Aluko, who was given a warm ovation as he left the field, for Chaplin, and Pigott for Celina, while Burton replaced Christian Saydee with Smith. On 72 Jackson burst away from Hughes on the Town left as they chased a ball leaving the Burton man standing before hitting a shot which Garratt blocked with his knees. Two minutes later, the Brewers brought on Harry Chapman for Williams Kokolo. In the 78th minute Jackson added his second assist of the afternoon to his goal as Town made it 3-0. The resurgent striker broke away on the right before sending across a low ball which Celina turned home at the far post, the Kosovan’s fifth goal of the season. It was almost 4-0 in the 81st minute with Jackson again the provider. The former Accrington man cut back from the right to Morsy, who somehow hit a defender when it looked easier to find the target. Jackson, whose Town career had looked all but dead and buried only a few weeks ago, was substituted to a standing ovation in the 81st minute with Norwood taking over. The Blues continued to look for a fourth goal, a Burton defender turning over Burns’s low cross from the right, then a couple of Town players went for a Celina chipped cross to the far post and sent it over the bar. Town really ought to have gone four in front in the final scheduled minute when Donacien cut back to Norwood from the right with three Blues players behind the Burton backline. However, Norwood’s first touch let him down and Garratt was able to narrow the angle and block. Evans required treatment in the dying moments following a challenge and the Blues played out the last few seconds with 10 men. The final whistle was greeted by cheers after what in the end was a very comfortable win for the Blues. After a tough first half, Town were well on top in the second half and the margin of victory probably should have been wider. The star of the show was Jackson, who got the afternoon off to the perfect start then made excellent decisions inside the area to lay on chances for his team-mates, not just the two which were taken. The result sees the Blues remain ninth but now only four points from the play-offs, Wycombe having drawn 5-5 at home to Town’s Tuesday Portman Road opponents Cheltenham. Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burns, Evans, Morsy (c), Thompson, Aluko (Chaplin 68), Jackson (Norwood 81), Pigott (Celina 68). Unused: Hladky, Burgess, Bakinson, Bonne. Burton Albion: Garratt, Brayford (c), Powell, Ahadme (Niasse 62), Hughes, Saydee (Smith 68), Shaughnessy, Blake-Tracy, Kokolo (Chapman 74), Maddox, Hamer. Unused: Kovar, Leak, Mancienne, Lakin. Referee: Carl Brook (Sussex). Att: 20,516 (Burton: 174).
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