Ipswich frustrate Saints under the lights
Southampton fired a blank at home for the first time this season as Ipswich continued their impressive start to life in the Sky Bet Championship with a 1-0 win at St Mary’s.
After an opening half-an-hour deprived of opportunities, it was symptomatic of Saints’ recent fortunes that a defensive error gifted Omari Hutchinson the opener.
Another mistake saw Conor Chaplin hit the woodwork soon after, as the hosts limped to the break a goal behind.
Looking to end the visitors’ perfect record on the road, Ché Adams and Ryan Manning went closest to finding an equaliser, but the first meeting between the two sides in eight years was to be won by the Tractor Boys to inflict a third straight defeat on Russell Martin’s side.
With just four days to iron out the frailties displayed against Leicester, Martin opted against wholesale changes making just one alteration to the side that started Friday’s forgettable loss, as Joe Aribo replaced the injured Flynn Downes.
A first start since the 21st May, the Nigeria international slotted into a midfield three alongside Will Smallbone and Adam Armstrong, with a returning Jan Bednarek taking Downes’s place in the matchday squad.
Joe Aribo made a first start of the season
With an air of apprehension around St Mary’s as a result of conceding inside the first 60 seconds in the last two games, there was a collective sigh of relief when Chaplin’s scrappy finish from a corner was ruled out for a foul on Gavin Bazunu just seven minutes in.
Warned of Town’s threat, the hosts responded at the other end. Adams fired into the side netting via deflection off of Luke Woolfenden, before Shea Charles saw a glancing header fall agonisingly wide after Kyle Walker-Peters did well to recycle an initial corner.
Saints’ moments of promise were fleeting, however, as patient possession failed to materialise, only resulting in rising frustration from the stands as a dormant period of action ensued.
Sensing their moment, Kieran McKenna’s side upped the ante and on the half-hour mark forced the kind of individual error that has haunted the hosts in recent weeks.
Looking to build from the back, Charles was caught in possession 20 yards from goal, allowing Chaplin to thread the ball through for Hutchinson who took a touch before coolly drilling a strike in off the post past a hapless Bazunu.
Ché Adams fires at goal
In a moment of dreadful déjà vu, the Tractor Boys almost doubled their lead six minutes later in identical fashion.
Robbing Aribo of the ball in another precarious position, Chaplin’s chipped effort from outside the box bounced back off the bar, with George Hirst’s follow up from 12 yards vitally blocked by Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Like a prize-fighter chasing a knockout blow, the visitors continued to attack Saints while they were on the ropes, with the hosts saved by the half time bell after Wes Burns curled a low drive inches wide just before the break.
Rallied by a talk from their corner, Martin’s side almost restored parity just four minutes after the restart.
A dancing run from Walker-Peters ended with a defence-cutting pass that found Adams in the box, but after taking a touch to collect the ball, the striker’s effort was saved, unwittingly, by the head of goalkeeper Václav Hladky.
With some weary legs emerging, Martin refreshed his ranks on 56 minutes with the introduction of Stuart Armstrong, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Jan Bednarek.
But there was no sign of Chaplin tiring, however, as Ipswich’s match-winner at the weekend went close again, forcing Bazunu low down to his right having connected perfectly with a volley on the edge of the box.
Now ticking into the final 20 minutes, the game began to adopt a clear pattern: Saints dominated the ball, while the Suffolk outfit sat deep in numbers, only leaping to life when the chance came to launch a counter.
Adam Armstrong captained the side once again at St Mary's
In a high-risk game of cat and mouse, Martin’s side committed more and more numbers in search of an equaliser, adding Charly Alcaraz and Sékou Mara to the mix too, but it was the unlikely source of Manning who almost found an equaliser.
Unable to break down the visitors, the Republic of Ireland international let fly from 25 yards, forcing Hladky low down to his right to parry away the danger.
Continually frustrated by the visitors, the announcement of seven minutes of additional time rallied the home crowd, but there were no late heroics as the Tractor Boys took all three points back to Portman Road.
Saints: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Charles, Manning, Smallbone (Alcaraz 76), Aribo (Bednarek 56), A. Armstrong (c) (Mara 85), Edozie (S. Armstrong 56), Adams, Fraser (Kamaldeen 56).
Subs not used: McCarthy, Holgate, Bree, Amo-Ameyaw.
Yellow cards: Harwood-Bellis, Adams.
Ipswich: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Williams (Ball 70), Morsy (c), Taylor (Luongo 56), Hutchinson (Broadhead 80), Chaplin (Harness 80), Burns, Hurst (Scarlett 70).
Subs not used: Slicker, Humphreys, Evans, Ladapo.
Goals: Hutchinson (30)
Yellow cards: Williams, Taylor.
Referee: Josh Smith
Attendance: 27,265
