Ipswich Town vs West Bromwich Albion. Sky Bet Championship.
Portman RoadAttendance29,016.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and West Brom at Portman Road on Saturday; Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson strikes 93rd-minute winner to salvage important point for Tractor Boys
Saturday 10 February 2024 17:17, UK
Omari Hutchinson struck deep into second-half stoppage time to salvage a point for Ipswich and a 2-2 draw against West Brom on Saturday afternoon.
Kieran McKenna's side had won just one of their previous eight league games prior to the Baggies' visit to Portman Road and fell behind after 18 minutes when Tom Fellows drifted in off the left and beat Vaclav Hladky at his near post.
A Town equaliser before the break seemed inevitable and it came within the first 60 seconds of the second half, as Nathan Broadhead guided a shot in after George Edmundson had flicked a header into his path.
Andi Weimann then had a 'Hand of God' style goal ruled out, but the visitors did take the lead when John Swift thumped in from 25 yards, shortly after Daryl Dike had been withdrawn after a serious-looking ankle injury.
However, Hutchinson popped up when he was needed most to rifle a low shot home after West Brom had failed to clear their lines from a corner.
The teams stay fourth and fifth respectively in the Championship table.
The visitors were dominating proceedings in the opening few minutes and Jed Wallace's teasing low cross just evaded the stretching Brandon Thomas-Asante on the edge of the six-yard box.
Weimann was found in space on the edge of the area following a corner by Wallace but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Albion took a well-deserved lead in the 18th minute through Fellows following a counter attack. He was found out on the left by Weimann and Fellows outmuscled Luke Woolfenden, cut inside and fired a shot past Town goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
Ipswich had a wonderful chance to equalise five minutes later when a cross from Broadhead found Bournemouth loanee Kieffer Moore, who laid the ball off for Conor Chaplin, but he could only lift it over the crossbar.
With time running out in the first half, Harry Clarke's thunderous effort from 20 yards was tipped over by visiting goalkeeper Alex Palmer.
The Tractor Boys struck back straight from the restart following a deep throw-in by Clarke. The ball was deflected off George Edmundson's head into the path of Broadhead, who volleyed past Palmer to make it 1-1.
A rasping shot from Sam Morsy from fully 30 yards out went sailing over the bar and - moments later - West Brom had the ball in the net from a throw-in but Weimann was booked for putting it past Hladky's outstretched hand.
Chaplin stung the hands of Palmer following a great move involving Broadhead, Morsy, Clarke and Wes Burns, with the latter cutting the ball back to the striker as the hosts started to dominate proceedings.
Substitute Swift scored for West Brom with a stunning shot from nearly 30 yards out in the 76th minute after Edmundson's pass out from defence was intercepted and he picked out the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
But Hutchinson levelled matters in stoppage time - after Morsy's shot was blocked - as he fired home to clinch a point.
Ipswich came close to gaining maximum points during a frenetic eight minutes of added-on time when Albion goalkeeper Palmer blocked a shot from Ali Al-Hamadi from point-blank range.
Ipswich's Kieran McKenna:
"I thought it was a really good game, great atmosphere, bar from a couple of inches from the end, we would have been talking about an absolute classic in terms of games we've had at this stadium.
"Lots of good things about the performance. I thought we deserved the three points to be honest. Lots of good things about the performance, on the ball, also off the ball, plenty of good things.
"Two moments that we did not defend well enough that leads to frustration that we haven't won the game and another game that we feel like we've done enough to win the game.
"A lot of pride in the way we played, the effort given, the atmosphere the supporters created and stuck with and going behind twice to West Brom to put the pressure on that we did to get a point…we can take a lot from that.
"In plenty of games we have had better opportunities, better chances and more of them and not given too much away and that's always frustrating when we don't get the wins, but it's always much more concerning when you're not giving away chances, that's not been the case.
"You have spells in the season when we were extremely clinical and made some big interventions at the other end as well so you usually hope and trust your performances are consistent and you are creating more than you are giving away, you'll pick up plenty of points.
"They (West Brom) are a really fit team who work hard. The energy levels we had at the end, the impact of the substitutes - that's something that we can take big positives from."
West Brom's Carlos Corberan:
"We scored a goal after we started to make more passes and we started to make them suffer more.
"If you leave too much and give a goal to them, it's very difficult to win the game.
"We put a lot of energy and a lot of effort in to try and win the game.
"Everyone is affected when you see an injury. I think the injury of Bartley has affected the rest of the team.
"He was fantastic in the middle of the pitch but I understand that with the skill in the set-pieces, he was the best.
"We were stable in the first half and it was something we tried to fix for the second half but before we started the game (again), they scored a goal in the second phase of one throw-in and again, they scored a goal again in the second phase of another throw-in. It's off another set-piece.
"But I think the team showed some positives in the second half. We attacked but we did not attack enough."
