Jaden Philogene and Jacob Greaves were on the scoresheet as Ipswich Town beat Blackpool 2-1 to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup
Jaden Philogene and Jacob Greaves were on the scoresheet as Ipswich Town beat Blackpool 2-1 to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup (Image: Steve Waller)
Ipswich Town booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 home win against League One side Blackpool.
The Blues looked slick and cohesive in the first half, taking the lead through Jaden Philogene’s curling strike.
They searched for a second, but found it difficult to create clear-cut chances until the end of the match, when Jacob Greaves headed home from a corner to wrap up the result at Portman Road, meaning that Ashley Fletcher’s late penalty was purely a consolation.
Town made seven changes from their win against Oxford United
Kieran McKenna made seven changes to the team that beat Oxford United on New Year’s Day, with last week’s trip to Portsmouth postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Alex Palmer played in goal for the first time since recovering from his groin injury on December 10th. Cedric Kipre was the only man to keep his place in the back line, partnering Greaves, while Ben Johnson and Ashley Young played as full-backs – the latter named as captain.
Azor Matusiwa continued in midfield, partnering Jack Taylor, with Jack Clarke ahead of them in the no.10 role. Philogene played on the left, with Wes Burns starting on the right for the first time in almost a year.
Chuba Akpom led the line for the second game in a row.
Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Palmer; Young, Kipre, Greaves, Johnson (Baggott 89′); Matusiwa, Taylor; Burns (Szmodics 73′), J. Clarke (Walle Egeli 73′), Philogene (McAteer 73′); Akpom (Azon 73′)
Blackpool XI: 3-1-4-2: Peacock-Farrell; Lyons, Casey, Ashworth; Morgan; Imray, Evans (Brown 62′), Honeyman (Banks 77′), Hamilton; Bloxham (Bowler 69′), Fletcher
Ipswich had chances to open the scoring early on
With Ipswich making numerous changes from their last league outing, it took some time to figure out who was playing where. The biggest surprise was Johnson, who drifted just behind Akpom when he found space, despite being the nominal left-back.
Town’s first opportunity came from a corner won down the right. Young’s delivery found the head of Kipre, who forced Bailey Peacock-Farrell into an exceptional save to tip it over the bar in the fourth minute.
Blackpool cleared the second corner and looked to counter. Tom Bloxham’s cross from the right looped high towards Fletcher, but he was beaten to the ball by Palmer.
The Blues came again. Philogene did well to win the ball back deep in his own half, playing the ball up to Clarke, who shrugged off a challenge before sending Burns away. The winger tried to compose himself before taking aim, but he was quickly closed down before scuffing his shot.
Blackpool defended deep in their shape, soaking up possession. Ipswich found it difficult to find gaps to break into their box, summed up by a long-range strike from Taylor in the 11th minute, which was saved by Peacock-Farrell.
There was a stoppage in play around the 13th minute as Burns and Zac Ashworth challenged for a loose ball. The former took a heavy blow to his right shin while the latter was sent flying into the advertising hoardings. Both men needed treatment before being allowed to return to the pitch.
Burns was involved soon after, making a quick run with the ball down the right in the 16th minute. His dinked cross found the head of Akpom, but the Ajax loanee knocked it over the crossbar.
There were flashes from the hosts, with Philogene often leading the charge. He managed to come out from a scramble with two Blackpool players with the ball before nutgmegging Danny Imray in the 22nd minute, then rolling a tame shot into the gloves of Peacock-Farrell.
Blackpool also had chances to threaten. Young was booked for pulling down CJ Hamilton on the counter in the 23rd minute, although the Tangerines were unable to capitalise from the resulting free-kick.
They came even closer in the 25th minute. A slick passage of play saw Hamilton and Albie Morgan combine before the former cut the ball back into the box for Imray to have a shot, which Taylor blocked to deny Blackpool the opener.
Philogene’s trademark goal put the Blues 1-0 up (Image: Steve Waller)
Ipswich responded with a couple of corners, fortuitously won by Philogene on the counter. The second was the most problematic for Blackpool, with Greaves flicking it back into the danger zone for Taylor to head over the bar in the 28th minute.
With 30 minutes on the clock, it felt like a proper FA Cup tie. While the Blues had the better of the chances, Blackpool weren’t rolling over and letting them score, nor were they looking to spend the entire game defending. They mixed it up with direct play and pretty passing patterns on the floor.
That didn’t stop Philogene from showcasing some of his flicks and tricks. He picked up the ball in the 33rd minute, controlling the ball before flicking it over the head of Honeyman and firing it over the crossbar.
It felt like he would be instrumental in an Ipswich opener, and so it proved in the 35th minute. Clarke carried the ball towards the edge of the area before passing to Johnson, who quickly laid it off for Philogene to his left. The winger didn’t need a touch, curling one of his trademark strikes past Peacock-Farrell to make it 1-0.
They looked to add a second just before the interval, with their biggest chance coming in the 45th minute. Clarke exposed a gap to push past the halfway line before sliding a sumptuous through ball up to Akpom.
The striker was under pressure, so had to take aim with a first-time effort, although Peacock-Farrell was well-placed to push it away from danger.
Johnson had one last attempt to try and make it 2-0 before the half-time whistle was blown, dinking a shot just past the target.
The hosts pushed to kill off the game in the second half
Philogene was up to his usual tricks immediately after the restart, spinning past Andy Lyons just outside the box the defender dragged him to the ground, picking up a booking. The resulting free-kick was cleared as far as Young, so saw his attempt deflected wide.
Burns was given a yellow card for a tussle with Honeyman before Clarke delivered the corner deep, with Taylor scuffing an overhead kick before Blackpool cleared.
But Blackpool came close to a shock response in the 51st minute. Peacock-Farrell’s long kick bounced all the way through to Hamilton, who took aim down the left, forcing Palmer into a sharp save.
Taylor tried his luck from distance – around 25 yards – two minutes later, firing narrowly wide.
Ipswich kept turning the screw without doing much to worry Peacock-Farrell. Given the early warning from Blackpool, it felt as if they needed a second goal to make it more comfortable.
They were presented a golden opportunity to do so in the 64th minute, when Clarke robbed substitute Jordan Brown of possession high up the pitch. Instead of goal for goal, he squared it to Philogene, who saw his shot deflected away from the Seasiders’ net.
Blackpool provided Town with another reminder not to be complacent. Hamilton’s cutback from the right was cut out by Kipre, but he couldn’t compose the ball as Fletcher latched onto it and took aim. Greaves, however, was able to rush in with a crucial block in the 68th minute.
Greaves’ header wrapped up the win for Kieran McKenna’s side
Hoping to kill the game off, McKenna rolled the dice in the 73rd minute. He changed the entire front four, introducing Kasey McAteer, Sindre Walle Egeli, Sam Szmodics and Ivan Azon.
McAteer and Azon linked up within seconds, with the former crossing low for the latter, although Peacock-Farrell was able to rush out and beat the Como loanee to the ball.
From then on, however, they didn’t do much to impact the game. Their play felt somewhat lethargic, perhaps understandable given that many players on the pitch have had limited minutes this season and an extended gap between games.
As a result, nerves started to creep in and energy leaked out of Portman Road – apart from the away end, which was rejuvenated as their side started to sense an opportunity.
Ipswich’s second goal did come, however, after winning a corner down the left. Young’s delivery looked like it would be claimed by Peacock-Farrell, but Greaves pushed himself in front of the goalkeeper to divert the ball into the back of the net with 87 minutes on the clock.
Blackpool were awarded a late, late lifeline as Greaves brought down Scott Banks in the box in stoppage time. Fletcher fired his spot-kick past Palmer, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Ipswich from reaching the fourth round of the competition.
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