Chuba Akpom struck his first Ipswich Town goal as the Blues climbed into the top six with a 2-0 victory at Hull City on Tuesday.
The Ajax loanee pounced from a yard out following a Town corner to hand the visitors a third straight away victory and extend their unbeaten run to six matches.
Chuba Akpom – scored his first Ipswich goal at Hull. Photo: Barry Goodwin
Akpom’s 73rd-minute goal came just moments after the Suffolk side had taken the lead, after an uninspiring start, through Marcelino Núñez.
Jaden Philogene’s lofted cross went over the head of Charlie Hughes, with the Chilean on hand to lurk behind and stoop his header into the bottom corner of Ivor Pandur’s net.
Against one of the league’s most potent attacks, Town held firm to claim their first away clean sheet in more than a year, also marking the first time the Tigers had drawn a blank in 14 matches.
The Blues are up to fourth in the table and just three points outside the automatic promotion places as the busy schedule continues with a trip to Oxford United on Friday.
A free-scoring and leaky Hull being the opposition suggested a contest with plenty of chances and perhaps a large number of goals.
The first half, however, was anything but during a period littered with unforced errors.
The two best opportunities fell to the Tigers after the in-form Joe Gelhardt had attempted to audaciously lob Christian Walton to no success.
Joel Ndala’s strike midway through the period was kept out by a combination of Walton’s glove and the base of the post, before Kyle Joseph pulled a shot wide of the mark.
Town had little to shout about beyond Kasey McAteer’s wayward effort on 36 minutes during a period of the game where both sides struggled to keep possession.
Ultimately, the entertainment was hardly put on pause when referee Lewis Smith ended a chilly opening 45 minutes that failed to live up to many early expectations.
It was only really a purple patch in the space of a few minutes that decided the contest.
For the most part, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first and the game looked destined to fizzle out without any serious goalmouth action until 20 minutes from the end.
The Blues’ end product had been lacking, but all they needed was to take one clear-cut chance and the game was theirs for the taking.
After Núñez had broken the deadlock, Town really ought to have scored again in the moments before they duly got the second.
Núñez first wasted an effort on the counter-attack when Hull were outnumbered, then substitute Akpom had a big opportunity blocked by Charlie Hughes.
The cake nearly had the icing on it with 10 minutes remaining, but the post denied former Tiger and substitute Philogene from scoring his first away goal of the campaign.
But it was the Blues celebrating come the final whistle to secure their first Championship win on Humberside since 2007.
Hull City (4-2-3-1): Pandur; Giles, Hughes, Ajayi, Coyle (c) (Drameh 78); Slater, Hadžiahmetović (Belloumi 64); Ndala (Destan 64), Gyabi, Gelhardt; Joseph (Akintola 78). Subs: Phillips, Egan, Famewo, Williams, McCarthy. Booked: Gelhardt, Giles.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Walton; Davis, Greaves, O’Shea (c), Furlong; Cajuste (Taylor 46), Matusiwa; J Clarke (Philogene 66), Núñez (Johnson 84), McAteer (Walle Egeli 66), Hirst (Akpom 66). Subs: Button, Kipré, Young, Azón. Booked: Cajuste, Greaves.
Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire).
SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Jacob Greaves. Former Hull man Greaves more than played his part in an excellent rearguard effort to shut out one of the Championship’s most lethal attacking forces. Deserves a lot of credit for coming into the side and contributing to the clean sheet.
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