Tribal Football

Wolves lose fourth in a row as Ipswich earn massive away win

Jon Radcliffe
Ipswich Town's Jack Taylor celebrates scoring their side's second goal
Ipswich Town's Jack Taylor celebrates scoring their side's second goal Action Plus
Ipswich Town picked up just their second Premier League (PL) win of the season courtesy of a 2-1 success against Wolverhampton Wanderers, marking only a second victory in 18 trips to Molineux.

Following their bruising defeat against West Ham on Monday, after which club captain Mario Lemina and Gary O’Neil clashed, the Wolves boss made the decision to hand the armband to Nélson Semedo as he aims to turn their season around.

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However, the home side found themselves behind inside 15 minutes after Semedo was outmuscled by Liam Delap, who broke towards the byline and pulled the ball back into the danger area.

After a scramble, Conor Chaplin’s shot was deflected in off the Portuguese full-back and Matt Doherty, with the latter getting the final touch.

 

Cunha goal
Cunha goalRoger Evans / Actionplus / Profimedia / Opta by Stats Perform

 

Wolves responded reasonably well after going behind, with Lemina in particular driving his side forward in an attempt to draw level.

The Gabonese midfielder saw an effort comfortably saved, but positive spells of possession for O’Neil’s men were not put to full use. Instead, the home side were booed off at HT as the home crowd made their frustrations clear. 

O’Neil made a change in the middle of the park ahead of the restart, with Tommy Doyle coming on for André. Kieran McKenna’s men dominated the early stages however, as Wes Burns forced Sam Johnstone into a great diving save after the Welshman cut inside and rifled a shot towards goal from an angle.

Burns continued to threaten down the right flank, and he should have registered an assist after delivering an inch-perfect ball into the box, but Delap failed to convert as the ball went wide after hitting his knee. 

With an hour on the clock, the home side were seriously struggling to gain a foothold in the contest, and with Wolves managing just one shot on target, McKenna’s men looked to be coasting to victory.

 

 

But, as the Tractor Boys have done so many times this season, they gave away a lead as Matheus Cunha brilliantly slammed home from a tight angle. 

Wolves suddenly sprung into life and were all over the visitors, and Cunha should have doubled his tally for the afternoon after going one-on-one with Arijanet Muric - the stopper, though, kept his side in the contest with a strong stop.

 

Match stats
Match statsOpta by Stats Perform

 

That save proved pivotal, as Ipswich went and stole all three points in stoppage time when Jack Taylor headed in from a corner kick to gift the away side just their second three-point haul this season.

What this means for O’Neil’s future given Wolves are now four points clear of safety is anyone’s guess, but you get a feeling the writing is on the wall.