Ipswich Town vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
Portman RoadAttendance15,702.
Wednesday 22 November 2017 23:23, UK
Substitute Atdhe Nuhiu headed a dramatic last-gasp equaliser for Sheffield Wednesday as they held Ipswich to a 2-2 draw in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday night.
Joe Garner had put the home side ahead after 48 minutes at Portman Road, but they were pegged back by a Gary Hooper penalty just beyond the hour.
Martyn Waghorn then appeared to have clinched all three points for Ipswich with his 70th-minute header, but substitute Nuhiu struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time to level the game.
Ipswich created plenty of good chances in the first half with David McGoldrick providing their biggest threat down the right. Wednesday should have been down to 10 men after just four minutes when Glenn Loovens caught him in the midriff with a high boot, but the challenge was missed by the officials.
Jack Hunt's awful defending provided Ipswich their biggest opportunity of the half on the stroke of half-time, as he scuffed an attempted clearance right into the path of Waghorn, who had time and space in the box but hit his effort straight at the goalkeeper.
Ipswich did take the lead just after the break from a corner as Waghorn's delivery was nodded on by Jordan Spence at the near post, and Garner turned up at the far one to turn the ball home, ending his run of eight games without a goal in the process.
Spence was soon the villain of the piece for Ipswich, though, as his unnecessary handball allowed Wednesday the opportunity to get in the game after 64 minutes, with Hooper smashing in the resulting penalty. It took just six minutes for Ipswich to retake the lead, however, as substitute Emyr Huws hooked a cross into the path of Waghorn in the middle, and he rose to loop a superb header over the helpless Keiren Westwood in the Wednesday goal.
That looked like it that would be that, until Nuhiu rose late on to head home Adam Reach's cross and send the away fans into ecstasy.
An excellent performance by Waghorn in Ipswich's attack. Playing a key role in the opener as his corner led to Garner's goal, before heading their second goal himself. Everything good about Mick McCarthy's side on Wednesday night went through him.
Mick McCarthy: "I thought that we played really well and it was a positive performance which I was delighted with. I am disappointed with the naivety ... but there was a bit of quality from them in their equalizer.
"It was an appalling challenge [from Loovens] and he (McGoldrick) will need surgery tomorrow. We played well and should take the positives out of it. If we play like that we will win more game than we lose."
Carlos Carvalhal: "The team never gave up and we felt that we must put more long balls in and at the end we won a point.
"They (Ipswich) had opportunities but I am disappointed that we did not win the game. But we must play better and be more concentrated and not make mistakes."
Both sides are back in action in the Sky Bet Championship at 3pm on Saturday, with Ipswich travelling to Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday visiting Reading.
