Ipswich Town vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
Portman RoadAttendance29,006.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich and Stoke City at Portman Road as goals from Luke Woolfenden and Kayden Jackson sealed a good home win for Tractor Boys.
Saturday 12 August 2023 18:26, UK
Goals from Luke Woolfenden and Kayden Jackson earned Ipswich a 2-0 home victory over Stoke to continue their winning return to the Championship.
The hosts made it maximum points from their opening two games thanks to Woolfenden's first-half header and substitute Jackson's late finish.
Woolfenden rose at the far post to head home a free-kick by Sam Morsy, while Jackson finished an incisive move involving Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin to leave Ipswich top of the early standings.
Town were on the front foot from the start in a frenetic opening.
Burns drove towards the Stoke goal in the second minute and let fly with a fierce shot from the edge of the area which was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Mark Travers.
A snapshot from Chaplin then flew past the left-hand post in the 18th minute.
Ipswich pressure finally told in the 23rd minute when Woolfenden directed a header inside the left post from Morsy's delivery after Enda Stevens had fouled Burns.
City manager Alex Neil made his first substitution in the 34th minute, replacing Wolves loanee Chiquinho with Brazilian forward Wesley, on loan from Aston Villa.
Stoke had their first attempt on goal in the 37th minute when Josh Laurent fired wide from range and Ipswich keeper Vaclav Hladky came to his side's rescue by first racing off his line to clear and then keeping the ball out with his trailing arm after Stevens had cut the ball back for Daniel Johnson.
Just before the break George Hirst's first-time effort on the run flew just past a post after he was picked out from a cross by Burns.
Ipswich defender Cameron Burgess deflected away a goalbound effort from Ben Pearson as Stoke pressed for an equaliser.
Hladky then deflected the ball behind following a shot by Ben Wilmot, while at the other end Travers parried a stinging effort from Chaplin.
Burns' low shot from the edge of the area was gathered at the second attempt by Travers and an angled effort from Hirst was beaten away.
Wesley's crisp, low shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Woolfenden, but Ipswich killed the game off in the 81st minute, Jackson on hand in the area to convert a cross from Burns.
Ipswich's Kieran McKenna:
"I thought it was a top performance, no doubt about it. I loved the way we stuck to our identity on and off the ball, we were brave in how we played. We played with the intensity, quality, the spirit, the resilience and the threat that we want to have and I thought it was an excellent performance in so many different ways. Of course there are areas to improve and we're learning from every game at the moment.
"We learnt an awful lot from Sunderland last week and we'll learn from this one again and look to improve. There's going to be spells every week because the level of opponents is so high and we're having to work hard. We're not going to be able to dominate games throughout the whole 90 minutes as we were at times last season, so there's going to be spells where we have to dig in. We have to put our bodies on the line and try and defend and block well and I thought what was really important was the way we kept playing. It wasn't about just digging in, it was our bravery on the ball that turned the game."
Stoke's Alex Neil:
"The first thing that you have got to do is give Ipswich credit. They were better than us in the game. I think that when you come to places like this that first game is a great party atmosphere. Everybody is at their peak, the team's been playing really well, they added a couple of bits and bobs throughout the summer to try and get them better and the first time we give the ball away cheaply on two separate occasions and what happens, the crowd gets up. What you need to do is to take the sting out of the game and you need to make sure you quieten the crowd and take the game away from them.
"But they were really brave, they went one for one all over the pitch and we lost, in the first half, pretty much every individual battle, whether it be a header, whether it be a tackle. I didn't think we passed the ball well enough and then I'm forced to make a change after 30 minutes because it looked like Ipswich were going to score another goal. I thought we started the second half better. I thought they wrestled back control of the game, we had two good chances at the start of the second half and then I thought the game ebbed and flowed, but for the last 20, 25 minutes I thought they were better and Ipswich deserved their win."
