Three points in the bag for Ipswich but should the scoreline have been a wider margin?
Ipswich Town and Portsmouth players take to the pitch for the Championship game at Portman Road. Photo: Russell Cook.
Ipswich will be delighted with their 2-1 victory over Portsmouth at Portman Road this afternoon (Saturday, September 27) but that will be clouded in some disappointment that the scoreline wasn’t bigger.
Town had the greater number of chances and shots at goal but only came away with the strikes from Jaden Philogene and George Hirst.
They also conceeded late on to a Marlon Pack header from a Portsmouth corner.
But it’s three points in the bag and the Super Blues climb up the Championship ladder to 12th spot … three points off the top six and with the game in hand from last week’s abandoned Blackburn Rovers match.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna said it felt like a “dominant performance” from his team and the win was a “good one”.
Meanwhile, Pompey’s head coach John Mousinho said the result was “really disappointing” but was pleased with the team’s second half performance.
Philogene, who netted a hat trick in the previous home encounter against Sheffield United, struck in the ninth minute and Hirst four minutes before the break.
Sandwiched between those goals was a huge chance for Portsmouth, which saw Alex Palmer foil on-loan Tottenham winger Yang Min-Hyeok in a one-on-one.
Ivan Azon hit the post late on as the hosts pressed for a third, before Marlon Pack pulled a goal back in stoppage time.
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk: “It felt like a pretty dominant performance, and we were two ahead for a large part of the game and looking like the more likely team to get the third goal.
“It’s important to keep building these blocks with performances and results, so whichever way the scoreline comes, as long as we got the win today it’s a good one.
“There were some good things in the performance and some things to improve – to go and actually turn the control and domination in the game into a scoreline where the game is done, because at 2-0 it is never done.”
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent: “The result is really disappointing. the performance was a contrast in the two halves, and that is the frustrating thing – we waited to go 2-0 down to really play.
“Or at least 1-0 down, because once we went a goal down we settled into the game and we were fine in the first half.
“We had a really good chance to level things up and a couple of opportunities on the break, but we probably lacked that belief to actually put the ball in the back of the net or create a little more going forward
“We got on the ball a lot more in the second half and we showed we can play and were much better.”