Abdul Fatawu made his first Town appearance (Image: Ross Halls)
TEAM NEWS
Alex Palmer started in goal, playing behind a back line of Harry Clarke, Dara O’Shea, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis.
Marcelino Nunez partnered Cam Humphreys in midfield, with Anis Mehmeti in the no.10 role flanked by new man Abdul Fatawu and Jack Clarke.
Emersonn led the line as a lone no.9.
Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Palmer (Van Oevelen 62′); H. Clarke (Furlong 62′), O’Shea (Kipre 62′), Greaves (Mthunzi 62′), Davis (Johnson 62′); Humphreys (Ogbene 62′), Nunez (Compton 62′); Fatawu (Burns 46′), Mehmeti (Walle Egeli 62′), J. Clarke (McAteer 62′); Emersonn (Akpom 46′, Hirst 76′)
Osasuna XI: 3-5-2: Herrera (Fernandez 46′); Arguibide (Herrando 46′), Catena (Torro 46′), Santos (Garcia 46′); Benito (Kepa 65′), Munoz (Gomez 46′), Moncayola (Moro 46′), Auria (Bretones 46′), Morales (Mauro 46′); Barja (Osambele 46′), Garcia (Bonel 46′)
Osasuna looked a step ahead of the Blues in the first 45 minutes (Image: Ross Halls)
OSASUNA THE SHARPER
Debutant Fatawu was lively at the start of the game, wining a free-kick down the right. Nunez’s delivery found O’Shea in the box, but he headed wide.
Osasuna were more clinical up the other end, however, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute. A cross from the right found Raul in the box, with the striker forcing Palmer into a good save before Auria fired into the back of an empty net.
Like Saturday’s draw against Cartagena, this one quickly became scrappy. Iker Munoz was given a yellow card for pulling back Fatawu’s shirt in midfield in the 16th minute, with O’Shea joining him in the book for a similar challenge on Kike Barja.
Town became sloppy around the half-hour mark. Moncayola was afforded far too much space to take aim from the edge of the area, but Palmer got down quickly to deny him.
The shot-stopper was tested a few seconds later when the Blues gave the ball away in midfield, with Raul firing low towards the bottom corner – denied again.
Brazilian striker Emersonn was left isolated in his 45 minutes on the pitch (Image: Ross Halls)
A MIXED BAG
A bit like the Cartagena clash, the first half felt very scrappy. This isn’t Ipswich at their best, with everyone on the same wavelength and at their physical best.
There were positives. Fatawu looked sharp, and was undoubtedly the stand-out of the outfield players. He looked keen to make a strong first impression, although not everything he tried worked out.
Out of possession, he stayed wide and dropped deep at times, with Harry Clarke coming narrow alongside him. When Town had the ball, he played a free-roaming role, drifting in and out of his natural position, similar to Mehmeti.
Fellow new signing Emersonn was more involved in the game than he was against Cartagena, but still felt really isolated in attack. It still feels like Town aren’t doing enough to support him, although it’s a small sample size.
Chuba Akpom equalised with a well-taken goal (Image: Ross Halls)
CLEAR IMPROVEMENT
Manager Gary O’Neil was more animated on the touchline after the restart, and his team reacted well. They created a great chance in the 50th minute, with Jack Clarke cutting in off the left onto his right foot and slotting a ball into the box for half-time sub Chuba Akpom, who forced Osasuna’s substitute ‘keeper Aitor Fernandez into a good save.
He couldn’t deny Akpom a second time, however. A stunning pass from deep saw O’Shea cut out Osasuna’s entire team. The former Ajax man beat the offside trap, leaping up to make contact with the ball and prod it into the net to equalise in the 54th minute.
The substitutes came around six minutes later. On came Kayne van Oevelen, Darnell Furlong, Cedric Kipre, Corbin Mthunzi, Ben Johnson, Charlei Compton, Chiedozie Ogbene, Sindre Walle Egeli and Kasey McAteer. Hirst was introduced around 15 minutes later.
The substitutions killed the momentum a bit, not helped by the fact that Osasuna changed 10 players at the interval, who didn’t do much to inspire their new manager.
The only exception was Raul Moro. In the 82nd minute, a corner from the left was cleared out as far as the former Ajax man just outside the box. He brought the ball down and fired a stunning strike into the top corner off the crossbar.
Even a few Ipswich fans had to stand up and applaud his winning goal.
Gary O’Neil made wholesale changes around the hour-mark (Image: Ross Halls)
SECOND HALF OBSERVATIONS
Chalk and cheese between the first half and the second half. Town looked fired up, aggressive and ready to impress after the interval. It was a significant step-up.
The big talking point has to be Akpom. Has he given O’Neil something to think about? He’ll need to build on this to stand any chance of being involved in the squad next season, but he took his goal very well and was unlucky not to have a brace.
It felt like the starting XI was growing into the game when they were all brought up. Those who came on just weren’t able to hold the same tempo.
It was interesting to see the formation shift to a 4-1-4-1. Compton played as the lone midfielder and really impressed me, while Ogbene played a narrower role on the left next to Walle Egeli.
Does the result matter? Ultimately, it was a match decided by a bolt from the blue. Ipswich’s performance over the course of the 90 did little to get the pulses racing, and they will need to up the pace soon.
But this was another important run out as we creep ever closer to opening day.