\n The Blues offered little going forward over the course of the 90 minutes (Image: Steve Waller)\n<\/p>\n
\n PROMOTION HOPES DENTED\n<\/p>\n
\n This was a huge opportunity for Ipswich.\n<\/p>\n
\n Unbeaten in nine, the Blues came into it off the back of a 2-0 win against Norwich City in the East Anglian derby at Carrow Road.\n<\/p>\n
\n A win at Fratton Park would\u2019ve put Town five points clear of Millwall in third, meaning that a maximum of seven points would\u2019ve been required for promotion.\n<\/p>\n
\n But it wasn\u2019t to be. Goals from Conor Shaughnessy and Colby Bishop were the difference on the South Coast. Town were really, really poor. Pompey secured their first home victory since January 31st \u2013 their last three wins have come against Millwall, Middlesbrough and Ipswich.\n<\/p>\n
\n The result doesn\u2019t obliterate the Blues\u2019 promotion hopes, but there\u2019s no denying that this is a blow in their bid for a top-two finish and a tough pill to swallow.\n<\/p>\n
\n Town conceded twice in two minutes on the South Coast (Image: Steve Waller)\n<\/p>\n
\n TWO-MINUTE COLLAPSE\n<\/p>\n
\n Ipswich certainly weren\u2019t great in the first half. They created very little and allowed Portsmouth to grow into game as the half wore on. The Blues did have spells on the ball, however, where they tried to work chances and showcased their attacking prowess, even if there were no real chances.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Kieran McKenna\u2019s men threw away their strong position in two minutes of madness before half-time.\n<\/p>\n
\n The opener came after a positive period from Portsmouth \u2013 John Swift and Millenic Alli both with good opportunities to score. Then came a corner in the 42nd minute, from Terry Devlin\u2019s right-sided cross.\n<\/p>\n
\n Adrian Segecic\u2019s delivery was good, but the ball never should\u2019ve ended up in the net. George Hirst let Shaughnessy \u2013 Pompey\u2019s biggest set piece threat \u2013 force his way into the centre of the box to head into the net. It simply wasn\u2019t good enough.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dara O\u2019Shea or Jacob Greaves should\u2019ve been tasked with marking him instead.\n<\/p>\n
\n The second goal was a mess. Ipswich should\u2019ve expected Andre Dozzell\u2019s cross to go deep into the penalty area, but they ended up freezing as Marlon Pack challenged for the initial ball, allowing Swift to have two bites of the cherry before Bishop finished the chance.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was gifted it.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ipswich’s substitutes failed to change the game after the break (Image: Steve Waller)\n<\/p>\n
\n COMEBACK? NO CHANCE\n<\/p>\n
\n Town were comeback kings in 2023\/24. Since then? Just one win from behind, against Birmingham City on Easter Monday.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the 3-3 draw at Stoke City showed that Ipswich have it in them to take on a two-goal deficit. Yet here, Portsmouth looked more likely to nab a third than Ipswich did to get one back.\n<\/p>\n
\n It became clear by the 58th minute that the players on the pitch didn\u2019t have it in them to get the job done. That’s when Jaden Philogene and Anis Mehmeti were introduced, and both looked lively, but they lacked the end product and the support to make anything happen.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben Johnson was brought on at the same time, in place of Darnell Furlong. However, he played at left-back, with the rest of the defence shifting to the right \u2013 Jacob Greaves at left centre-back, Cedric Kipre at right centre-back and Dara O\u2019Shea at right-back. The change made it really hard for Ipswich to build from the back.\n<\/p>\n
\n Chuba Akpom and Sindre Walle Egeli came on later in the match to make up an ultra-attacking lineup, but they did little to scare Portsmouth. The Blues\u2019 first shot on target came in the 67th minute. Their best chance was an O\u2019Shea header cleared off the line at the very end.\n<\/p>\n
\n Pompey were better than Town in every department as they boosted their survival hopes (Image: Steve Waller)\n<\/p>\n
\n WHY IT WENT WRONG\n<\/p>\n
\n In the cramped Fratton Park press box, I was sat in front of Ipswich\u2019s analysts for the whole game and got to hear exactly what was said. It’d probably be an understatement to say that they were unhappy with what the players served up.\n<\/p>\n
\n This will go down as one of the worst performances of the campaign, alongside the 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers and the 5-3 defeat to Wrexham. Portsmouth played well, but the Blues made them look like they were the team pushing for Premier League football.\n<\/p>\n
\n Why? There was definitely a bit of a hangover from win against Norwich. The players looked tired, while Pompey looked fresh and energetic despite the round trip to Middlesbrough over the weekend.\n<\/p>\n
\n Leif Davis was a big miss. The left-back missed the game following the birth of his child. In his absence, Greaves\u2019 marauding runs up the flank offered no threat. In hindsight, Johnson should\u2019ve started in that role instead.\n<\/p>\n
\n Azor Matusiwa\u2019s fitness was also a concern. His dead leg, picked up against Birmingham, is clearly still an issue. He was moving gingerly at Carrow Road and looked even more immobile here, often leaving loose balls as they fell in front of him or cautiously tracking down opponents, rather than playing with tenacity and aggression.\n<\/p>\n
\n It wasn\u2019t just him. Dan Neil offered little. Jack Clarke gave the ball away countless times. Marcelino Nunez was ineffective. George Hirst couldn\u2019t make anything stick. The substitutes were incapable of changing the game.\n<\/p>\n
\n Portsmouth were better in every department, especially going forward.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ipswich return to Portman Road to host Middlesbrough on Sunday (Image: Steve Waller)\n<\/p>\n
\n THE STATE OF PLAY\n<\/p>\n
\n Ipswich remain in second place, two points clear Millwall. The Lions have a favourable run-in, however.\n<\/p>\n
\n Southampton are now up to fourth, one point behind Alex Neil\u2019s side, after beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0. Still to host the Blues and in remarkable form, they will fancy themselves to win their remaining games and sneak into second.\n<\/p>\n
\n Middlesbrough drop to fifth ahead of their trip to Portman Road on Sunday. Defeat against Town would surely end their bid for automatic promotion, now winless in six (D3, L3).\n<\/p>\n
\n Ipswich do have a game in hand on all three promotion rivals and their fate remains in their own hands, but there\u2019s little margin for error now. The odds of winning their remaining five games might be slim, but any dropped points could be fatal.\n<\/p>\n
\n The door is ajar for someone to take second place away from Town. They need to slam it shut as quickly as possible.\n<\/p>\n
\n Maybe this result is the reality check Ipswich need. They won\u2019t coast to promotion and they do have to work hard to win games. Recent performances haven\u2019t been great, despite their form, and they were made to pay this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Blues offered little going forward over the course of the 90 minutes (Image: Steve Waller) PROMOTION HOPES…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-531800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}