Ipswich Town booked their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, beating Premier League outfit Wolves 3-2 at Portman Road.
Despite fielding a side with 10 changes and falling 2-0 behind after just 15 minutes, the Blues struck back with goals from Omari Hutchinson, Freddie Ladapo and Jack Taylor, earning their place in the hat for tomorrow night's draw.
There was always going to be a danger in playing an established Premier League side, regardless of how many changes they made. The task always becomes harder with mistakes, and the Blues played themselves straight into trouble after Dom Ball took a heavy touch from a Wolves long-ball.
It allowed Sasa Kalajdzic to pounce, setting up Hwang Hee Chan down the left, who fired a powerful shot into the net off the gloves off Vaclav Hladky to give his side the lead after just four minutes.
The early goal took the sting out of the game, and while Town fans did well to drum up an atmosphere, the players looked rusty. It needed a moment of quality to bring it to life, and Hutchinson did his best to provide it by going on an impressive run through Wolves’ team. He eventually drew the foul from Boubacar Traore, who picked up a yellow card and gave away a free-kick.
The Chelsea loanee ended up taking the set piece, but his low effort smacked the ball before bouncing back to Lee Evans, who rifled the rebound into the palms of Dan Bentley in the 13th minute.
Wolves were quick to show their threat on the counter, rushing up the other end and winning a corner. Ipswich managed to clear the initial delivery, but couldn’t prevent the second from going in despite a fantastic save from Hladky to deny debutant Hugo Bueno. Toti was on hand to steer it in, putting the visitors into a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Town, of course, aren’t a team that will lie down and accept defeat, no matter how hopeless the situation looks. Brandon Williams' impressive lobbed pass played Taylor into space in the 23rd minute, allowing him to combine with Hutchinson and Freddie Ladapo before hitting the side netting with a long-range effort, winning a corner.
It was clear that they were growing into the game, and in the 28th minute, they found the back of the net. Good work from Kayden Jackson allowed Marcus Harness to slip Hutchinson clean through on goal with a superb pass, where the youngster picked up the ball and rattled a shot in off the post to halve the deficit.
It sparked the crowd and the players into life. Three minutes later, Ladapo picked up the ball down the left, shrugging off a Wolves defender before cutting inside and fizzing a powerful effort over the bar. A 34th-minute throw-in put Evans in a similar position, but the outcome was ultimately the same.
They kept coming. Ladapo drew a foul on the edge of the area 10 minutes before the half-time break, with Hutchinson clipping the wall from the resulting free-kick to win a corner. While Town failed to capitalise, it showed that they were capable of turning the tide.
Wolves eventually caved in under the pressure, and it was a throw-in in the 39th minute that undid them. Harness found space to set up Ladapo on the edge of the area, where he turned and shrugged off his man before firing a shot into the net off Bentley to equalise.
Ipswich almost let the visitors retake the lead shortly before half-time when Hladky picked up a back-pass from Dom Ball, forcing Sam Barrott to award an indirect free-kick. Hwang’s complaints about Town’s wall saw him given a yellow card, and when Wolves eventually got on with taking the set piece, it was easily cleared.
It was clear that Kieran McKenna had highlighted that the game was there for the taking. Harness took aim from the edge of the area just seconds after restart, where his shot deflected narrowly wide before Wolves cleared the resulting corner.
Wolves did well to halt Ipswich's momentum while fashioning chances of their own, but not even a Premier League defence could do anything about Taylor's rocket in the 58th minute that put the hosts back in front.
The midfielder picked up the ball around 25 yards out before adjusting himself and smashing an astonishing shot into the back of the net to make it 3-2.
Everyone expected an onslaught from Wolves towards the end, but it never really came. In fact, Ipswich created the better chances while standing strong at the back.
Even with five minutes of added time, Town stood strong and limited their opponents to very little time in the final third, grinding out a win to send them into the fourth round of the competition for the first time since 2011.
Town XI: Hladky; Ball, Edmundson, Baggott, Williams; Evans, Taylor (Luongo 81'); Jackson (Burns 81'), Harness (Aluko 70'), Hutchinson (Humphreys 70'); Ladapo (Hirst 70')
Attendance: 20,236
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