When Ipswich Town last hosted Hull City in the Championship, the Tigers ran out as 3-0 winners in front of a crowd of 13,031 supporters. Tonight, the Blues picked up all three points against them with a 3-0 win of their own at Portman Road, with more than 27,000 fans in attendance.
Despite boasting an impressive start to the season and a strong away record, Liam Rosenior's side were comfortably beaten in Suffolk thanks to goals from Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Marcus Harness, moving the Blues back to the top of the table for the time being.
They came incredibly close to an early goal in Saturday’s draw against Huddersfield Town, with George Hirst heading the ball into the gloves of Lee Nicholls from point-blank range. This time, they were much more clinical, taking the lead after just six minutes.
A cross-field ball from Leif Davis looked to be heading for Conor Chaplin, but the attacking midfielder ducked out of the way, leaving it for Wes Burns to run in and smash the ball past Ryan Allsop to make it 1-0.
They really should’ve doubled their lead just five minutes later. Davis, once again, was the man to bring the ball forward, taking it to the edge of the area before firing a low cross into the box. It looked perfectly set for Marcus Harness to score a tap-in, but he couldn’t make contact with the ball.
Hull tried to push their way back into the game, but Town had the better chances. Sam Morsy, returning to the starting lineup after serving one-match suspension over the weekend, played a sensational pass over to Davis on the left flank. He, in turn, set up Harness, who twisted inside before firing a fierce effort at Allsop.
After a positive period from the visitors, Ipswich started to turn the swing the momentum back in their favour, leading to them doubling their lead three minutes before half-time.
Vaclav Hladky spun the ball past two onrushing Hull attackers, with the ball trickling out to Davis on the left. He used his pace to rush to the edge of the box yet once again, where he picked out Chaplin with a low cross. From there, he simply composed himself before curling a sensational left-footed strike into the top corner to make it 2-0.
A wayward effort from Aaron Connolly was the closest that the Tigers came in the early stages of the second half, but it reminded everyone that there was still work to be done and that the game was far from over. Hirst had a chance to make it more comfortable with a quick chance up the other end, but his low shot rolled into the gloves of Allsop.
A lengthy injury to Lewie Coyle saw him brought off before the hour-mark, but it also gave both sides a chance to reset. It was Town who looked the sharper of the two sides, coming closest when they worked a corner to Davis in the 62nd minute, allowing him to test Allsop with a powerful shot.
They put the game beyond all real doubt in the 65th minute when Hirst pounced on a long kick from Hladky, pushing past Alfie Jones, who tried to bundle him down. The striker rushed towards the left side of the box and cut inside, setting up Harness in the middle to bundle the ball over the line to make it 3-0.
The finale was, ultimately, fairly comfortable. Kieran McKenna waited to make any changes to his side, but ended up changing the front four by bringing on Omari Hutchinson, Freddie Ladapo, Kayden Jackson and Dane Scarlett at the end of the match.
Town fans were frustrated that their side wasn't awarded a penalty for a foul on Hutchinson by Dogukan Sinik, but it didn't stop them from pushing for more goals late on.
Seven minutes of stoppage time was expected, but by that point, the game was long since put to bed by Ipswich, who secured their biggest win of the season so far in emphatic style.
Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Hladky; Williams, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Davis; Morsy, Luongo (Taylor 90'); Burns (Jackson 80'), Chaplin (Hutchinson 80'), Harness (Scarlett 80'); Hirst (Ladapo 80')
Hull XI: 4-2-3-1: Allsopp; Christie, Jones, Greaves, Coyle (Vinagre 58'); Morton (McLoughlin 69'), Seri (Docherty 69'); Delap, Traore (Twince 46'), Philogene, Connolly (Sinik 68')
Attendance: 27,070 (553 away)
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