Championship match report: Ipswich Town 3-1 Birmingham City

They took the lead through Conor Chaplin's clever flick, but they were pegged back just 15 minutes later as Jordan James converted from close range. It looked as if the visitors would be able to grind out a draw in Suffolk, but substitutes Jeremy Sarmiento and Omari Hutchinson both struck late on to seal three points.

Although Birmingham spent most of the opening few minutes passing around the final third, Ipswich had the first chance of the game. Axel Tuanzebe charged down a loose ball down the right, allowing Wes Burns to cross for Nathan Broadhead in the centre of the box. His shot deflected out for a corner, which Massimo Luongo fired into an offside position.

Wes Burns came off with an injury in the first half of the game (Image: Steve Waller)

The fifth minute marked a period of applause for Town legend and current Birmingham boss Tony Mowbray, who was absent from the touchline due to illness. The hosts built off the energy from the crowd and broke down the right, with Burns’ low cross bouncing off Marc Roberts before it could reach Kieffer Moore.

Moore had another opportunity to score soon after as he was played into the box, but he fired well over the bar from close range. It was clear that Ipswich were turning the screw.

Chaplin had a chance to test former Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy in the 10th minute of the game, but his tame strike rolled slowly into his gloves as Birmingham tried to slow down the tempo of the game.

Conor Chaplin's flick fired Ipswich ahead just after the half-hour mark (Image: Stephen Waller)

Kieran McKenna’s side kept coming, although they struggled to get on the end of their chances. That was until the 18th minute, when Chaplin met Leif Davis’ corner with a diving header, forcing a superb save from Ruddy to keep the scores level.

An injury to Burns saw him brought off in the 20th minute, with Hutchinson brought on as his replacement. The Chelsea loanee helped Ipswich find the breakthrough in the 31st minute, crossing to Sam Morsy on the edge of the box. The captain took aim, but his effort flew towards Chaplin, who improvised with a flick to fire the ball past Ruddy, making it 1-0 despite shouts for offside from the visitors.

Instead of pushing for a second goal, Birmingham ended up growing into the game, and they bagged their equaliser in first-half stoppage time as Koji Miyoshi found space to cross for James, who rifled a powerful strike into the net from close range to make it 1-1. Ipswich tried to respond straight from the restart, but Broadhead fired into the side netting from the left side of the box.

Jordan James celebrated in front of the Town fans after equalising at Portman Road (Image: Ross Halls)

Ipswich started fast after the break, and they could've been awarded a spot-kick when Chaplin was brought down by Andre Dozzell inside the box. Tuanzebe came close from a corner soon after, easing the pressure on the visitors.

The game became scrappy, which played against Town as they pushed to go back ahead. The introduction of Jeremy Sarmiento added some flair on the left, although it came at a cost, with Broadhead withdrawn through injury. Hutchinson was able to test Ruddy with a curling effort from the right in the 67th minute, but the goalkeeper parried it away from danger.

Even as Ipswich dominated possession, Birmingham always posed a threat. They came close to taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining as Jay Stansfield weaved into the box, forcing a good save from Vaclav Hladky before substitute Juninho Bacuna overhit the resulting corner.

Jeremy Sarmiento put Town back ahead in the 81st minute (Image: Stephen Waller)

Up the other end, Hutchinson set up Morsy for a strike from distance, but Ruddy dived to keep it out.

Just when it looked like the visitors would be able to see out the draw, Town sprung to life. Hutchinson was clever to spot Tuanzebe's overlap down the right, setting up Sarmiento for a close-range finish to put his side back into the lead.

With six minutes added on, there were fears that Birmingham had enough time to find another equaliser, but it the fourth goal of the game went the other way as Moore flicked a throw-in into the path of Hutchinson, who raced through on goal and slotted past Ruddy to wrap up the win in the 92nd minute.

Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Hladky; Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Burns (Hutchinson 20’), Chaplin (Harness 89'), Broadhead (Sarmiento 62'); Moore

Birmingham XI: 4-2-3-1: Ruddy; Drameh (Gardner 86'), Roberts, Sanderson (Jutkiewicz 89'), Laird; Dozzell (Sunjic 63'), Paik (Bacuna 63'); Miyoshi, Roberts (Dembele 63'), James; Stansfield

Attendance: 29,363 (1,979 away)