14 September 2024
Brighton 0 Ipswich Town 0
Brighton welcomed Ipswich Town to the Amex Stadium with in-form striker Joao Pedro ruled out due to injury. The Tractor Boys were still searching for their first win in the Premier League since their surprise back-to-back promotions. Fabian Hurzeler was celebrating having won the manager of the month award for their start to the season.
While the hosts have had a seeming merry-go-round of managers over the last few years, the one constant seems to be their style of football. They look to play a passing game, utilising width and pace. One thing you cannot deny, they have plenty of quality in the wide areas and can cause any side problems.
The first chance of the game came when Baleba did well to pull down a bouncing ball in the middle of the park. He managed to create enough space to get a shot away but Muric got down well to make a save in the bottom corner. Even at this early stage you felt the Ipswich keeper would have to be on form if his side were to get anything from this game.
Baleba was pulling all the strings in the midfield and the visitors did not seem to have an answer to him. He fed the ball out to Minteh out wide, who clipped in a cross to the far post. The evergreen Danny Welbeck rose to head it but once again Muric was alert to the danger and made a smart save at his near post.
Minteh then cut inside from the right and fed the ball into the path of Rutter. He showed composure as he side-stepped the defender before getting his shot away. Muric made another good stop but what was more impressive was how quickly he got to his feet to deny Mitoma from the follow-up. Brighton could not believe that they had failed to score.
Ipswich Town were struggling to create anything in the attacking third. They were having to cope with wave after wave of Brighton attacks. It seemed more a case of Kieran McKenna’s side having to dig in and stay in this game. Newly promoted sides know how defence is key to adapting to the demands of the top-flight.
After the interval The Seagulls continued to press. Mitoma and Welbeck combined well before Rutter got a shot off at goal. Ipswich were throwing bodies on the line and fortunately for the visitors the block saw his effort deflected wide for a corner. You wondered just how much longer the Tractor Boys could keep the scores level at this stage.
Baleba then played a superb pass through the middle of the visitors’ midfield. Ayari made a beeline towards goal before being bundled over by Phillips. As the midfielder looked up at the official, he gestured that he should show the Ipswich midfielder a yellow card. The referee duly obliged and cautioned the Man City loanee.
This is what infuriates football fans. The consistency of the officials in the Premier League is like the personality of a schizophrenic. They brought in a rule that asking for a booking for an opponent would get the offending player booked but nothing of the sort happened here. Howard Webb is nothing more than a ringmaster for a circus of clowns currently.
It is not surprising really as when he was refereeing himself, he fell into the category of officials who wanted to be the centre of attention rather than the football. Having him head up this PGMOL committee, where he gets to appear on TV every week analysing errors, seems like giving a Love Island contestant the task of reading the evening news.
Welbeck stepped up to take the free kick and looked to bend one in the far corner. Muric was scrambling across his goal as it narrowly missed the far post. Whiskers away from giving The Seagulls the lead. His effort had some bend on it but just not enough to sneak inside the upright. The hosts were knocking on the door once again.
As an attack broke down for the hosts, Delap picked up the ball in his own half. With no support in front of him, the former Man City man ran for goal himself. As he got into the box, the angle was tight. Despite this, he managed to get a shot away, which smashed against the post and came back out into play. So close to stealing the game for Ipswich Town.
A loose pass from a Brighton corner gifted the ball to Hutchinson. He used his pace to run at the scrambling Seagulls’ defence and skipped past challenges. As he got into the box, he only had one thing on his mind with no support whatsoever. Unfortunately for McKenna’s side he did not get the cleanest connection and it was a simple save for the keeper.
Ferguson almost won the game for the hosts as he tried his luck from outside the box. His curling effort had Muric scrambling across his goal but the effort narrowly missed the far post. It would have been no more than Brighton had deserved but they just could not find that elusive goal and the points were shared. Ipswich Town will take a lot of positives from this game, grinding out an important point.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.