Ipswich hapless as West Brom make hard work of win

West Brom made hard work of their win at Ipswich Town as the Championships bottom side showed little sign of improving their position this season.

Both managers decided to field unchanged sides from thier last outings, putting faith in those who have recently struggled to turn it around.

West Brom started the game on the front foot, with former Southampton and Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez heading over the bar in the opening minutes after a set piece routine. Ipswich central defender Matthew Pennington went into the book just 11 minutes into the game after downing Hal Robson-Kanu when the West Brom striker seemed to get away from him.

Both teams struggled to take control of the game in the first 20 minutes, as both sets of forwards earned very few touches of the ball.

West Brom took the lead in the 26th minutes as Rodriguez lashed the ball into the net from just inside the six yard box from Kieran Gibbs header back across goal. Ipswich’s static defending giving Rodriguez one of the easiest goals he will get all season.

West Brom looked comfortable from that moment onwards, as Ipswich failed to threaten their opponents at all in the first half despite the hard work of Freddie Sears in particular. As the half drew to a close, West Brom had a chance to double the lead as Harvey Barnes burst down the wing and squared for Rodriguez who slammed his shot against Trevoh Chalobah just inside the area.

Neither side made any changes in the first half, but Ipswich threatened immediately as Jordan Roberts showed the desire and quality to lift the home fans. Ipswich laid on an onslaught of the West Brom goal, but the end product was missing.

The hour mark approached and Harvey Barnes hit the post after Matt Phillips made a mockery of Pennington’s defending. Ted Bishop replaced Flynn Downes just after the hour mark, with the Ipswich fans praising the introduction of the 22 year old.

West Brom nearly doubled their lead when Bartosz Bialkowski dropped the ball from a soft header towards goal but the referee blew for a foul to save the keeper’s blushes. Jay Rodriguez soon wasted another golden chance as he worked his way into the box, but delayed his shot as the Ipswich defence recovered.

Darren Moore and West Brom looked to kill the game off by introducing Dwight Gayle into the mix, replacing the industrious Hal Robson-Kanu.

West Brom have scored the more goals in the final 15 minutes than anyone else in the league this season, and they continued that trend as they broke away with pace from an Ipswich corner, Matt Phillips playing in Harvey Barnes and the youngster cut in on his left foot and finish with aplomb into the bottom corner, with Bialkowski beaten at his front post.

The visitors have also struggled to keep clean sheets, and that struggle continued as Ipswich got themselves back into the game with five minutes to go, as a Tosin Adarabioyo error allowed Kaydon Jackson to slot into the net to make it 2-1.

Ipswich tried desperately to grab an equaliser, as they put the West Brom defence under immense pressure in injury time, goalkeeper Bialkowski spending the last few minutes in the West Brom penalty area. But it wasn’t to be, the final whistle went and Ipswich fell to yet another home defeat.

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