Hull City 0-2 Ipswich Town: FLW report as Tractor Boys see off Tigers with strong second-half display | OneFootball

FLW report live from the MKM Stadium for this midweek Championship clash

Ipswich Town made it three away wins on the spin with a 2-0 success against Hull City at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday night.

After a lacklustre first-half display from both sides, Town turned the screw in the final 25 minutes to climb into the play-off places ahead of Wednesday's Championship fixtures.

Marcelino Nunez opened the deadlock on 69 minutes with a smart header from Jaden Philogene's teasing cross, with the aforementioned winger one of three players returning to their former stomping ground.

Another of those and fellow substitute, Chuba Akpom, then turned home his first goal for the Tractor Boys five minutes later, whilst those in black and amber appealed for offside against the former Hull loanee.

Hull City 0-2 Ipswich Town

After an extremely tepid opening 12 minutes, Joe Gelhardt looked to make it nine goals for the season through a speculative strike with Christian Walton off his line, although the effort would lack the desired accuracy.

The game would follow a similar pattern for a vast majority of the half, with both the Tigers and Tractor Boys lacking any form of cutting edge and control. As it went, a fine stop from the Ipswich keeper from a neat Ndala strike inside the box kept the score deadlocked 16 minutes later.

Kyle Joseph then went in search of the opener on the half-hour mark, eventually dragging his low effort wide after dwelling on the ball for one second too long.

Kasey McAteer fired Town's first meaningful effort over Pandur's net five minutes later, with the Irishman's attempt coming after strong pressure on Charlie Hughes from himself and Nunez.

Gelhardt then worked another shooting opportunity for himself after drifting infield minutes before the break, although it would, once again, cause Walton little worry.

Jack Clarke was then unable to register his third career goal against Hull in the last half-chance of a sluggish first 45 minutes, with the Ipswich winger's low strike marshalled well by Sergej Jakirovic's rearguard.

Five minutes after the break, City supporters and players were left aggrieved by Lewis Smith's decision to wave away two strong penalty appeals amid claims that Gelhardt was felled by Leif Davis before a handball case against Azor Matusiwa.

Nunez then had Pandur on red alert with an improvised effort from 20 yards that was sent towards the Croatian's left side after neat work from Clarke. The Chilean then had another opportunity on 65 minutes after latching onto a McAteer through ball before a smart block from Charlie Hughes wiped out any danger.

Two minutes later, the hosts squandered a strong chance to take the lead, with a scramble on the edge of Ipswich's box falling to Darko Gyabi, who blazed over the bar from 18 yards.

However, Nunez's endeavour would eventually pay off 21 minutes from time, with the summer signing netting his third goal since moving from local rivals, Norwich City, as he was left unmarked inside the box to nod home Philogene's inswinging delivery, just three minutes after the winger entered the fray against his former employers.

Hull almost shot themselves in the foot just three minutes afterwards, with Nunez firing straight into Pandur's hands after a quick counter-attack, before the City keeper was able to tip a fierce Darnell Furlong drive past the post.

Town would double their advantage from the resulting corner though. Pandur was able to save Dara O'Shea's initial header before Akpom netted his first goal since his summer switch from Ajax, tapping home at the back post amid major offside appeals from all of a Hull persuasion.

Philogene almost made it a perfect return to HU3 on an individual level, smacking the post 10 minutes from time after bursting away from Hull substitute, Cody Drameh.

The Tigers looked to reduce the deficit in the final minutes, with a powerful Gyabi effort turned behind for a corner through a brave O'Shea header.

However, they were unable to score for just the third time under Jakirovic and have dropped to eighth amid a run of three defeats in four games, whilst Kieran McKenna's side moved up to fourth, as they extended their unbeaten streak to six outings.

Player Ratings

Hull City

Ivor Pandur - 6.5

Lewie Coyle - 7 (Drameh 78" - 6)

Semi Ajayi - 6.5

Charlie Hughes - 6.5

Ryan Giles - 6

Regan Slater - 6.5

Amir Hadziahmetovic - 6 (Belloumi 64" - 6)

Joe Gelhardt - 7

Darko Gyabi - 6.5

Joel Ndala - 6.5 (Destan 64" - 6)

Kyle Joseph - 6 (Akintola 78" - 6)

Unused Subs: Dillon Phillips, Brandon Williams, Cathal McCarthy, Akin Famewo

Ipswich Town

Christian Walton - 6.5

Darnell Furlong - 7

Dara O'Shea - 7.5

Jacob Greaves - 7.5

Leif Davis - 7.5

Jens Cajuste - 6.5 (Taylor 46" - 7)

Azor Matusiwa - 7.5

Kasey McAteer - 6.5 (Egeli 67" - 6)

Marcelino Nunez - 8 (Johnson 83" - 6)

Jack Clarke - 6 (Philogene 66" - 7.5)

George Hirst - 6 (Akpom 67" - 7)

Unused Subs: David Button, Cedric Kipre, Ashley Young, Ivan Azon

Hull City vs Ipswich Town Attendance

The attendance at the MKM Stadium for this Championship clash was 21,271.

Sergej Jakirovic reacts as Hull City defeated by Ipswich Town

Reacting to a second-straight defeat, Jakirovic began: "I can split the game into two parts.

"Until the 70th minute, we were very good. We played well against a very good team, and we expected they would play like this because they have a lot of possession. We tried to stop them doing this by changing our pressing with two wingers, one striker and two eights.

"We, especially in the first half, stopped them completely, because they didn't have a shot inside the box.

"Unfortunately we didn't finish some good counter-attacks, maybe down to a lack of a good pass, first touch or a better decision or to shoot with more precision," he added.

The second half was a tactical battle. For me, the crucial moment is 0-1," the Bosnian claimed. "We must defend this. It wasn't a sharp cross, and we are in full defence.

"We trained for those situations, so it is even more painful for everyone.

"Congratulations to Ipswich for the three points, and we have to move forward.

Kieran McKenna's verdict as Ipswich Town see off Hull City

After seeing his side emerge victorious for the fourth time in six games, McKenna's verdict began: "I thought we showed the qualities you need on nights like this.

"Games in the Championship, midweek, on a difficult surface. Both teams struggled to get to grips with it in the first-half.

"We showed some good learning as a group. In times like the first-half, when it's not perfect and we couldn't get the control we wanted, you have to stay intense and together, you're defensive organisation needs to be good and I thought it was," the Town boss added.

"I thought we pressed really well all night and made it hard for Hull to build. They've been a really good attacking force and we stopped them playing through the pitch.

"Mentality at half-time was good. I knew we could push on in the game," he explained. "Improved in the second half, found our rhythm and adjusted to the conditions better.

"Then, you see with the first goal, what a big difference. The confidence grows within the team and the opponent gives you more space and stops defending quite as hard.

"From that moment on, we looked like we could score any number of goals, and we still kept our defensive resilience.

"We knew it wasn't perfect tonight. But, one of the biggest learnings for us and the club over the last month or two, as a group, is it isn't going to be perfect.