Ipswich Town 5-0 Sheffield United: Blades Suffer Embarrassing Second Half Collapse | OneFootball

Ipswich Town blew Sheffield United away at Portman Road on Friday evening by a whopping 5-0 score line.

Jaden Philogene got the scoring underway with huge help from a 40-yard deflection which sent the winger one-vs-one with Ben Godfrey before striking home into the bottom corner.

He added another a few minutes into the second half when Godfrey allowed him to cut inside again, this time firing into the bottom left corner. George Hirst got in on the act after being aided by another ricochet. Philogene completed his hat-trick with a stunning left-footed strike into the top right corner. With a little over ten minutes left on the clock, the Blades players seemed to freeze, particularly Godfrey, and allowed Jack Clarke to ghost past him and pass the ball under Michael Cooper.

Ruben Selles made two huge calls for this one as he dropped Gustavo Hamer and Tyrese Campbell to the bench, introducing Alex Matos to the team and Mark McGuinness, who started instead of Tyler Bindon. Tom Cannon lead the line.

Lineups

Ipswich: Palmer, Furlong, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Matuswia, Cajuste (Szmodics 62), McAteer (Walle Egeli 71), Akpom (Nunez 62), Philogene (Clarke 71), Hirst (Azon 71).

Unused: Walton, Johnson, Kipre, Taylor.

Blades: Cooper, Tanganga, Godfrey (Seriki 83), Cannon (Campbell 62), O’Hare, Brooks (Chong 62), Burrows, McGuinness, Barry (Hamer 62), Matos (Soumaré 62), Peck.

Unused: A. Davies, McCallum, Mee, Oné, Seriki.

First Half

The Blades began with good intent, forcing an early corner from which Japhet Tanganga looked a genuine threat, while Harrison Burrows’ deliveries continued to trouble the Ipswich defence. Twice, Tanganga rose highest but couldn’t find the target.

George Hirst and Chuba Akpom both went close to turning in a trademark cross from Leif Davis, serving a sharp warning of what was to come.

The breakthrough arrived on 21 minutes in cruel fashion for the visitors. Alex Matos, making his Blades debut, saw a blocked attempt deflect kindly into the path of Jaden Philogene, who calmly finished to put Town in front.

United ended the half with five efforts on goal but, crucially, none on target. Their wastefulness contrasted sharply with Ipswich’s cutting edge.

Second Half

IPSWICH, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 12: Jack Clarke of Ipswich Town celebrates scoring his team’s fifth goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Sheffield United at Portman Road on September 12, 2025 in Ipswich, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

After the break, Callum O’Hare found space after being picked out by Sydie Peck, but his strike from 20 yards failed to trouble goalkeeper Alex Palmer. Just minutes later, Philogene seized control of proceedings. Driving in from the left flank against Godfrey, he rifled home a superb second to double Ipswich’s lead.

Tom Cannon briefly threatened a Blades revival, forcing Palmer into a sharp stop at his near post, but more dreadful defending just past the hour mark allowed George Hirst to slip free inside the area. From a tight angle, he squeezed the ball through Michael Cooper’s legs for 3-0.

Ruben Selles reacted with a quadruple substitution, sending on Gustavo Hamer and Tyrese Campbell among others. The changes made little difference. Philogene completed his hat-trick in thunderous style, smashing a left-footed strike into the top corner from 20 yards with just over 20 minutes remaining.

The final insult came late on. Substitute Jack Clarke breezed past Ben Godfrey with embarrassing ease, nutmegging Cooper to become the second Ipswich player of the night to beat the Blades keeper in that fashion.

Sheffield United have now lost five straight games at the start of the season for only the second time in an EFL campaign, the first being in the 1995/96 second tier season.

The Blades are bottom of the league and pointless with a -11 goal difference. This huge loss also means that Sheffield United have already conceded a third of their goals from last season’s Championship season in only five games – 12 goals conceded in 5 games, as opposed to 36 goals conceded in 46 games last season.