Cats fight back to claim a draw – but is it enough?
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Sunderland fought back from a first-half deficit to earn a hard-earned point at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.
Results elsewhere meant that Lee Johnson’s side lost ground on the current top two, but it was also a draw that looked like it could be beyond them at the interval.
Ipswich Town had taken a well-deserved lead through James Norwood’s headed goal in seven minutes of stoppage time, before excellent play from Dan Neil and Nathan Broadhead saw the latter equalise early in the second half.
There was little between the two sides thereafter, and following some promising breaks the Black Cats rode out some late pressure to extend their unbeaten run in the league to seven games.
Johnson had been handed a boost in the build-up to the game, Lynden Gooch passed fit, allowing the Sunderland head coach to name an unchanged side for the fourth league game in a row.
Right from the off, though, some of the issues from games earlier in the campaign were becoming apparent.
An extensive PR campaign had seen Ipswich sell out Portman Road for the game, and the home side stepped up for the occasion.
They pressed aggressively and got the ball forward quickly, James Norwood a powerful foil for the players around him to work off.
Sunderland were struggling to get hold of the ball, and were fortunate that when Wes Burns burst into the box after a clever 1-2 with Norwood, he could only fire wide of the near post.
The Tractor Boys’ wingback was causing constant problems for the Black Cats with his powerful running, and should have had an assist shortly afterwards when
he broke in behind Gooch and burst past Callum Doyle.
His cross to the back post was a good one, but fellow wing-back Matt Penney could only fire over the bar as he met the ball on the halfvolley.
Sunderland did show one or two moments of promise and neat attacking play, though Christian Walton was never troubled when Ross Stewart finally produced his side’s first shot from distance.
The Black Cats were struggling to win second balls, giving the hosts a platform from which to create the better chances.
They went close again from another break down
the right, Burns this time drawing a good block from Doyle.
Johnson’s side suffered a significant setback when Leon Dajaku was injured from a strong Sam Morsy challenge, one that drew a freekick from the referee but no further action.
The German winger was carried off an a stretcher, and before long Morsy would release Macauley Bonne with a pass towards the byline. A low cross was half blocked by Doyle, Norwood towering above his markers to head the loose ball past Hoffmann and give his side a lead that they had more than deserved on balance of play.
Norwood had been exiled to the U23 side under previous manager Paul Cook, but was producing the kind of powerful display that had so often exposed Sunderland during their poor run of form a month or so ago.
Sunderland started the second half with a touch more intent, though when the equaliser came less than ten minutes later it still came as a shock to the home crowd.
It was an excellent move, started from the back and initiated by substitute Denver Hume when he played the ball into the middle of the park. Neil, who had been struggling to show his usual quality up until that point, spun away superbly from two markers and broke the defence open with a clever pass. Broadhead took a couple of touches before firing a nerveless finish into the bottom corner.
All of a sudden Ipswich looked on the ropes, opened up again and indebted to Walton when he rushed off his line to make an excellent save from Stewart.
The home side steadied and began to see more possession in the Sunderland half, with little between the two sides heading towards the final 20 minutes.
After a period of few chances it was substitute Kane Vincent-Young who went closest, cutting inside from the left flank and firing just wide of Hoffmann’s far post.
Both sides were trading threatening attacks, Wes Burns firing over before Stewart was just unable to get the ball out of his feet after being played through by a long ball forward.
Ipswich looked to be building a head of steam at the start of stoppage time, but Sunderland steadied and held out for the draw comfortably enough.
Ipswich Town XI: Walton, Burns, Donacien, Edmundson, Woolfenden, Penney (Vincent-Young, 63), Morsy, Evans, Aluko, Norwood (Chaplin, 69), Bonne.