Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 at Portman Road on Friday night. Neco Williams volleyed Forest ahead in the 13th minute, and Julio Enciso equalised before half-time after a poor back-pass from Nikola Milenković. Forest created more chances after the break but could not find a winner, while Ipswich defender Issa Diop escaped with a yellow card after a VAR review.
Match facts
- Result: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest (half-time 1-1)
- Competition: Premier League, Matchweek 8
- Venue: Portman Road, Ipswich
- Scorers: Ipswich - Enciso 41'; Nottingham Forest - N Williams 13'
- Red cards: None
- Next: Hull City v Ipswich Town and Brentford v Nottingham Forest (Premier League), Saturday 31 October, 15:00 UK
How the match unfolded
Both sides went close early on a windy night. Christian Walton saved from Jair Cunha in the sixth minute and Liam Delap shot over soon afterwards. In the 13th minute Daniel Muñoz crossed from the right and Williams volleyed in from the centre of the box.
Ipswich responded through Jaden Philogene and Enciso, whose efforts were both saved by Matz Sels, while Leif Davis cleared a Morgan Gibbs-White effort to safety. In the 41st minute Milenković tried to pass back to Sels from near halfway but underhit the ball badly. Enciso ran on to it, reached the edge of the area and slotted it into the bottom-left corner.
Early in the second half James McAtee burst forward and was brought down by Diop. Play went on, but VAR then sent referee Thomas Bramall to the pitchside monitor. He gave a free-kick and a yellow card rather than a red, telling the crowd that McAtee had knocked the ball towards the right of the goal. The Guardian's live coverage called it a big benefit of the doubt for Diop.
Forest then pressed for a winner. Murillo headed wide from a corner, Davis cleared Dan Ndoye's shot off the line in the 64th minute, and Delap headed over from six yards in the 73rd minute after a mishit clearance by Abdoul Ouattara. Williams was hurt when he landed on the pitch surround, and Luca Netz replaced him in the 84th minute.
The best late chance fell to substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi. In the 90th minute he was released into the box but dragged a weak shot across Walton and wide. At the other end, Jack Clarke and Chuba Akpom both missed the target in eight minutes of stoppage time.
What it means
Forest had 17 shots to Ipswich's seven, according to ESPN, but Oliver Glasner's side are still waiting for a second league win. The point ends a run of three straight league defeats, including a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal and a 3-1 defeat at Crystal Palace, and takes them to six points.
Promoted Ipswich move up to 10 points from eight games under Gary O'Neil. Before the match, he had said his side had "a lot of work ahead of us".
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Sources
- Ipswich Town official match centre (line-ups, substitutes, referee Thomas Bramall)
- Premier League fixture amendments (Ipswich v Nott'm Forest, Friday 23 October, 20:00, Sky Sports)
- ESPN match centre and commentary (FT 1-1, scorers, minutes, assists, substitutions, cards, shots, next fixtures)
- The Guardian live text by Scott Murray (FT 1-1, Milenković back-pass, Diop VAR decision and referee announcement, chances, Williams injury, stoppage time)
- Sky Sports goal clips (Neco Williams volley 13', Enciso after Milenković back-pass 41')
- BBC Sport: Gary O'Neil pre-match press conference