By Tim Hodges from the Amex
Brighton & Hove Albion 3 Ipswich Town 2
Albion held their nerve to beat high-flying Ipswich with three sensational goals. Two of them came from Joao Teixeira and one – his first at the Amex – came from Sam Baldock.
Baldock scored on 19 minutes. Having received the ball from Joe Bennett, Baldock fired an angled drive which swerved past Bartosz Bialkowski in the Ipswich goal.
Minutes later though the tractor boys were level. Daryl Murphy nipped in between Joe Bennett and Gordon Greer to prod the ball past the helpless David Stockdale.
Chris Hughton made wholesale changes to the line up from the previous defeat to Brentford. He had no choice about some. In came Bruno Saltor, Teixeira, Aaron Hughes and Chris O’Grady.
The midfield pairing of Danny Holla and Rohan Ince remains constant and already a recognised feature of Hughton’s set up.
Ince intercepts and creates. Holla tidies up and gets Albion going again.
But it was O’Grady who made Albion tick, holding the ball up brilliantly every time he went forward and always giving the Seagulls a chance to bring others into play.
With five minutes left to play in the first half Teixeira had the ball about 25 yards out and had four Ipswich defenders in front of him. The young Portuguese U21 international beat all four with a drop of the shoulder and a twisting run. His deflected shot put Albion 2-1 in front.
It was one of the great Amex goals so far.
Then right on half time Teixeira seized on a cross from Joe Bennett and fired past Bialkowski from just outside the penalty area to put the Seagulls further ahead at 3-1.
Baldock had a great chance to wrap it up for Albion early in the second half but his shot was saved well by Bialkowski.
Albion weren’t just content to soak up the Ipswich pressure. Ince was again a towering influence – a real box to box midfielder.
O’Grady was scampering around in much the same way as Craig Mackail-Smith does.
However, the Yorkshireman shields, holds up and distributes the ball more effectively than CMS. It could be his last appearance at the Amex. Leon Best’s arrival and O’Grady’s open desire to move back up north could see the former Barnsley striker leave before the end of the transfer window on Monday 2 February.
Ipswich found Albion difficult to break down. Stephen Hunt came on to go up front with Murphy. But it was another substitute, Freddie Sears, who put the visitors right back in the match, sliding the ball under Stockdale.
