Key events
Luongo heads the ball high, back into the crowded penalty area after an Ipswich corner is half-cleared. Hirst does well to use his physical presence to hold off his marker and nod the ball across the six-yard box. Broadhead, who has already missed two big chances in this first half, thrashes the ball into the net from close range beyond a helpless Gunn, and celebrates with glee. And that is quite literally 1-0.
Goal! 34min: Ipswich 1-0 Norwich (Broadhead)
It’s there!
32 min: Barnes and Sainz link for Norwich and nearly fashion another shooting chance. If Norwich were leading at half time it would be pretty amazing given the pressure they’ve been under. Anyway, Ipswich break quickly and Hirst tries to get on the end of a ball in behind but it’s ushered out for a corner.
30 min: A chink of light for Norwich, but Sainz pings a shot over the crossbar, and brings loud cheers from the home fans.
27 min: With Norwich trying to play it out from the back, Rowe loses it on the right, and Ipswich are suddenly bearing down on goal again. Burns is teed up to take a shot from a central position – he has plenty of time to pick his spot – but smashes his effort high and wide. Another escape for Norwich, who must feel like they are playing against 20 men. That’s testament to Ipswich’s superior pressing, and superior use of the ball … although if their finishing was better they could be 3-0 to the good by now.
25 min: The game settles a touch as Norwich manage to stem the bleeding, in terms of Ipswich players queuing up around their goal and taking potshots.
23 min: Now Broadhead has another sight of goal – he’s got teammates left and right – but he opts to clip a curler looking for the far post. It doesn’t curl enough, though, and flashes wide. Broadhead is berated by his teammates for not laying it off.
21 min: Now Ipswich’s Leif Davis shows impressive technique to hit a low, right-footed, first-time shot when arriving into the penalty area in plenty of space. It’s straight at Gunn though who gathers it safely. But Norwich are firmly on the back foot.
19 min: Consider the Norwich ship unsteadied. First Burns breaks through on the right for Ipswich, and belts a shot for the far post which looks to be flying is but is blocked … then Broadhead dances beyond the Canaries defence, and is one on one with the keeper. He tucks a shot past the goalie, looking for the far post, but it slides fractionally wide. Gunn did well to rush off his line and close the angle down.
17 min: This is a textbook spicy local derby – plenty of commitment out there but precious little time on the ball for the more creative players to make any impact. Anyway, good news for Norwich is that they’ve steadied the ship after a spell of pressure for Ipswich.
15 min: The crowd is cheering when the ball is within half a mile of either goal. Barnes releases Idah on the Norwich right, capitalising on the space in behind with Ipswich pushing forward. A corner is the result, whipped in by Sara, but Hladky does well to repel it from almost under the crossbar. There was loads of pushing and shoving before the set-piece.
10 min: Ipswich have had 87% of the ball in the opening exchanges. But they haven’t yet fashioned a clear goalscoring chance.
8 min: Norwich’s Ashley Barnes is penalised for a foul on Hladky, and gets a talking-to from the referee. But he escapes a booking. It’s so loud the players can barely hear themselves think.
6 min: Now Morsy bends a set-piece into the Canaries’ penalty area but again Norwich can clear after a header by Burgess. Gunn gets his hands on the ball as the visitors try to take the sting out of some early pressure by Ipswich.
2 min: End-to-end stuff early on. Chaplin tries a tricky ball into feet for Ipswich from just outside the penalty area but Norwich snuff out the danger. The atmosphere, as stated, is just as electric as you’d expect.
1 min: You’d expect a chaotic, high-octane opening to a game such as this, and that’s what we’re getting. Norwich trying to be brave on the ball early on.
KICK OFF
Off we go, then! A cracking atmosphere at Portman Road greets the referee’s whistle. Ed Sheeran is in attendance, naturally.
Right, the teams are out and we’re ready to rock and roll.
David Wagner has alleviated some of the pressure that was coming down on his shoulders in early November with a respectable run of late, which amounts to four wins in six matches. The Canaries had won just one of their previous 10 in all competitions, and their recent form will buoy fans venturing the trip to Suffolk this Saturday lunchtime.
They still trail their rivals by a whopping 21 points after 21 games played, mind.
Ipswich Town must believe they’ve got a better chance of beating Norwich today than for many a year. It’s hard to fathom that it was April 2009 the last time they beat their East Anglian rivals. Since then, Norwich have been up to the Premier League a few times and Ipswich have plumbed the depths of League One.
History is history, though, as I’m sure Kieran McKenna will be reminding his players. The Tractor Boys are very much the form boys going into this titanic clash.
Team news
Ipswich Town: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (C), Luongo, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, Hirst. Subs: Walton, Tuanzebe, Williams, Taylor, Harness, Hutchinson, Jackson, Scarlett, Ladapo.
Norwich City: Gunn, Stacey, Duffy, McLean (C), McCallum, Gabriel, Nunez, Rowe, Barnes, Sainz, Idah. Subs: Long, Gibbs, Fassnacht, Placheta, Batth, Hernandez, Forshaw, Fisher, Springett.
Referee: Josh Smith (Lincolnshire)
Luke will be here at high noon. In the meantime, here is Paul MacInnes’s preview before the ‘Old Farm’ derby.
Hostilities resume in the East Anglian derby this weekend, four years and 10 months since Ipswich Town and Norwich City last met. A fixture that may not attract the global audience of other English derbies and one whose nicknames – the Old Farm, El Tractico – carry just the slightest hint of mockery will still be guaranteed to deliver a right old tussle at Portman Road on Saturday lunchtime.
