This defeat was to be expected. What was not to be expected was just how inept the the Ipswich Town defence would be. And West Ham exploited it to to the full.
Although Sebastien Haller had a number of chances before and after he scored, he was a constant thorn in the Ipswich Town side, and duly got on the scoresheet just before the break when a ball that looked to have gone out of play, and caused several Town players to stop in their tracks, was played on by the ref, as Diangana squeezed it across to Haller, who turned the ball home from close range. It was a dubious decision by the man with the flag, and coming when it did, just before the interval, it made matters all the more unpalatable, as the home side trooped off trailing.
Town had played quite well and the midfield looked up to the job. There was a greater zest and vitality about our performance than against Spurs but goals change games and so it was to prove. Four goals in five minutes early in the second half, changed the whole complexion of this match, and three of them were scored by the visitors! Defensive frailties were the cause of Town’s downfall once again. Haller scored his second, as he smashed the ball home after some good build-up play, and then an excellent jinking run by Emyr Huws saw Freddie Sears guide the ball home from the edge of the box. It was a well-taken goal.
But Town hardly had time to celebrate getting back into the game, when the Hammers increased their lead and goalkeeper Tomas Holy must be held responsible. He seriously misjudged a swerving cross and let it glide over his head and into the path of Tomas Soucek, who headed home unchallenged. This was a disappointing goal to concede – especially after the Blues had just clawed their way back but worse was still to come! Captain Luke Chambers inexplicably turned towards his own goal and was dispossessed by Haller, who duly thumped home his hat-trick to the horror of Chambers, who kicked the post in disgust.
Sadly, Chambers is a liability at the back. He has done this far too many times before, and he is getting slower and slower which is very worrying. By contrast, Toto Nsiala had a good game, as he did against Spurs, and manager Paul Lambert must have surely taken note.
Ipswich had their chances to pull more goals back through Jon Nolan and Ben Folami but the clinical finishing that personifies the best of English football, belonged almost exclusively to our Premier League opponents.
The stand-out performances for me came in the midfield where Emyr Huws and Jon Nolan impressed. In attack, Freddie Sears looked much more like his former self, and I was impressed too with Ben Folami, when he entered the fray late in the game.
Town were without James Norwood again: Oli Hawkins, James Wilson, Kane Vincent-Young and Cole Skuse, but whether this would have changed the final outcome is extremely doubtful.
Ipswich Town: Holy (Cornell 74), Donacien, Chambers (captain) (Ndaba 74), Nsiala, Ward (Smith 74), Dozzell (Nolan 60), Downes (Huws 60), Bishop (Judge 60), Edwards (El Mizouni 39), Sears (Folami 83), Drinan.
West Ham United: Randolph, Cresswell (captain), Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Anderson, Coventry, Alese (Cardoso 57), Wilshere, Haller, Soucek (Kemp 75), Diangana (Lewis 75). Unused: Jimenez, Odubeko.
Attendance : 27
The referee was Neil Hair.
