Ipswich closed the gap on the top two teams in the Sky Bet Championship with a 2-0 win over Coventry, ending their unbeaten home run this season.
Jack Clarke took the lead after 72 minutes and Wes Barnes doubled the visitors’ lead 11 minutes later with his first goal since May 2024.
The Tractor Boys are currently 10 points behind leaders Coventry and just two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.
It was Ipswich’s second taste of victory against Coventry this month, following Kieran McKenna’s side’s 3-0 success at Portman Road on December 6.
Monday’s loss ended Coventry’s eight-game winning streak at home, but it was their first loss at CBS Arena this season, making them just one-third in the league this season.
Ipswich dominated in the first half, enjoying almost 70 per cent possession against an uncharacteristically passive Coventry side.
McKenna made four changes to his squad following Boxing Day’s 0-0 draw with Millwall, replacing Jens Cajuste, Casey McAteer and Jayden Philogene with Jack Taylor, Sindre Wale Egeli and Clarke.
Jacob Greaves replaced the unwell Leaf Davies at left-back and it was his cross that created the first goal of the match, with Ivon Azon’s header saved by Carl Rushworth.
Clarke then latched on to a cross on the edge of the Coventry box before firing a shot wide of the target.
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Jack Clarke scores from a deflection from Coventry City defender Luke Woolfenden
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Following a weighty pass from Marcelino Nunez, Wes Barnes fired a low-footed shot into the bottom corner of Coventry’s goal.
Azon was released by Greaves and the Spaniard cut inside and fired a shot into the arm of Rushworth.
Greaves met Darnell Furlong’s cross but his header was stopped by the Coventry keeper.
The on-loan Brighton stopper made one of his saves this season to deny Taylor. The 24-year-old sprawled to his right to block the midfielder’s powerful shot and tipped the underside of the bar before Luke Woolfenden poked the ball out for a corner.
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Coventry City goalkeeper Karl Rushworth has his moment of brilliance with a potential save of the season to deny Ipswich Town’s Jack Taylor
The Sky Blues scored just one goal in the first half, a header from Efron Mason-Clarke, but started the second half in the lead when Victor Tope’s shot was blocked by Greaves.
Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton made his first contribution since October 4, pushing away Haji Wright’s deflected shot 10 minutes after the break.
Lampard was stunned when referee Anthony Backhouse waved off the hosts’ pleas for a penalty after Wright and Furlong collided on the edge of the box.
Rushworth had enjoyed a quiet start to the second period after his first-half heroics, but was called upon again for pushing Azon’s goal-bound shot into the corner.
The opener came in the 72nd minute when Marcelino Nuñez pulled Clark out and the winger had enough time to fire a shot, but his shot hit the heel of Uhlfenden and looped into the corner.
Ipswich doubled their lead 11 minutes later with a goal from Barnes, who was making his second appearance since injuring his anterior cruciate ligament against Liverpool in January.
Nunez was once again the creator, getting into the path of the Wales international and calmly slotting a shot into the corner in front of the away supporters.
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Frank Lampard of Coventry:
“We didn’t play as well as we usually do and we played against a good team, a strong team in this league.
“Sometimes you have to give your opponents credit because they played well, but I think we were probably a little bit behind in terms of energy and courage to play like we always do.
“And they felt like they had a lot of control in the first half of the game, and they had a little more momentum in the second half, so they took it back a little bit.
“I wanted to shake the players off (at half-time) and remind them that at that point we were 13 points ahead of Ipswich, who are a really strong team. We’re at the top of this league and we play like that, but I didn’t think the players really had that kind of belief.”
“We had a day off tonight and we lost the game because we played a good team. That’s it in a nutshell.”
Kieran McKenna from Ipswich:
“It was a really good performance. We had some real confidence and composure in the first half. We progressed, controlled the game and had some really good chances.
“We knew at half-time that the whole game wasn’t going to go like this against a team with such a strong home record.
“We don’t have any pressure or set-piece periods and we have to stay strong and we did that in the second half and obviously got the goal that deserved the performance.
“The players knew what they needed to do and everyone was really happy when they got the first goal and we were in a great position from there.”
