Ipswich Town go into the international break on a high after beating Preston North End 3-0 in a Championship match at Portman Road this afternoon.
Martyn Waghorn won and curled home a free-kick right at the end of a forgettable, stop-start first-half.
David McGoldrick’s thumping header doubled the lead less than five minutes after the restart, with Bersant Celina hammering home an excellent third in the 64th minute.
Prior to Waghorn’s goal, neither team had registered a shot on target. They had only mustered one off target each too as a string of injury stoppages and some uninspiring long balls made for a dull spectacle.
Waghorn’s driving run and slick interplay with McGoldrick and Kevin Bru led to the dead ball opener. Preston keeper Chris Maxwell was poorly positioned behind his wall and left a big gap for Waghorn to stroke home his eighth of the season.
Daniel Johnson clipped the top of the Town bar with a long-range effort after that.
Town improved after the restart and netted their killer second in the 49th minute after McGoldrick climbed above Marnick Vermijl to head home Jordan Spence’s super cross from the byline.
Bru – who had replaced the injured Cole Skuse on the half hour – had made a big difference with his calm passing in the midfield.
Town began to play with confidence and enjoyed a real purple patch.
Jonas Knudsen headed wide at the far post after Bru flicked on Spence’s cross, Callum Connolly saw an effort cleared off the line, before Knudsen smashed a loose ball over the bar inside the area.
Manchester City loanee Celina then finally sealed the win when hammering an angled shot high into the roof of the net following Spence’s pass.
It was the Kosovan’s seventh goal of the season in all competitions. He has now netted three games in succession.
Ipswich eased to victory after that, with Bartosz Bialkowski making a late smart stop from Jordan Hugill.
The Blues move up to seventh in the table and, as it stands, are a point off the play-off places.
IPSWICH TOWN (4-2-3-1): Bialkowski; Spence, Chambers (cpt), Webster, Knudsen; Skuse, Connolly; Waghorn, McGoldrick, Celina; Garner.
Unused subs: Gerken, Iorfa, Kenlock, Sears.
PRESTON NE (4-1-4-1): Maxwell; Fisher, Huntington (cpt), Boyle, O’Connor; Welsh; Barkhuizen, Pearson, Browne, Johnson; Hugill.
Unused subs: Hudson, Horgan, Mavididi, Robinson.
Attendance: 14,390 (435 away)
Referee: Andrew Madley
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