Ipswich Town let a 4-2 lead slip during nine crazy minutes of added time in their 4-4 draw at Charlton. Andy Warren breaks down how two points were dropped.
90:00: The game goes beyond the regulation 90 minutes, locked at 2-2.
Ipswich had led 2-0, thanks to George Edmundson’s header and a Tyreece John-Jules goal which incensed Charlton boss Ben Garner, with the Addicks boss’s protests seeing him sent to the stands.
But the hosts battled back, with Jes Rak-Sakyi and then Albie Morgan scoring close-range goals to level matters and set up a grandstand finish.
90:06: The board goes up, signalling a minimum of six added minutes, with both sets of supporters sensing their side could go on and win.
90:50: GOAL! A patient Ipswich move changes gear when Sam Morsy plays a driven ball through the lines, into the feet of Freddie Ladapo, who holds off his man and unleashes a fierce shot which flies into the bottom corner of the net and sends a packed away end wild.
Charlton fans begin to leave.
Charlton Athletic 2-3 Ipswich Town.
92:20: After the Blues are back at halfway, having celebrated Ladapo’s goal wildly with the away fans, Richard Keogh comes on in place of Wes Burns.
92:39: The game kicks off again.
93:20: Ladapo takes the ball towards the corner before Ipswich turn back and play out again.
93:57: GOAL! Town have possessed the ball for an entire minute before Dominic Ball moves it out of his feet expertly and pops the ball off for Morsy, whose shot from outside the box takes a deflection and flies into the back of the net.
Wild scenes erupt in the away end again, Luke Woolfenden is up on the advertising boards and the job is surely done. The Valley stands empty further.
Captain Morsy tries to calm his Town players.
Charlton Athletic 2-4 Ipswich Town.
95:17: Charlton kick-off again.
95:28: Morsy is penalised for a foul on Rak-Sakyi, with Morgan preparing to send a free-kick from midway inside the Ipswich half into the Town penalty area.
95:55: GOAL! Charlton grab one back. Ball allows Corey Blackett-Taylor to get the run on him at the far post, with the attacker able to turn it back into danger.
As Charlton attack the box, Woolfenden gives Terell Thomas a shove which in turn pushes team-mate Edmundson towards the goal line, leaving Thomas free to poke the ball into the back of the net as he wriggles away from all three Ipswich Town centre-backs on the pitch.
As he puts the ball in the net, the five players nearest to Thomas are all Town ones.
Charlton Athletic 3-4 Ipswich Town
96:31: Ipswich kick-off again and soon win a throw on the left flank.
97:00: Edmundson plays a long ball into the corner, which goes out of play for a Charlton throw near their penalty area.
97:14: As Charlton look to get the ball forward quickly, Ball heads home to Christian Walton well from the middle of the Ipswich half.
97:41: The Town keeper takes nearly 20 seconds off the clock before playing long, with Ladapo winning the ball nicely in the air and knocking down into the path of skipper Morsy.
But, instead of playing for the corner, the midfielder is given space to drive towards the Charlton box. It’s an option he takes, but the ball is lost to Thomas and Charlton are able to escape.
Should Morsy have taken the ball to the corner? In hindsight, of course he should. But you can see why, with adrenaline pumping in the heat of battle and play opening up, he went for goal.
98:16: GOAL! Chuks Aneke, a pest after coming on, shows great strength to turn away from Ball and leave the Town midfielder on the ball, driving into Ipswich territory. He works the ball wide, through Steven Sessegnon and Scott Fraser, before Morgan delivers a brilliant ball into the back post.
He picks out George Dobson, who is isolated with Leif Davis, with the Charlton man getting the jump on the Ipswich left-back and looping a header over Walton in the Town goal.
The Town keeper won’t be happy being beaten in that manner, while Davis will have wanted to do better in his one-on-one match-up. Dobson celebrates wildly with the remaining Charlton fans as the Town players sink to the floor.
Charlton Athletic 4-4 Ipswich Town
99:30: Town kick-off
99:40: The Blues attack down the right but Janoi Donacien’s cross into the box is blocked out for a throw.
99:43: The full-time whistle goes. Town players sink to the floor again.
90 mins: 2️⃣-2️⃣
— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) October 30, 2022
FT: 4️⃣-4️⃣
🍿 Sit back, relax and enjoy the MADDEST stoppage time that you will probably ever see!
🔴⚪️ #cafc pic.twitter.com/dfVg0q5yEQ
Conclusion
In the minutes and hours after full-time at The Valley, emotions were raw.
Town’s players and fans had experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, all inside nine dramatic minutes of stoppage time.
But, with a clear mind, watching the game back, it’s easier to look at where things went wrong for the Blues.
For the first Charlton goal it’s a collective issue, with a free-kick given away and a succession of moments where a number of Ipswich players could have done their jobs better in the minutes after taking a 4-2 lead and surely completing the job. Town simply weren’t switched on enough. Slack.
Did they do a good enough job reshuffling after Keogh replaced Burns and slotted in at the back? It’s hard to say.
But, at 4-3 up, Town should still see the game out. In hindsight, Morsy should have taken the ball to the corner, rather than attack goal. That’s a very easy thought process to suggest but a tough one to implement in a game pulsing with so much energy. If you could pick any Ipswich player to think with a cool head, it would be the skipper, but conceding the fourth goal can’t purely be blamed on him.
Balls into the box have been an issue for Ipswich of late and so it proved as this game reached its final minutes, with Davis isolated at the back post and beaten in the air by Dobson. It's a battle he would have felt he should have won, even he was the one back-peddling.
Could Charlton have been stopped before they reached a position to cross the ball? Possibly. Will Walton be unhappy with how he was beaten? Possibly, again. The Town keeper, exceptional this season, made a slight movement off of his toes, onto his heels, just as the header looped over him.
This was a finish to a game we will probably never see again. It can be filed in the ‘freak’ column for sure.
But there are lessons to be learnt here. Given how deeply Ipswich deal with analysis under Kieran McKenna, you have to think they will.
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