Massimo Luongo on Ipswich Town 2-0 victory over Shrewsbury

The Australian midfielder made sure of the Blues’ victory over Shrewsbury yesterday when he arrived on the scene inside the box to turn home after a Conor Chaplin shot had squirmed loose. 

It was the first goal of his second spell in Ipswich blue but his second for the club, with the first coming in a Capital One Cup loss to Carlisle during his loan spell in 2012. 

“It was really good to score,” Luongo said. 

Massimo Luongo's first Ipswich goal came at Carlisle in 2012 (Image: Archant)

“At half-time we adjusted my position a little bit to expose them down the left side and that worked because I was really free.  

“It fell to me, I got in the box and managed to score, which was great.” 

Luongo has grown to become a vital member of this Ipswich side, with the midfielder having further chances to score in this game when a header drifted wide and another shot ended with the ball in the hands of the goalkeeper. 

“We won’t talk about the header but with the second one I maybe got a bit of a nosebleed,” he said. “I really wanted to shoot but ended up fluffing it.  

“The way we play against teams like this is a little different even if we play teams who do things similarly, and I think we and I have done well to adjust to the styles.  

“Hopefully we can do it more and I can keep on getting in the box.” 

Reflecting on the victory, which saw the Blues secure a sixth successive victory and notch a seventh clean sheet in a row, Luongo said: "It was a really good win. 

Massimo Luongo celebrates his goal against Shrewsbury (Image: Steve Waller)

“We knew the problems they were going to cause us and we knew we would have a lot of the ball, so it was about not getting too carried away with having a lot of possession and I think we did really well. 

“In the first half they caused us problems how we though they would but we figured it out and were dominant. 

“The first goal really helped us, a simple goal with a cross and a header, but it comes from good relationships across the pitch. It was two high quality pieces of play with the cross and the header.”