Ipswich Town came from two goals down to rescue a remarkable draw against Birmingham City at St. Andrew's, maintaining their unbeaten record on the road.
Kieran McKenna's side looked to have met their match, with a first-half strike from Jay Stansfield and an own-goal from Cameron Burgess putting them into a commanding lead. However, a late brace from substitute Marcus Harness rescued a fantastic point given their lethargic performance.
Birmingham had the better of proceedings at the start, just about. Their high press caused Ipswich some real issues, although last-ditch defending prevented the hosts from testing Vaclav Hladky. A neat combination between Massimo Luongo, Harry Clarke and Omari Hutchinson played the latter into space, but he couldn’t quite set up George Hirst in the middle.
Their first real chance came in the ninth minute, when a long-range effort from Juninho Bacuna deflected off Burgess, wrong-footing Hladky before bobbling narrowly wide of the target, which Ipswich clearing the resulting corner.
Their pressure paid off in the end, however, taking the lead in the 13th minute. A deflected shot from Bacuna looked to bobble forward into the gloves of Hladky, but he was beaten to the ball by Stansfield. It allowed the Fulham loanee to turn back on himself before firing a low shot into the net.
Those hoping for Town to come out fighting were disappointed as Birmingham began their search for a second goal. The visitors’ best chance to equalise came in the 27th minute, when Cameron Burgess headed on Leif Davis’ free-kick into the path of Nathan Broadhead, who smashed a volley narrowly past the post.
They kept knocking at the door without really stringing anything together. That was until the 38th minute, when Hirst was able to pick out Chaplin with a ball over the top. He spotted goalkeeper John Ruddy off his line before attempting to chip him with a curling effort from distance, forcing a good save.
Ipswich showed an impressive improvement after the break, with Chaplin and Hirst both looking threatening in the final third despite failing to test Ruddy.
They were, however, undone by a quick counter where a superb touch from Stansfield allowed him to play Oliver Burke into space. He, in turn, set up Bacuna on the left, where his low cross was turned into the back of the net for Burgess to score an own-goal.
Birmingham weren't done there, putting huge pressure on the back line as Hladky was caught high up the pitch. A wayward clearance from the goalkeeper allowed them to catch Ipswich out of shape, with Burke forcing a good save shortly before the hour-mark.
Ipswich had their moments. A penalty shout was followed by a corner routine where Chaplin's header caused issues, but Wayne Rooney's men seemed to have an answer for everything that was thrown their way.
A wayward pass towards Ivan Sunjic saw Broadhead nip in and steal the ball, setting up Chaplin in the 70th minute. His shot took a deflection before bbouncing inches past the post, winning Town a corner, which Birmingham managed to clear.
The chances prompted McKenna to turn to his bench, making a quadruple substitution with just under 20 minutes to play.
Three of them ended up combining to get Ipswich back into the game, with Dane Scarlett weaving down the left before crossing a low ball into the box. Freddie Ladapo saw his shot saved by Ruddy, but Harness was on hand to steer the rebound into the net in the 79th minute.
The comeback was clearly on. There was no reason why Ipswich, who looked poor throughout the game, couldn't turn things around. They huffed and puffed, and in the end, they found their way through in the 89th minute.
A lobbed ball down the right played Hutchinson into space down the right. His low cross was cleared as far Harness, who swivelled and struck a superb volley into the net, earning a point for the visitors in impressive fashion.
Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Hladky; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis (Humphreys 87'); Morsy, Luongo (Taylor 72'); Hutchinson, Chaplin (Harness 72'), Broadhead (Scarlett 72'); Hirst (Ladapo 72')
Attendance: 20,940 (1,970 away)
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