Ipswich Town remain winless under Paul Hurst after letting a two-goal lead slip in their eventual 2-2 draw at Birmingham City this afternoon.
It was all looking so good after Jon Nolan and Matthew Pennington had put the Blues two up at the break, but that lead was halved within three minutes of the second half by Lukas Jutkiewicz before the big striker added his second 20 minutes later to level matters.
The Blues hung on with 10 men after Pennington was shown a second yellow card in the dying minutes following a check on Jacques Maghoma.
The point is Hurst’s first on the road since taking charge of the Blues in the summer but, 10 games into the Championship season they remain winless and 22nd in the table.
Birmingham had the better of the opening stages but couldn’t make their dominance count, with Gary Gardner coming closest with a curled effort from outside the box which clipped off the outside of the post.
The hosts continued to be a threat from set pieces and played some good football, with wingers Jota and Maghoma busy, but it was the Blues who took a surprise lead.
It started down the right, where Pennington won possession and released Kayden Jackson down the left. The striker was a patient before laying the ball back to the on-rushing Nolan, who finished superbly into the far corner.
The hosts went back on the attack and looked to have found their equaliser as Suffolk-born Michael Morrison beat Luke Chambers in the air only for Jonas Knudsen to superbly clear off the line with Dean Gerken beaten.
They were made to pay, as Chalobah soon won a corner which Ward took and Pennington connected with as he beat his man to turn the ball home with his left foot.
The Blues were two to the good at the break but their advantage was instantly halved at the start of the second period as a sliding ball to big striker Jutkiewicz allowed him to open his body and guide past Gerken.
That gave the home crowd a lift as the hosts kept their foot to the floor, getting their reward when Jutkiewicz added his second as he turned Jota’s free-kick home after a goalmouth scramble which had seen Luke Chambers and Trevoh Chalobah make good blocks.
From there the hosts’ tails were up but they were unable to find the winning goal their pressure had threatened despite Pennington’s red card.
Birmingham City: Camp; Colin, Dean, Morrison, Pedersen; Jota, G Gardner (Kieftenbeld, 46), Lakin (Mahoney 64), Maghoma; Adams, Jutkiewicz
Sub: Trueman, Roberts, Harding, Mahoney, Solomon-Otabor, Bogle
Ipswich Town: Gerken; Pennington, Chambers, Nsiala, Knudsen; Chalobah, Skuse, Nolan; Edwards (Donacien 88), Ward (Sears 81), Jackson
Subs: Bialkowski, Downes, Edun, Dozzell, Graham
RED CARD: Pennington 87
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