New Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney had his first win stolen from his grasp by high-riding Ipswich Town at St Andrew’s.
With just 11 minutes remaining, the home team had a 2-0 lead before Marcus Harness, an Ipswich replacement, pulled one back.
On 89 minutes, Harness scored once more to tie the game. Despite the fact that it was sufficient to give Rooney his first point in his fourth game as manager, it still felt like a loss.
Jay Stansfield’s fifth goal of the season gave Birmingham the lead after 13 minutes, and six minutes later Cameron Burgess’ own goal, forced by Stansfield, increased the lead.
However, on minute 79, Ipswich equalised when Freddie Ladapo’s shot was stopped by goalie John Ruddy, and replacement Harness scored off the rebound.
After that, Harness scored his second, extending Ipswich’s unbeaten streak to ten games league games – and take them a point closer to leaders Leicester City.
Although Birmingham had lost their last three games since former manager John Eustace was fired, they had a strong record against Ipswich, who had only triumphed once in their previous 19 trips to St Andrew’s.
After last weekend’s 3-1 loss to Southampton, Rooney decided to make four more changes. The home team took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a through pass from Juninho Bacuna. Stansfield turned inside the area and Ipswich keeper Vaclav Hladky was unable to stop the recalled striker from scoring.
There appeared to be only one winner when Burgess deflected Bacuna’s cross past his own goalie six minutes into the second half.
However, Kieran McKenna’s team persevered, particularly during a quadruple replacement on the 72nd minute.
Ladapo and Harness, two of those replacements, combined to recover a goal within seven minutes.
Harness was then assisted by Omari Hutchinson, who acrobatically scored an equaliser with his left foot.
Next up, who?
Before the international break, Rooney still has one more chance to win as Blues manager: next Saturday lunchtime (12:30 GMT) at Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland.
If Ipswich wins their rescheduled game against Rotherham United this Tuesday night (20:00), they will move up to one point behind Leicester. On Saturday afternoon (15:00), Ipswich will play Swansea City.
Wayne Rooney, manager of Birmingham City, stated on BBC Radio WM:
Every week, I observe progress. We showed encouraging indicators against Southampton the previous week, and we’ve built on them this time around against a formidable Ipswich Town team.
The team was energised and playing well for the first forty-five minutes. That somewhat faltered in the second half, and we regrettably gave up two goals.
“When the substitutes play, they need to do better. However, I’m happy with the general calibre of performance. The players weren’t accustomed to this, and we understood it would take time for it to change.”
Manager Kieran McKenna of Ipswich Town stated to BBC Radio Suffolk:
“We should be really proud of the second half. While many teams would have finished, we hadn’t. And the benefits were ours.
“We had the will to persevere, and then the influence of the substitutes set in. Marcus Harness has our sincerest gratitude. He demonstrated tidbits of his abilities.
We had the resilience that we would need in spades. 2-0 down on the road, a rookie manager in hisb tenure, and there was a massive energy in the stadium. But we got through it – and it’s something we can build from.”
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