EFL

Kieran McKenna believes Ipswich full value for point against Leicester

By Sports Desk December 26, 2023

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna felt his side were full value for a point after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with table-topping Leicester at Portman Road.

Town fought back from a goal down after 24 minutes through a super strike by Stephy Mavididi but a deflected shot by Sam Morsy in the third minute of stoppage time earned a share of the spoils.

The midfielder’s effort from the edge of the penalty area struck Ricardo Pereira and then the head of Jannik Vestergaard and left City’s goalkeeper Mads Hermansen helpless.

The draw resulted in Town remaining six points adrift of The Foxes and five points ahead of third placed Southampton who moved up a place to become the Tractor Boys’ nearest challengers for an automatic promotion spot following their 5-0 victory over Swansea.

McKenna said: “Getting the goal at the end was what we deserved at the very least.

“I thought that we had a really positive start to the game. Leicester scored the first goal with a good bit of quality which they can do, a good move, top quality execution and finish as well.

“It was a game where we were good in most aspects. I thought we pressed really well against one of the best, if not the best build up teams in the league and limited them as well.

“We built well against a team that usually press well and it’s hard to create good chances against a team that is so stubborn but we created enough to warrant a goal.

“I thought on the whole we did a lot more right than wrong for sure.”

Enzo Maresca was frustrated to come so close to another three points.

Maresca said: “It’s a shame because we were so close to win one more game but at the same time we expected during the game to drop a little bit.

“With this amount of the games it’s normal to think that playing the game every few days you can drop a little bit.

“Overall I think for 65/70 minutes we, especially first half, we had three or four chances one v one … we score a goal then probably last 10/15 minutes we concede a little bit more, we concede them control but playing every three days, the way this team (Ipswich) are doing is fantastic, it’s normal but at the end of the day I am happy.

“Second half for 20 minutes, half an hour we controlled quite good but then the last 10 minutes we concede a little bit more and lose easy ball … I think it’s normal, they are human beings and playing every few days they can drop a little.”

Related items

  • Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record

    Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".

    Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.

    The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.

    With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.

    Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.

    Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!

    "I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance. 

    "It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."

    Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.

  • Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win

    Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa. 

    Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.

    Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.

    Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.

    With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.

    "Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.

    "The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.

    "It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.

    "They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.

    "We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."

    Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.

    The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.

    Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half. 

    "The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.

    "To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."

  • New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot

    Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.

    A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.

    However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.

    Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.

    Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.

    Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.

    Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years

    Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.

    However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.