Hull City 0 Ipswich Town 2: Squad strength proves telling as visitors avoid fate of Southampton and Leicester City

The first two clubs on that particular list - both relegated from the Premier League last term alongside the Tractor Boys - had already perished at Hull City this autumn.

Hull were chasing a noteworthy hat-trick on Tuesday night in another mouth-watering looking fixture to draw a close on this particular season of the footballing calendar out east.

Ipswich, belatedly, had other ideas and their squad strength eventually came to the fore as Hull’s six-match unbeaten home sequence came to an end.

At half-time, Hull could feel happy enough after having the best of it. The second half was a different story as the hosts couldn’t get going and Ipswich, poor in the first half, seized their chance.

Ex-Hull favourites returned to familiar ground in Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene.

The latter, not long after coming on at the midway point in the second period, set up Marcelino Nunez’s headed opener.

Four minutes later, one-time City loanee Chuba Akpom settled it with a close-range tap-in as the visitors went above Hull.

The last meeting in East Yorkshire between these two was a show-stopper and one of the Championship’s games of the season in 2023-24.

A riotous Saturday night draw ended deadlocked at 3-3 in April 2024 and their latest get-together at the MKM Stadium also promised plenty.

It pitted a side with the second-best goalscoring record in the division ahead of the game in Hull against a team who had won 4-1 in their previous two away matches.

Prior to kick-off, only one side had also scored more second-half goals than Ipswich.

For Hull, there was a flip side, of course.

Ahead of the events getting under way, only one second-tier club had shipped more goals than the Tigers.

Given all that, the smart money was on a fair few goals against an Ipswich side who had also mustered 19 shots in their weekend draw with Wrexham.

City’s last opponents in QPR managed 26 against them three days earlier.

Of course, you should never take anything as read in the second tier these days.

It was goalless at the interval and not a great deal happened.

But given the attacking players whom Hull were missing, in the shape of Matt Crooks, Oli McBurnie and Liam Millar especially, the fact that they had the better chances, while also limiting Ipswich to next to nothing was an undoubted tick in the box, defensively, even if they could have done with a goal.

Such are Town’s squad resources, that they freshened things up ahead of kick-off with six changes. That said, their lack of flow in an attacking sense, despite seeing plenty of the ball in the first period, ensured they looked like a side who had made a raft of changes and had perhaps overdone it with the tinkering.

They certainly didn’t look like a side who had scored goals for fun in their last two road trips their travels, for sure.

Hull handed rare starts to Darko Gyabi in the ten role and Joel Ndala down the left. Both had their moments as did the Joe Gelhardt, who went close with an audacious long-ranger after spotting visiting keeper Christian Walton off his line early on following Dara O’Shea’s loose header. The Leeds loanee is a player you can’t put down.

City went closer still a few minutes ahead of the half-hour, when a clearance found its way to Ndala, whose low snapshot was touched onto the post by Walton.

Town’s defence, including a certain Greaves - who received a few muffled boos on his City return - did not look the most convincing and more looseness soon presented a sight of goal for lone frontman Kyle Joseph, who dragged a shot wide.

At the other end, Ipswich’s attacking quartet of Jack Clarke, Nunez and Kasey McAteer did little of note as did George Hirst. Kieran McKenna was at least safe in the knowledge that he had considerable back-up on his bench if they did not buck their ideas up.

At the back, organised City - aside from a few wobbles from keeper Ivor Pandur - and the odd errant pass out, were not as busy as they perhaps expected to be. It was they who looked the better ‘team’ on view.

Ipswich made one interval change, but no more. There was some improvement on the resumption, with Nunez starting to come into the game to give Hull a bit more to think about. But the hosts’ organisation was decent, for once.

The hosts were soon riled though, when a foul was given against Kyle Joseph in the Ipswich box, which looked very harsh and erroneous.

One-time City men Philogene and Akpom soon entered the fray, and the latter soon announced himself when he provided the cross for Nunez to head home, unchallenged.

It was the first time City’s defence were caught cold and it proved fatal.

It changed the night and Town sensed their chance and soon put things to bed.

A goalline clearance from Will Hughes denied Akpom, with Darnell Furlong’s goalbound follow-up saved.

From the resultant corner, Akpom tapped in at the far post as the hosts appealed in vain for offside.

It came after Pandur denied O’Shea from point-blank range following a corner as Town belatedly showed their prowess on the road in the second half of recent matches.

Hull City: Pandur; Coyle (Drameh 78), Ajayi, Hughes, Giles; Hadziametovic (Belloumi 64), Slater; Gelhardt, Gyabi, Ndala (Destan 64); Joseph (Akintola 79). Substitutes unused: Phillips, Belloumi (Hadziahmetovic 64), Egan, Famewo, Williams, McCarthy.

Ipswich Town: Walton; Furlong, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Cajuste (Taylor HT), Matusiwa; McAteer (Egeli 67), Nunez (Johnson 83), Clarke (Philogene 66); Hirst (Akpom 67). Substitutes unused: Button, Kipre, Young, Azon.

Referee: L Smith (Lancs).

Attendance: 21,271.