Ipswich Town 2-4 Arsenal - Match Report
Tuesday, 15th Sep 2026 22:02
Town exited the Carabao Cup at the third round stage following a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal at Portman Road. Max Dowman and Noni Madueke put the Gunners 2-0 up and well in control with goals on seven and 16, before the youngster made it three two minutes after the restart, Mikel Merino added a fourth on 58, before Anis Mehmeti pulled one back four minutes later and Chuba Akpom netted against his former club in injury time.
The Blues made 10 changes from the team which won 3-2 at Crystal Palace on Saturday with Jacob Greaves the only one to keep his place.
Christian Walton was in goal with Darnell Furlong skippering at right-back, Cedric Kipre partnering Greaves at the centre of the defence and Abdoul Ouattara at left-back.
Florentino Luis made his full debut for the Blues in the centre of midfield alongside Marcelino Nunez with Kasey McAteer, Anis Mehmeti and Jaden Philogene ahead of them. Zian Flemming also made his full debut as the number nine.
Club captain Dara O’Shea, Julio Enciso, Daizen Maeda, Jack Clarke and Leif Davis were on the bench, as was keeper Alex Palmer for the first time this season.
Arsenal, last year’s beaten finalists, made nine changes from the team which won 2-0 at Sunderland at the weekend with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, 17-year-old Marli Salmon alongside Gabriel Magalhaes at the centre of the defence and Martin Zubimendi at right-back and Myles Lewis-Skelly on the left.
Bruno Guimaraes started in midfield for the Premier League champions alongside Merino, who was wearing the armband, with Dowman, 16, wide on the right, Eberechi Eze the number 10 and Madueke on the left. Viktor Gyokeres was the central striker.
Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis were among those on a very strong bench.
Arsenal started confidently but with their early attacks stopped as they got towards the edge of the box with the Blues then looking to counter without success.
But in the sixth minute the visitors went in front. Nunez air-kicked McAteer’s pass inside from the right in midfield, Dowman picked it up, exchanged passes with Eze, then the youngster strode forward into space and beat the isolated Kipre with ease on the edge of the box before slipping the ball past Walton to the keeper’s right.
Arsenal maintained their dominance having gone ahead with Town struggling to get out of their final third. There were appeals for a penalty after the ball bounced up off Ouattara’s foot onto his hand but referee Sam Barrott, a replacement for scheduled official Peter Bankes, showed no interest.
The Gunners made it 2-0 on 16. Nunez was beaten to Walton’s ball out by Guimaraes and it ran loose to Merino, whose pass deflected off Florentino to Madueke unmarked on the right of the box from where the England international shot across the keeper and into the net.
Town looked to get back into the game and started to see more of the ball in the Arsenal half, mainly down the left.
On 19, Kepa punched a cross from the left straight up into the air and Flemming smashed a shot into Salmon. The loose ball ran to Florentino, but the Portuguese midfielder blazed deep into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.
Six minutes later, Nunez wafted a free-kick from deep on the right towards the back of the box but Flemming’s header was easy for Kepa to pounce on down to his right.
Town put together their best move of the half in the 27th minute. Mehmeti fed Ouattara on the left - with Philogene calling for a ball down the middle - and the Ivorian crossed deep to Flemming, who knocked it inside for Mehmeti, who had continued his run, but the Albanian international’s first-time effort was too high.
As the game passed the half hour, Greaves and Kipre got in a bit of a mess on the edge of the area but the former Hull man was able to stick out a leg to take it away from Eze.
The Blues put together another nice move on 32, Ouattara playing a pass in for Philogene, but Gabriel stepped across to slide behind.
Town were getting more of a foothold in the game, McAteer winning another corner two minutes later, this time on the right, which Greaves flicked towards goal at the near post but which was blocked. Arsenal looked to break and McAteer fouled Dowman, picking up the first yellow card of the evening.
On 37, Philogene did well to get to the byline on the left, narrowly avoiding being tripped, but his low cross was too close to Kepa, who claimed.
The Blues again got into a promising position two minutes later, Nunez’s floated pass finding Mehmeti, who took the ball into the area one-on-one but was unable to find the space for a shot and was eventually crowded out.
In the single minute of time added on, Flemming, who had caused the Gunners’ backline more than a few problems with his physicality, battled the ball into the area towards Philogene ahead of him but the danger was snuffed out.
As against Liverpool in their previous home game, the Blues had started slowly, conceding twice before they had got started having been the architects of their own misfortune to a great degree on both.
But from there, again as against the Merseysiders, Town got themselves more into the game and into a number of promising positions but without forcing the visiting keeper to make a significant save.
Arsenal made a change ahead of the second half, Gabriel making way for Ezri Konsa in what appeared to be a pre-planned switch of senior centre-halves.
Less than two minutes after the restart, the Gunners added to their lead, all but ending any remaining hopes of a comeback.
Zubimendi stabbed the ball from the edge of the box through towards Dowman, who hadn’t been tracked breaking on the right of the area. It struck Greaves’s arm and fell perfectly for the teenager, who shot across Walton and into the net.
On 49, Mehmeti brought the ball into the area from the left but ran into trouble. Optimistic calls for a penalty came from the crowd rather than the players.
Five minutes later, it should have been four. Madueke brilliantly turned Florentino on the right of the box as he received a ball in to feet but shot across the face when he seemed certain to score.
But in the 58th minute, the Gunners did add their fourth. Guimaraes played a pass across the edge of the area to Merino, whose low shot struck the inside of Walton’s right post before finding the net.
Town swapped Philogene, who had showed some dangerous moments but while still looking a little short of sharpness, and Flemming, who could be pleased with his full debut, for Clarke and Akpom, who came through the youth ranks at Arsenal.
Within a minute of coming on, Clarke had created a goal. The winger beat Zubimendi on the left of the box before cutting back to Mehmeti, who shot past Kepa.
In the 64th minute, the Gunners switched Guimaraes for 18-year-old debutant Theo Julienne, then five minutes later Town swapped Ouattara and McAteer for Davis and Sindre Walle Egeli.
Davis crossed dangerously from the left but Kepa claimed ahead of Akpom with Arsenal becoming a little sloppy and allowing the Blues more openings but with Town unable to make too much of them.
On 75, Florentino shrugged off a couple of tackles on the edge of the box before hitting a low effort on the half-tune, which Kepa saved low down to his right. Two minutes later, Eze and Madueke were switched for Odegaard and Tzolis.
In the 79th minute, Akpom and Mehmeti exchanged passes on the right of the area but the Albanian’s cross was too close to Kepa.
Moments later, Tzolis rode a tackle on the left of the area at the other end but Walton was able to block his shot from a tight angle at his near post.
Town made their final change in the 81st minute, Sasa Lukic taking over from Florentino, then four minutes later Zubimendi made way for another 18-year-old, Ife Ibrahim, making his second senior sub appearance.
Nunez was booked for a late challenge on Salmon in the 87th minute, then, as the game moved into injury time, the Blues pulled another goal back.
The Chilean international swept the ball wide to Davis, who crossed low to Akpom, who hit a shot on the turn which looped off Konsa and past Kepa to the keeper’s right.
Akpom’s second goal of the season probably meant more than most, coming as it did against the club he joined aged six and where he made his senior debut aged 17.
That was the last action of another goals-packed Town match, although in truth it was a more comfortable evening for the Gunners than the scoreline makes it look and the Blues can have no complaints about exiting the competition at the third round stage.
Having started slowly against a much-changed but still star-studded Arsenal side which began the game very much on the front foot, and conceding two poor goals, the game was effectively over within the first 15 minutes.
Town showed some fight and made the visitors work for the remainder of the half but any thoughts of putting them under pressure in the second half evaporated after the third and then fourth goals.
Clarke, who looks more at home against Premier League sides than he did two years ago, will gain further confidence from the goal he created soon after coming on, as will Mehmeti for having finished it.
Town kept going and forced a few errors as Arsenal, who had had opportunities to add to their lead, made changes and became a little complacent and Akpom will be delighted to have scored his goal, even if it was ultimately in vain.
The Blues won’t be too distraught to go out of a cup competition in which they’ve rarely progressed far with the Premier League the priority. Town visit Everton on Saturday before the three-week international break.
Town: Walton, Furlong (c), Kipre, Greaves, Ouattara (Davis 69), Florentino (Lukic 81), Nunez, McAteer (Walle Egeli 69), Mehmeti, Philogene (Clarke 61), Flemming (Akpom 61). Unused: Palmer, O’Shea, Maeda, Enciso.
Arsenal: Arrizabalaga, Salmon, Gabriel (Konsa 46), Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Guimaraes (Julienne 64), Merino (c), Dowman, Madueke (Tzolis 76), Eze (Odegaard 76), Gyokeres. Unused: Meslier, Saka, Havertz, Calafiori, Ibrahim. Referee: Sam Barrott. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis and Alex James. Fourth official: Josh Smith. Att: 28,966.
_Photo: Reuters_