Ipswich Town 3-1 Leicester City - Match Report
Tuesday, 25th Aug 2026 21:51
Marcelino Nunez netted twice, the second from inside the centre circle, after Sindre Walle Egeli had opened the scoring as Town beat League One Leicester City 3-1 to progress to round three of the Carabao Cup. Walle Egeli gave the Blues the lead on 62, Olabade Aluko equalised five minutes later but Nunez restored the lead in the 71st minute and as the game moved into injury time sealed the victory in spectacular style.
Boss Gary O’Neil made nine changes from the team which beat Sunderland 2-1 at the weekend with only skipper Dara O’Shea and Marcelino Nunez keeping their places.
Christian Walton was in goal with Darnell Furlong at right-back, O’Shea and Cedric Kipre, who was with the Foxes as a youngster, the centre-halves and Abdoul Ouattara at left-back.
Cameron Humphreys partnered Nunez in central midfield behind ex-Foxes winger Kasey McAteer unusually on the left, Sindre Walle Egeli on the right and Jack Clarke as the number 10, with Chuba Akpom the out-and-out striker.
Town’s other former Leicester wideman Abdul Fatawu was absent from the squad, but the Blues included youngsters Tudor Mendel and Charlie Compton in a senior 20 for a competitive game for the first time.
Leicester handed a debut and the captain’s armband to returning Blues legend Conor Chaplin, while Wes Burns was on the bench alongside one-time Town loan keeper Alex McCarthy.
Overall, the Foxes made seven changes from the team which lost 2-1 at home to Burton Albion at the weekend.
Leicester, playing four full-backs across their defence and no recognised central defenders, immediately got themselves in something of a mess on the edge of the own area, Akpom eventually hitting a shot on the turn across the face and wide.
The Blues played themselves into trouble of their own in the second minute but Tom Watson’s shot only just avoided going out for a throw on the far side.
On four, McAteer, who came through the youth ranks at Leicester, scuffed his volley through to keeper Jakub Stolarczyk having been found by a deep cross from the right.
Two minutes later, Watson struck an effort from distance which Walton batted away to his right.
In the 10th minute, the ball briefly fell for returning Blues hero Chaplin inside the box but Nunez stabbed it away before the forward could get in his shot, then moments later a ball in from the right flashed across the Town area and wide.
McAteer curled over on 17, referee Lewis Smith, taking charge of his fourth Town Carabao Cup tie in four seasons, going back to speak to Nunez for an earlier foul having waved play on.
Four minutes later, the visitors created their best opening up that point when Christian McFarlane was fed in on the left of the box by Louis Page but Walton did well to spread himself, then claim McFarlane’s looping second effort.
Moments later, Burns began warming up on the touchline towards the North Stand end to warm applause and cheers from his old fans and ex-teammate and close friend Leif Davis, who was already stretching by the corner flag.
On 23, McAteer did well to turn away from his man on the edge of the area but his shot was blocked and looped harmlessly away from goal.
Four minutes later, Clarke played Akpom through on goal battling with Aluko, who did well to get in the way of the striker’s shot, although referee Smith gave a goal-kick, much to the former Ajax man’s bemusement.
As the game reached the half-hour mark, a corner on the right was poorly dealt with by Stolarczyk and his teammates, the ball bouncing up to Akpom at the far post before referee Smith awarded a free-kick to the Foxes, although for what precisely it was unclear.
From another corner on the right in the 33rd minute, Stolarczyk palmed away a header from his line, the ball appearing to have come off a Leicester head under pressure from Kipre and O’Shea.
Two minutes later, the Blues won a corner on the left. It was half-cleared to McAteer, who headed goalwards from outside the box but too close to Stolarczyk, who claimed under his bar.
On 38, Chaplin curled an effort from just outside the area towards Walton’s right corner, but the keeper was equal to it and bundled his ex-teammate’s effort wide.
Aluko was shown the game’s first yellow card in the 40th minute for hauling Akpom back as Town broke quickly into the Leicester half.
In the 43rd minute, the Foxes counter-attacked after a Town move had broken down, but Harry Howell’s shot from a tight angle on the right was blocked by Kipre.
In the final scheduled minute, keeper Walton gave away a corner after taking too long over a goal-kick. From the flag-kick McFarlane headed powerfully just over, the final action of the half.
Both sides had looked more than a little disjointed with opportunities at each end, McAteer and Akpom both having had decent chances for the Blues, while McFarlane and Chaplin had forced Walton into good stops.
McAteer had caused his old side more than a few problems but with the final shot or pass lacking, while Aluko was struggling with Akpom’s physicality.
Town will feel they had controlled the game well in spells but with loose passing, perhaps unsurprisingly given the change of personnel, having allowed Leicester a number of promising breaks.
The Blues thought they’d taken the lead two minutes after the restart. Stolarczyk palmed out O’Shea’s header from a free-kick on the left and McAteer tapped in at the far post, but the linesman on the far side very belatedly raised his flag.
Humphreys got his name in referee Smith’s book for a foul on Sammy Braybrooke on the edge of the area a minute later but the free-kick came to nothing.
The Foxes made a more positive start to the second period, O’Shea getting in the way of a Page shot and the ball ricocheting off Kipre, leading to some ambitious penalty appeals from the visiting supporters. On 54, Clarke was booked for a foul on Page.
Two minutes later, a poor Aluko header saw full debutant Ouattara breaking through the middle along with the Leicester defender chasing the ball. Stolarczyk came off his line and jumped into the two players converging on his goal, leaving Aluko on the floor needing treatment.
Former Blues forward Chaplin was given a warm ovation by his old fans as he left the pitch in the 61st minute, one of two subs made by the Foxes. Liam Cullen and Bobby De Cordova-Reid replacing the former Town man and Admir Bristric.
Within a minute of the changes, the Blues took the lead. Akpom did superbly to hold up a ball forward on halfway, before sweeping wide to Clarke on the left. The forward had a number of unmarked options in the middle and found Walle Egeli, who found the corner of the net.
Town, who swapped Ouattara for Davis, immediately went looking for a second, Clarke again finding Walle Egeli, this time well placed on the left of the box but a defender blocked.
The Blues threatened again in the 64th minute, Davis doing well on the left and playing in Akpom but a combination of the keeper and a defender kept the ball out.
Kipre was booked for a foul, before Leicester sub De Cordova-Reid’s effort from distance was saved down to his right, O’Shea reaching the loose ball first and turning it behind.
However, the travelling fans didn’t have to wait too much longer to see their side level. On 67, De Cordova-Reid’s near-post header from a corner on the left was on its way wide until Aluko added a final touch, from an offside position, according to keeper Walton and his defenders.
The game continued to be open, Watson hitting a shot which was blocked at one end, before Clarke’s attempt at repeating his weekend goal against Sunderland was too close to Stolarczyk.
On 70, Page was booked for a foul on Clarke and a minute later the Blues restored their lead.
Walle Egeli did well to seize on some injudicious Leicester passing on the right of their box. The Norwegian found Akpom, who moved it on to Nunez, who worked himself space to hit a shot which struck Stolarczyk’s right post, flashed across his goal and into the side-netting on the others.
Leicester made two further changes on 74, among them Burns making his return to Portman Road to a rapturous reception from his old fans. Jayden Joseph joined the Welshman on the field, while Aluko and Woyo Coulibaly made way.
Town should have gone 3-1 up a minute later when Akpom was played in on goal but the striker’s shot was just beyond Stolarczyk’s left post.
The Blues handed young winger Mendel his debut in the 80, the former Chelsea and Anderlecht man replacing McAteer, while Daizen Maeda came on for Clarke. Leicester swapped Howell for Will Alves.
Town were by now well in control and looking for a third. On 85, Walle Egeli crossed from the right and Maeda was just unable to get his head on it from a yard or two out.
On 87, Davis cleared a Leicester attack and Akpom again used his physicality well to get away from his man and burst in on goal. However, Stolarczyk saved to his left to the striker’s frustration, the former Arsenal youngster deserving a goal for his performance.
In the penultimate minute, sub Alves unleashed a strike from the right that flew only just past Walton’s right post.
As six additional minutes was being read out of the new PA, Nunez sealed the victory with a goal from the top drawer. The Chilean spotted Stolarczyk off his line and from just inside the centre circle lofted the ball over the keeper, off the underside of the bar and into the roof of the net.
Nunez was replaced to an unsurprising ovation by Compton, the 18-year-old joining Mendel in making his debut.
Town got stronger as the game progressed with chances coming more and more frequently.
Akpom really should have scored the goal his overall performance deserved and Town had plenty of other chances to make the margin of victory more comfortable.
The display was scrappy at times, but that was always likely to be the case given the changes and new players coming into the team with Ouattara making his full debut and Mendel and Compton their first senior appearances as subs.
The Blues go into tomorrow evening’s draw for the third round having maintained their positive start to the season and to the O’Neil era.
Town: Walton, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Ouattara (Davis 63), Nunez (Compton 94), Humphreys, McAteer (Mendel 80), Walle Egeli, Clarke (Maeda 80), Akpom. Unused: Scherpen, Greaves, Lukic, Ogbene, Enciso.
Leicester City: Stolarczyk, Coulibaly (Joseph 74), Aluko (Burns 74), Thomas, McFarlane, Braybrooke, Howell (Alves 81), Page, Chaplin (c) (De Cordova-Reid 61), Watson, Bristric (Cullen 61). Unused: McCarthy, Souttar, Neale, Carr. Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire). Att: 21,559.
Photo: Matchday Images
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