Omari Hutchinson’s first-half goal handed the Tractor Boys victory at St. Mary’s, moving Ipswich up to second place in the Championship and handing Southampton their third straight loss.
Prior to Hutchinson capitalizing on a Saints defensive blunder to give the high-flying Suffolk team the lead on the half-hour, they had already had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up.
Ipswich had all the opportunities, although Conor Chaplin hit the crossbar for the visitors immediately after, and Wes Burns’ shot barely missed the target right before halftime.
Ipswich, who are still unbeaten on the road this year, moves up to 11th in the standings and stays within one point of league-leading Preston.
After being humiliated 5-0 by Sunderland and losing 4-1 to Leicester on Friday, Southampton’s dismal September run of results has continued.
In contrast, Ipswich has enjoyed success in the Championship thus far and has already won six of their last seven league games since being promoted from League One.
After Chaplin bundled the ball home inside the first seven minutes, Kieran McKenna’s team felt they had taken the lead. However, the goal was disallowed for a relatively minor foul on Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.
The greatest opportunity of the half fell to the hosts’ Shea Charles, who headed the ball wide of Vaclav Hladky’s far post.
This season, Southampton’s porous defense has allowed them to give up the most goals of any club in the division, and another lapse there nearly gave Ipswich their goal.
Charles was sauntering with the ball just outside of his own area when Hutchinson seized it from him. The 19-year-old then played a one-two with Chaplin before slotting in his first goal of the year.
Chaplin nearly increased the advantage by picking Southampton’s pockets for the ball once more, but as he attempted to clip the ball over Bazunu, his chip hit the crossbar.
When Southampton pushed for an equalizer, Che Adams forced Hladky to make a save. Then, Russell Martin started making substitutions to try to bring his team back on equal footing, but to no effect.
Russell Martin, the manager of Southampton, said on BBC Radio Solent:
“With Shea, we had the best opportunity of the game, and we were penalized for a small error.
They arrived, scored, and then played outstanding defense. If Shea scores, the game is over.
“The guys gave it their all and gave it their best shot; it’s not for lack of effort; it’s just that we don’t handle disappointment well.”
“As a group, we still have a lot of emotional scar tissue from last season, especially here and especially at St. Mary’s. I just told them that, regrettably, right now, our season is being defined by how we handle setbacks, and in such situations, they must be braver than ever.
We can only survive by going through experiences like that and learning from them. Teams are currently given a goal start, which makes it extremely difficult.
Kieran McKenna, the Ipswich manager, stated on BBC Radio Suffolk:
“I believe they have given everything they have once more. Really proud of them; they gave a fantastic performance.
We had to present different parts of ourselves tonight, no matter what. Both teams were adjusting to the playing field’s irregularities at the beginning of the game, but we gained confidence.
“We began to play our game, we pressed bravely, we were rewarded with a goal, and I think that was when we started to play some really excellent things.
The players once again did that, and the outcome is just compensation for everything they put into the game. “In that situation where it’s 1-0, you’re up against a top team tonight bringing on top players so we’re going to have to dig in the last 20 minutes and show resilience, organization, and push ourselves to the limits,” the coach said.
