Ipswich Town returned to winning ways after consecutive 2-2 draws, beating Swansea City 3-2 at Portman Road.
The Blues fell behind early on after Jay Fulton headed home from close range, but goals from Jack Taylor, Conor Chaplin and George Hirst sent them into the international break with three points, moving Town level on points with league leaders Leicester City despite Jamal Lowe's late consolation.
Many teams have started to push numbers up and press Ipswich early on, which Swansea did, winning a soft free-kick off Taylor around 25 yards out. The delivery was cleared by the former Peterborough United man as far as Jamal Lowe, who crossed into the box for Fulton, allowing him to rise up unmarked and flick a header into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead after seven minutes.
Of course, Town are good at trading blow-for-blow, and a short corner from Leif Davis almost allowed Chaplin to equalise just a few seconds later. He couldn’t hit the target, however, and the pressure eased off.
Soon after, a curling effort from Omari Hutchinson was caught by Carl Rushworth after some neat footwork from the Chelsea loanee on the edge of the area, with Jerry Yates close to responding from point-blank range before his shot was intercepted.
The Blues needed a moment of magic, which they got from none other than Taylor, who picked up the ball on the left after the ball was played back to him by Chaplin. From there, he let rip from around 25 yards out, firing a stunning effort into the back of the net to equalise in the 17th minute.
They clearly smelled blood. Cameron Burgess saw a header saved from a corner by Rushworth before Hirst was beaten to the rebound. It kickstarted a manic few minutes where Chaplin was played through on goal, but he inexplicably squared the ball to a Swansea defender rather than going for goal.
Hutchinson tried to atone from the error after ending up in the same position, but he smacked his shot straight at Rushworth before Chaplin fired the rebound over the bar.
It was much more like the Town we’ve seen in recent weeks, and they had the finishing touch to take the lead in the 22nd minute. A throw-in found its way to Hirst, who held it up superbly before turning and setting up Chaplin, who had a simple tap-in to put his side ahead.
Swansea managed to ease the pressure a little bit around the half-hour mark, but not before a quick headed flick-on from Chaplin played Hirst through. The striker was quickly closed down, however, rolling his shot narrowly past the post.
The last big chance of the half came right before stoppage time was announced, as Sam Morsy shrugged off a clear foul to play Hirst into the box. From there, it looked like a simple finish for the striker, but Rushworth stretched out to pull of an incredible save, keeping the score at 2-1.
Ipswich started fast in the second half, putting the ball in the net within the first five minutes of the restart. A corner from Leif Davis was met by the onrushing Harry Clarke, who powered a header past Rushworth before the flag was raised for a foul.
Swansea, clearly sensing the opportunity to turn the match into an all-out brawl, started to take an aggressive approach to the game. Referee Sunny Singh Gill had been keen to let play continue as much as possible, put couldn't ignore the moment that Jack Taylor was pulled down inside the box during a free-kick, awarding Town their first penalty of the season.
Hirst, who's been frustrated by the missed penalty calls that his team have been on the wrong end of so far this season, was chosen to step up, confidently firing the spot-kick past Rushworth to extent the hosts' lead in the 53rd minute.
Swansea weren't put off in their attempts of turning the match into a WrestleMania main event, with forward Liam Cullen taking up a starring role in the 69th minute after picking up a yellow card in the first half. The referee had no option but to give him a second one for pulling down Davis on the edge of the area, making Michael Duff's men finish the match with 10 men.
Stoppages killed the tempo at the end of the game, with susbtitute Dane Scarlett booked for a foul that Duff clearly believed to be a red-card, leading to the Swansea boss receiving a booking.
His side struck back deep into stoppage time as Lowe ran through Ipswich's defence before firing past Vaclav Hladky, although they were unable to find an equaliser to leave Suffolk with a point.
Town XI: Hladky; Clarke; Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Taylor (Luongo 77'); Hutchinson (Burns 63'), Chaplin (Scarlett 77'), Broadhead (Harness 63'); Hirst (Ladapo 89')
Attendance: 28,929 (674 away)
