West Bromwich Albion 0 - Ipswich Town 0

Date:	Saturday 25th April 2026
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 7.4	(4-4-2) O'Leary 6.7, Imray 7.7, Furlong 4.5, Phillips 7.2, Campbell 6.8, Styles 7.2, Molumby 7.2, Diakité 7.6, Mowatt 6.7 (Grant, 79 5.6), Price 7.0, Dike 6.8 (Maja, 71 5.9), Heggebø 6.2 (Bany, 88 6.1) Unused subs: Griffiths, Gilchrist, Jimoh-Aloba, Taylor, Bostock, Sule Manager: James Morrison (c) 8.5
Ipswich: 6.0	(3-4-2-1) Walton, Furlong 4.5, O'Shea, Kipré, McAteer (Burns, 75), Matusiwa, Taylor, Greaves, Mehmeti (Núñez, 65), Clarke (Philogene, 65), Azon (Hirst, 75) Unused subs: Palmer, Neil, Cajuste, Johnson, Akpom
Referee:	Matt Donohue 4.5
Attendance:	25,318 Home Fans 8.7 Away Fans 6.3

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Ratings submitted so far: 18

oshawabaggie:

Heart still pounding. I thought our dominance for sixty minutes without scoring would come back to bite us. But phew! Safe for another season. Mozza has done a fantastic job. If he's not kept on as manager it will be a travesty. My only criticism today was keeping Heggebo on too long, but hey...

The big question now is who we are going to keep and how we rebuild. But tonight let's celebrate. Boing Boing!

Brendan Clegg:

The points deduction news a couple of days ago, whilst ostensibly ludicrous and absolutely warranting an appeal, meant that this challenging game still had a lot of meaning.

And with Heggebø coming into the 11 for the only change, we set up for the scrap and to take it to them.

And that’s what we did in another entertaining one where we had big chances, might have won it but also suffered spells of pressure and hung on a bit.

First half was two good teams going at it and I felt we edged it.

Ipswich had legs, energy, strength some physicality and some useful players. They had some spells and decent bits of possession; they also had a decent chance via a ball over Campbell in which their player lobbed the onrushing O’Leary but was off target.

But we created the better chances - Kipre looked a bit ropey and Dike capitalised on a dopey moment to nick the ball and draw a great save 1v1, and Phillips powered a big header from a great position straight at their keeper have created the move by striding into their half, playing it wide and getting on the end of it.

Elsewhere, and this might be seen to be very harsh, I was quite frustrated by the number of our players who blew really great situations and opportunities by being a bit ‘olè football’ and trying to do things that are generally beyond them when there was a much simpler option. A bit of over-confidence creeping in?

Examples were a couple of times Molumby trying flicks and losing the ball or that stupid over clever backheel to Styles on the overlap when a simple pass had him in, Diakite trying screamers and hurting his foot in the process, Mowatt’s occasional silly Hollywood ball or to try and dribble through people and even Imray trying the ‘one too many’ dribble when a cross or corner would have been fine.

I also thought Heggebø’s quality was dreadful despite his undoubted industry. His shooting from half chances was poor and his lay off in very good openings, often after his own good hustle and bustle, were just not good enough.

Still, we’d been good again and I was content at half time, reflecting that Ipswich looked decent but that it was another example of how even the league is and just how poor it is overall.

After the break I was expecting the slow start we’ve seen in recent weeks but we had a decent spell and had a couple of big opportunities- a header from a corner that was close and looked like a big chance, and Dike again forcing a good save from a cutback from our right… he probably should have e done better.

You could see the tiredness kick in and for the last 30 mins or so we were sloppy, leggy and just counter-punched when we could.

We needed legs from the bench but took too long to get them on and then, in my opinion, swapped the wrong striker as Dike made way for Maja.

Mozza’s second sub, Mowatt for Grant, I’d have made first and much earlier.

I felt at this point we just couldn’t get any momentum but we did keep running and ground a point out although we were hanging on.Bany came on for Heggebø and in a bit of an alien role did hold the ball okay.

Ipswich had some moments - the best being when their left forward missed a glorious chance at the back stick by kicking the floor.

And the ref was poor I thought - the booking of Campbell for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge in which his opponent was far more aggressive and jumped into it only to be overpowered was perplexing.

We saw it out with no dramas and ‘settled it on the pitch’ - the players fully deserved the atmosphere generated by the crowd in the last 5 minutes especially and then for the warm lap of appreciation.

10 unbeaten in a run that included many of the top 6 with the players we’ve had available is just incredible, built on the back of a goals against record that would have us competing for the top 2. Let’s hope we end the season in style next week.

O’Leary - 7 Did everything needed. Has no doubt made us better… did spill one though.
Styles - 7 As reliable and energetic both ways. Deserves the player of the season award.
Phillips - 7 Towering, should have scored one today.
Campbell - 7 A couple of errors against a good side but overall very good.
Imray - 8 For me should be our number 1 priority, looks like a real talent to be developed. Can’t imagine it’s gone unnoticed to other clubs.
Price - 7 Another huge effort.
Diakite - 7 Looked powerful and classy around some very good players
Mowatt - 6 Mostly good but the tempo and heat did tire him from about 50 mins
Molumby - 7 a lot to like but needs to cut the over-playing out… it’s not him
Dike - 7 Gave them a bit of a battering
Heggebø - 6 Has he scored under Mozza? He definitely hasn’t scored enough? Runs and battles but we do need more.

Maja, Grant, Bany - They all did fine but we couldn’t get momentum back. Bany needed to cross earlier for that one opp he was put through in.

Kev Buckley:

One to forget brings the one point that allows the forgetting to start

As "pivotal games at both ends of the division" go, this one didn't really demonstrate that either end of the division is all that far away from the other, but then again, it has to say something when the matchday squad of the side that went second after this nil-nil draw, contained four players who, but for a naear failure to avoid falling foul of financial fair-play, could still have been at the other, for which the point saw the drop avoided

Albion tried a bit of deception as early as the first minute, by eschewing the long-throw towards their "up from the back" defenders: opting for a short one, ahead of a cross delivery that still resulted in a Phillips header going well over.

As twenty minutes approached, Diakite clearly "fancied a dig" only to fall to the ground, and require a couple of minutes' treatment in the aftermath of said dig.

Shortly after that, Kipre, who was at his lacksadasical best all game, assumed that his keeper would claim a ball that the latter clearly had no intention of coming for, which allowed Dike a chance that he failed to capitalise on, in shooting straight at the keeper.

As if to redress the balance, Albion's central defenders got a bit sloppy and allowed an Ipswich striker a chance to chip O'Leary, a chance which also went begging.

On the half-hour Phillips strode out from the back, fed his wide player and carried on into the box, from where he could only head the return cross at the keeper.

Ipswich then seemed to have free men everywhere but still blazed one over, before the half ended with a couple of Albion efforts. The first seeing Heggebø spinning in a packed box and getting off a shot that went just wide, before Mowatt curled one the keeper was forced into palming away.

Five minutes into the second half and Molumby and Imray combined well down the right to set up Dike, but his shot gave the keeper a chance to save it, and save it he did.

Twenty minutes later, with Ipswich's substitutions seeing them camped around the Albion box, O'Leary spills a shot from distance which Kipre, up from the back from the preceding corner, taps in, only to see the goal ruled off for offside.

Morrison then swapped two players who might not be at the club next season: Maja replacing Dike, and, ten minutes after that swapped Mowatt for Grant, but, as with so many of his appearances over the six years of his contract, Grant went into the one (only?) position he seems able to play in, which saw Price, the player who had started at wide-left, moved over to the right, as have so many others who have been moved to accommodate KG. Molumby also shuffled back inside.

With two to go, Bany replaced Heggebø, but that was about it, with the goal-less draw seeing Ipswich remaining on course for automatic promotion, and Albion, some 29 points behind them, remaining in the division.

Interesting to speculate as to how many of the matchday squads might have played their last game at The Hawthorns - at least, in the case of our ex-player quartet now with Ipswich, if only for a season.

Interesting too, now that Albion will will effectively be starting from scratch again, to see whether we return to the long-term plan that our new owners brought with them to the club, or whether that now gets thrown into the bin and forgotten - though it's a good bet the season certainly will be.