Ipswich Town couldn’t get the better of a topsy turvy Manchester United side on their own patch on Wednesday night, despite the Red Devils finding themselves down to ten men for all of the second half owing to a Patrick Dorgu dismissal.
The Tractor Boys did put in an admirable fight, but even Ruben Amorim’s up-and-down hosts had enough to get by in the end, clinching a 3-2 Premier League win early in the second half courtesy of Harry Maguire.
Whilst there were plenty of positives to hold onto, especially with Jaden Philogene-Bidace picking up a brace, his partner on the opposing left flank in Jack Clarke attempted to flicker into life throughout, but no end product came the ex-Sunderland man’s way again.
Clarke’s frustrating season
Clarke would have been seen as one of Ipswich’s statement signings when making the leap up to the Premier League, having cost around the £15m mark to obtain from the Black Cats after a 15-goal season last time out in the Championship.
However, to date in the top-flight, the 24-year-old has zero strikes to shout about from 22 matches, with a lacklustre return of three assists nothing to write home about either.
He did have moments against a ropey Red Devils defence with two key passes accumulated, but Clarke was nowhere near his chaotic Wearside best again, having completed zero successful dribbles all night long on top of failing to hit a single effort at Andre Onana’s leaky goal.
It could be time for Kieran McKenna to axe his hot-and-cold number 47 subsequently, with the welcome return of this explosive attacker just what the doctor ordered in Suffolk.
Clarke’s “ridiculous” Ipswich replacement
Ipswich have quite the growing injury list at the moment as the likes of Julio Enciso, Wes Burns and more all find themselves sidelined.
Thankfully for McKenna, Sammie Szmodics looks to be near full fitness again after missing a large chunk of games in January, with Clarke now worried he’ll be usurped by the ex-Blackburn Rovers attacker down the left wing.
Unlike his hit-and-miss counterpart, Szmodics has also been able to translate some of his “ridiculous” goalscoring form in the second tier – as he was labelled by football journalist Josh Bunting – to the bright lights of the big time, with this acrobatic effort back in November one of four top-flight strikes he’s amassed.
He hasn’t quite hit the dizzying heights of last season where he picked up the Championship Golden Boot accolade, but Liam Delap is the only figure in the Ipswich camp this term that has more league goals at ten, meaning McKenna will hope he can add to his tally soon to push his side out of their depressing relegation doom.
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Clarke’s PL numbers (24/25) vs Szmodics |
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|---|---|---|
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Stat – per 90 mins* |
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|
Games played |
22 |
19 |
|
Goals scored |
0 |
4 |
|
Assists |
3 |
0 |
|
Touches* |
19.1 |
17.7 |
|
Shots* |
0.5 |
1.1 |
|
Big chances missed |
2 |
5 |
|
Big chances created |
3 |
0 |
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Stats by Sofascore |
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The above table further proves how much of a livewire the former Riversiders forward has been this season, with only 17.7 touches averaged per league clash, but four strikes have still come his way.
McKenna will hope the Republic of Ireland international can catch Crystal Palace cold next up in the league if he’s selected to start, having bagged a goal last time out on his travels to London when beating Bernd Leno away at Craven Cottage.
He could strike up a fine partnership with Philogene too, as his manager attempts everything in his power now to make his side even more daring at the foot of the division to try and collect some invaluable points.
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