Struggling Rotherham earned a point from a late equaliser by Christ Tiehi against high-flying Ipswich, who lost the opportunity to reduce Leicester’s lead at the top of the Championship to a single point.
Report and complimentary highlights from Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship game between Ipswich Town and Rotherham United at New York Stadium Matt Taylor’s Millers earned a well-earned point thanks to a goal from Christ Tiehi in stoppage time in the second half.
Tuesday night, Christ Tiehi proved to be Rotherham’s saviour as the Millers emerged with a point from an entertaining 2-2 draw with Ipswich thanks to his goal in second-half stoppage time.
Within five minutes, summer signing Sam Nombe scored the team’s first goal, giving Matt Taylor’s team an unexpected lead. However, Sam Morsy soon levelled the score with an absolutely brilliant move from the training ground.
After a mainly dull second half, Jack Taylor’s close-range finish appeared to have put the Tractor Boys ahead, but Tiehi stunned everyone with a spectacular strike in the 91st minute to give Rotherham a much-needed point.
With one more game before the November international break, Ipswich can now close the gap to three points, one point behind Championship leaders Leicester even if Taylor’s goal would have won. In the meantime, the Millers get to four points of safety.
The way Ipswich was turned down at the New York
It appeared as though the script was written for this match at the New York Stadium, which was originally postponed on October 20 due to the River Don breaking its banks during Storm Babet. Ipswich was playing match play with Leicester at the top of the table, and Rotherham was already fighting at the bottom.
Unusually for the Millers, they pressed high right away and took a surprising lead in less than five minutes when Fred Onyedinma grabbed the ball after Davis drove on and laid it on a plate for Nombe to score.
But their lead had only lasted for fifteen minutes. With his back to the six-yard box, Davis prepared to lift a free kick from the right, but instead he squared for the unmarked Morsy, who finished the pass easily into the top-left corner.
Additionally, Town was denied a penalty just before halftime. Although Odoffin caught Hirst with his right leg in the box, it appeared that Hirst’s antics following the contact decided the referee’s call.
Both teams were unable to seize control of the game during a large portion of the second half. Axel Tuanzebe’s header seemed to hit Georgie Kelly’s hand, but spot-kick appeals were again dismissed. Later, Kelly forced a rare save from Vaclav Hladky after a bit of pinball in the box.
After 87 minutes, Rotherham’s tenacious players managed to tie the score when Tiehi scored a thunderous goal after Kelly’s blocked shot fell to him. However, the visitors eventually took the lead when Oliver Rathbone’s attempted clearance hit Taylor and bobbled over the line.
“We put in a lot of work. We got off to such a great start in the game, and these players have such a great sense of character and spirit. They scored an equalising goal, which put us slightly behind in terms of our self-esteem, showed that they were occasionally a little naive. We had to defend our box in the second half, but we also needed to take full advantage of those set-piece opportunities.
The ricochet that resulted in their second goal felt a little harsh at the time, but it was a significant moment for Christ Tiehi when the ball dropped to him and he scored in the top corner.
McKenna: Ipswich was not given two distinct penalties.
“I think most players had a pretty good experience with the way the game looked. Since they have three games this week, I hope it hasn’t worn them out too much. We need to work on our away form because our home form can only take us so far. We’re not stupid enough to think we can just keep gaining ground, and maybe this weekend, after a satisfying evening, that will be the case.”
“It’s difficult to give up an early goal in any away Championship game, but I can’t really hold the players accountable for anything from that point on until the final set-piece. I think the second half of our performance was fantastic, and we did a great job sticking to the plan, playing the entire game, and gradually taking the lead.
To be honest, I felt that we were worth two penalties and we scored two goals. George’s penalty, in my opinion, was a clear penalty from the header with Kelly’s arm outstretched in front of the referee, well beyond his body. Although this season we haven’t had a penalty yet, things happen. I believed we did enough to win the game even after accounting for the penalties.
