sport news Ipswich 1-3 Fulham: Harry Wilson, Rodrigo Muniz and Tom Cairney strike as ... trends now
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Fulham can be forgiven for feeling as though a fourth-round trip to Portman Road was like walking into the eye of a storm on a night when Storm Ciaran threatened to batter parts of the nation.
There was no sign of any howling wind or torrential rain in East Anglia. Yet the visitors deserve credit, nonetheless, for weathering the hurricane that is Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich, especially on their turf.
To put it simply, Ipswich do not lose on home soil. It’s nearly time to haul the Christmas decorations from the loft and still the Tractor Boys have only lost once at Portman Road in 2023.
In that time, 18 sides have left with their tails between their legs. Some swept aside, others blown away. But Fulham proved the perfect storm chasers and proved too strong for the hosts to withstand.
The early warning signs were there when the Premier League side went ahead inside the opening ten minutes. Few inside Portman Road will have seen their side carved open in the manner they were for Harry Wilson’s opener for a long time.
Harry Wilson put Fulham ahead from close range in the ninth minute against Ipswich
Wilson latched on to Bobby de Cordova-Reid's pass and took it around keeper Christian Walton
The hosts never threatened to set up a nervy finish, with Rodrigo Muniz and Tom Cairney putting the game out of sight early in the second half for Fulham.
Substitute Elkan Baggott helped to soften the blow of this defeat with a late consolation but Ipswich will dearly hope this defeat proves to be inconsequential in their promotion push.
The fact they can even be in the conversation for a return to the Premier League just a few months on from being promoted from the third tier of English football is remarkable in itself.
