Ipswich Secures Statement Win Against Union Berlin
Ipswich finished pre-season with a statement win in Berlin, coming from behind to beat Union 4-2 and offer a glimpse of what Gary O’Neil’s Premier League version might look like when the real thing starts next weekend.
They were slow out of the blocks. Union were not.
Zeno van den Bosch punished Town’s sluggish start, drilling in from close range after a short free-kick routine in just the ninth minute. Ipswich were still feeling their way into the game, second to loose balls, a touch off the pace.
Then the gears shifted.
Leif Davis, raiding down the left, cut the ball back with typical precision and Jack Clarke arrived right on cue, side-footing home on 16 minutes. One sharp move, one cool finish, and Ipswich were level and suddenly alive.
From there, the visitors grew. They started to punch holes in Union’s shape, particularly down the flanks. The pressure told again five minutes before the break. Sindre Walle Egeli flicked on, Emersonn reacted quickest in the six-yard box and swept Ipswich into the lead on 40 minutes.
Union wobbled. Town smelled blood.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, the captain stepped up. Dara O’Shea, pushed out to right-back again, strode onto a loose ball at the edge of the box and ripped a thunderous drive into the top left corner. 45+1 minutes on the clock, 3-1 to Ipswich, and the away end roaring in disbelief at the quality of the strike.
Union needed a response and found one after the break. On 53 minutes, Josip Juranovic darted in behind and delicately lifted the ball over Kjell Scherpen to drag the Bundesliga side back into it. A reminder that, for all Ipswich’s attacking verve, there is still work to do defensively.
O’Neil turned to his bench. It paid off.
With 12 minutes left, substitute Anis Mehmeti swung in a teasing cross from the right and Kasey McAteer, also off the bench, met it first time to restore the two-goal cushion. One touch, one finish, 4-2. Game done.
Union Berlin lined up in a 4-2-3-1: Klaus; Juranovic, Van den Bosch, Friedrich, Rothe; Khedira, Kemlein; Latte Lath, Jeong, Burcu; Ansah, with Raab, Querfeld, Kohn, Ljubjic, Schafer, Skarke, Guther and Haberer all seeing minutes from the bench.
Ipswich also went 4-2-3-1: Scherpen; O’Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Lukic, Nunez; Walle Egeli, Clarke, Maeda; Emersonn. O’Neil used his squad too, with Philogene, Furlong, Humphreys, Akpom, Mehmeti, Kipre, McAteer and Johnson all introduced. Attendance: 12,421.
O’Shea on the right – and in the goals
The team sheet told its own story. O’Shea at right-back again, Darnell Furlong and Ben Johnson both waiting their turn on the bench.
This wasn’t a one-off experiment. O’Neil did the same against Rayo Vallecano last week, and repeating it here, in the final friendly before the Premier League kick-off, feels significant. It looks less like a stop-gap and more like a plan.
With Issa Diop and Jacob Greaves paired in the middle, this set-up gets the skipper on the pitch without breaking up that partnership. It also asks O’Shea to do a different job: defend the flank, push on when the space opens, and offer a bit more thrust than he would from centre-back.
He answered. His goal – a rasping drive into the top corner from the edge of the box – came from exactly that licence to step in. He has spoken before about preferring to play centrally, but his attitude has never suggested a problem with filling in where the team needs him.
Furlong could still force his way back into the XI. The club could still add another right-back, with Abdoul Ouattara due to arrive from Strasbourg and potentially an option there. For now, though, all the clues point to O’Shea starting on that side against Sunderland.
Clarke pulls the strings in the No.10 role
O’Neil sprung another subtle tweak in Berlin: Clarke through the middle.
Nominally the No.10, he floated between the lines, sometimes drifting wide, sometimes darting beyond the striker. It’s not new – he filled that role at times last season and again earlier this summer – but doing it here, in the dress rehearsal, felt revealing.
He looked at home. His equaliser came from timing his run into the box perfectly to meet Davis’ cutback. Later, he peeled out to the right and whipped in a superb cross for Emersonn to finish, underlining the value of having a creator who can hurt teams from multiple zones.
Long term, Julio Enciso is expected to be the main operator in that central pocket once his return to Portman Road is finalised. On the left, Daizen Maeda looks nailed on, with Jaden Philogene back in the picture too.
Clarke’s versatility could be priceless. He can cover the wing, he can drive the game from the middle, and he arrives for the Premier League opener in sharp, confident form. Where he fits when everyone is available will be one of the early-season subplots.
Philogene back in blue – but what next?
Jaden Philogene’s summer has been noisy. Rumours, interest, talk of a move. Yet, as it stands, Ipswich have not received an offer for him.
Injury has kept him away from most of pre-season. A hamstring problem restricted him to the gym and the training ground at Playford Road while his team-mates built rhythm. He still travelled to the German capital and, crucially, he finally got back on the pitch.
Named on the bench, he replaced Maeda at half-time and immediately looked like himself again: sharp feet, quick changes of direction, a willingness to shoot. He flicked and feinted his way down the left, but the final product just eluded him. Rust, perhaps. Or simply a game that had tilted away from his flank.
Even so, seeing him in an Ipswich shirt again, a week out from the Premier League return, is a clear positive. The question that hangs over it all remains simple and unanswered: will he still be wearing it when the window closes?
A strong finish – and a few warnings
Strip away the “just a friendly” caveat and this was an encouraging way to end the summer.
Ipswich’s pre-season started slowly as players built fitness and new signings settled. The last two friendlies have felt different: sharper, more cohesive, closer to the intensity that will be required when the points are real.
In Berlin, Town never completely strangled the game. Their most dominant spell came in that first-half burst when they hit three, but they largely kept Union at arm’s length in their own stadium. Against a Bundesliga side, even in August, that matters.
There were stand-outs. Clarke and Walle Egeli caught the eye with their movement and invention. Sasa Lukic delivered a composed, efficient debut in midfield. Several of the starters looked close to ready.
The blemishes were obvious. Both Union goals were avoidable: the first from a quickly-taken free-kick that caught Ipswich cold, the second arriving while the back line switched off and left Juranovic too much room. Scherpen will not enjoy the replays, though he was far from the only one at fault.
Those lapses give O’Neil something concrete to hammer home on the training ground this week. The structure looks promising. The details still need tightening.
Ready for the real thing?
Seven public pre-season games, four wins, one draw, two defeats. A steady climb in performance levels. Players fitter, patterns clearer, the manager’s tactical and physical demands taking root.
Now comes the leap.
The Premier League will not care about encouraging signs in Berlin or tidy combinations in Spain. It will punish hesitation, reward bravery and expose any side that arrives undercooked.
Ipswich look close to where they want to be. Whether that is enough, we start to find out when Sunderland walk out at Portman Road next Saturday at 3pm.
