Pre-season match report: Hoffenheim 0-1 Ipswich Town

The Blues were the better side throughout the 90 minutes, getting a well-deserved goal through Jack Taylor just before half time to seal the win. They could've been more comfortable, but will be encouraged by a strong performance.

The early stages of the game were incredibly comfortable, with Ipswich enjoying spells in possession and predominantly playing in the opposition’s half. However, they threatened to really threaten. Liam Delap and Luke Woolfenden were played into good areas, but neither of them managed to connect with the ball.

Omari Hutchinson returned to action in Kufstein (Image: Ross Halls)

As the rain hammered down, the pitch began to cut up badly. It saw Sam Morsy mis-timed a slide tackle, catching Tom Bischof while avoiding a yellow card. In the 20th minute, Conor Chaplin tried to play Delap through on goal again, but he was beaten to the ball by Oliver Baumann.

The goalkeeper was left red-faced as he was caught high up the pitch when Hoffenheim gave away the ball. Leif Davis attempted to capitalise on the open goal but hit the side netting from a tight angle just before the half-hour mark.

The Blues kept pushing, with Morsy taking aim from distance nine minutes before the break, narrowly curling over the bar. Four minutes later, new signing Ben Johnson fizzed a shot across the face of goal from outside the box. It was clear they needed to push forward more.

Jack Taylor gave Town the lead just before the break (Image: Ross Halls)

Set pieces offered the best opportunity for that, and Town were awarded a corner shortly after Delap curled an effort into Baumann’s gloves. Davis played it short to Omari Hutchinson, who squared it into the box. It bobbled past one or two bodies before finding Taylor, who smashed it into the net from close range in the 43rd minute.

It gave Ipswich extra confidence. Jacob Greaves came close shortly before half time, as did Chaplin, who hit the side netting.

Hoffenheim had their first chance three minutes into the second half as Andrej Kramaric flicked on a corner to Ihlas Bebou, whose powerful effort from close range forced Arijanet Muric into a great save. Chaplin came close up the other end of the pitch a few seconds later, firing narrowly wide.Sam Morsy played the first half of the clash (Image: Ross Halls)

It was the woodwork that prevented Town from doubling their lead. Taylor’s surging run saw him hit the near post from the left flank in the 54th minute, with substitute Wes Burns curling a show shot onto the opposite post less than 60 seconds later.

The final 30 minutes were quite slow, as expected in a pre-season friendly where wholesale changes needed time to get up to speed in the game. Town looked comfortable with their lead, although Christian Walton was called into action a couple times to see out the win as Hoffenheim pushed for an equaliser.

Hoffenheim XI: 3-4-3: Baumann; Drexler (Strobl 63'), Moerstedt (Behrens 76'), Akpoguma (Kalambayi 85'); Kaderabek (Damar 76'), Promel (Samassekou 85'), Stach (Szalai 85'), Bulter (Justvan 76'); Kramaric (Grillitsch 46'), Bebou (Micheler 85'), Bischof (Bruun Larsen 63')

Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Muric (Walton 77'); Johnson (Tuanzebe 46’), Woolfenden (Edmundson 46’), Greaves (Burgess 46’), Davis (Townsend 63’); Morsy (Luongo 46’), Taylor (Carr 73'); Hutchinson (Burns 46’), Chaplin (Foyo 86'), Harness (Ayinde 86'); Delap (Ladapo 63’)