The West Stand Senior on Ipswich vs Manchester United

Pre-match thoughts

This match feels big to me. They may not be doing so well this year, but the weight of the fame, tradition and history of Manchester United as a club are the stuff of legend and awe. Ipswich has its own impressive history as a club, but the idea of this clash 2-3 years ago would have seemed like a crazy dream.

Apart from their many memorable players, I have never forgotten the shockingly tragic pictures of the broken plane in the snow at Munich airport that covered the front pages of the news in 1958. I was eleven years old. While it's not something one wants as an abiding memory, it is at the same time, for me, so poignantly impossible to forget.

Two really nice guys from South London on the train predicted a draw, and at the station it seemed a good omen that Becky allowed me two Ipswich Foundation stickers.

First half

A groan went up when we conceded a goal within the first 2 minutes, but we carried on to play so well in the next 46 that without Onana, we would have been on the score sheet several times, with both DeLap and Szmodics coming close.

When our equaliser came in the 43rd, it was a stunner, even with the slight deflection that helped us at last crack their goalkeeper's sterling performance. Thoroughly deserved first Premier League goal by 21-year-old Omari Hutchinson, who has been assisting as well as threatening in all our games this season.

Half time

An optimistic buzz was in the air – if we kept on playing with the same intensity, a second or third goal seemed inevitable and the defence were doing a sterling job of keeping the opposition at bay. There was no Ipswich player who could be said not to be playing at their very best.

Second half

We escaped conceding a goal in the first few minutes of this half and turned up the pressure again, but though there were several nearly moments, a winning goal was not to be. DeLap and Chapman had chances that just fell short. The game grew more even but also slightly more ragged from both sides, but I still felt that Ipswich had the edge on balance. Jens Cajuste pulled off a brilliant block in front of goal, which saved us from a certain clear shot by Garnacho.

Our substitutes were not strong, but this is in part due to injury.

Ipswich 1-1 Manchester United.

Men of the Match

Tough to pick this week from so many good performances - Omari Hutchinson, Axel Tuanzebe, Sam Morsy, Liam DeLap and Cam Burgess all featured.

If I had to choose, it would be Omari Hutchinson, who at one point outran and outwitted five of their players – it was a thing of beauty to behold.

A man of the match award for the away team would undoubtedly go to Amadou Onana.

Round up

The referee was pretty good all in all, which makes for a better game. It would seem that Mark Ashton's conversation with Howard Webb has perhaps borne fruit?

Many of our passing and evading moves were sublime, and we outran the opposition on many occasions, especially in the first half. United looked sluggish and, I think, unsure of their formation, which was often shapeless.

This may be because of a new manager's tinkering for only one week, but I was surprised when at times the whole Manchester United team were running around en masse after the ball like a team of 12-year-olds.

Today cemented for me our right to be in the Premier League, strangely more so than all our previous games.

Muric made some excellent saves but also seemed to have a catatonic moment to let in the first goal. It was almost as though he was thinking "Hang on chaps, I'm not ready yet!" Their goalie saved their bacon.

View from the train

People were mostly content, but a few thought it almost felt like a loss, as we looked the better side for much of the game.

Ipswich are playing really exciting football which is great to watch. I love their energy and that they rarely time-waste or fall over a blade of grass like some players in the Premier League, who have dramatic art included on their training schedule.

Agreement was reached that our team just gets better and better.

Re Manchester United's new manager? Ruben Amorim has work to do.