Ipswich Town missed an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Championship by three points as they settled for a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough at home.
Despite dominating the early stages, Ipswich found themselves trailing to Emmanuel Latte Lath’s header. However, Massimo Luongo volleyed in the equalizer just 11 minutes later.
Jeremy Sarmiento struck the post soon after the equalizer, with Omari Hutchinson also posing a threat early in the second half. Ipswich owed gratitude to goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky, who made two outstanding saves in quick succession with just 10 minutes remaining.
The draw leaves Ipswich one point ahead at the top of the table with three games remaining, following Leeds United’s defeat to Blackburn in Saturday’s early kickoff and Leicester City’s 1-0 loss to Plymouth Argyle on Friday night.
Conor Chaplin came close twice in the early stages, and Sarmiento looked menacing, but it was Middlesbrough who took a surprise lead through Finn Azaz’s pass to Luke Ayling, whose cross was met by Latte Lath for his fifth goal in five games.
After Omari Hutchinson narrowly missed guiding a shot wide of the top corner, Ipswich leveled the scores when Leif Davis’ corner found Luongo at the far post, and he rifled in off the crossbar.
Ipswich had a chance to take the lead soon after when Sarmiento chipped Dieng, but his effort clipped the post, and Ali Al-Hamadi’s follow-up shot was blocked.
Latte Lath had a promising opportunity blocked by Lukas Engel just before halftime, while Hutchinson’s effort was thwarted eight minutes into the second half after beating his opponent.
The goalkeepers took center stage in the final stages as both teams pushed for a winner. Hladky made an impressive save to deny Sam Greenwood’s long-range strike, while Dieng denied Hutchinson soon after. However, it was Ipswich’s Czech goalkeeper who stole the show with two magnificent saves with just 10 minutes left, first thwarting Isiah Jones’ close-range effort and then tipping over Matt Clarke’s header from the resulting corner.