Ipswich vs Sheffield United: Philogene hat-trick powers 5-0 win and ends Portman Road drought

Philogene hat-trick ends Ipswich’s home drought in five-goal statement

Five goals, a first home league win in eight months, and a first senior treble for Jaden Philogene. Portman Road got the catharsis it craved as Ipswich Town thrashed Sheffield United 5-0 in the Championship on Friday night. It was the kind of clean, ruthless performance that has been missing since December, and it arrived against a side in freefall. For the home crowd, this felt like a reset as much as a result—the night the gears finally meshed in a season that started with stumbles. For the visitors, it was another painful reminder of how hard the climb back will be.

Ipswich vs Sheffield United tilted early and never swung back. Philogene, operating off the left and gliding inside at will, bent the opener into the far corner on 20 minutes and never looked back. In the second half he took over the game, scoring twice more with the kind of calm finishing that makes a winger look like a striker in disguise. George Hirst added a striker’s goal through the keeper’s legs, and Jack Clarke capped the night late on after Japhet Tanganga’s effort broke kindly. By then, the contest was long gone.

The win matters for more than the scoreline. Kieran McKenna’s team had been stuck waiting for a first league victory of the 2025/26 campaign and, more specifically, a first home league success since beating Chelsea 3-1 on December 30. That wait ended in emphatic fashion. The energy in the stands matched the intensity on the pitch. You could feel the relief with every forward run and every tackle that stuck.

Philogene was the difference-maker and the tone-setter. In the 20th minute, he drifted inside from the left, took his touch early, and curled low across the keeper into the far corner. It looked simple because he made it simple—first touch out of his feet, angle set, finish placed. It also settled nerves. Ipswich had controlled the ball to that point, but one clean strike put United on edge and opened space for the rest of the night.

The home side came out after the break with the same intent. Six minutes into the second half, Philogene picked up a loose ball near the box, slalomed across the line of retreating defenders, and lashed a low shot past Michael Cooper. That goal felt like a dagger. Sheffield United had survived to half-time, regrouped, and then conceded to the same player in the same area. The belief drained. On 61 minutes, Hirst made it three, reading a heavy touch inside the area and slipping the ball through Cooper’s legs with a striker’s instinct. The finish was tidy; the build-up was messy from the Blades, and Hirst punished it.

Philogene wasn’t done. On 68 minutes he completed his hat-trick with the most eye-catching of the three—quick feet to the right, a snap shot back across goal, and the net rippled again. It was clinical and cold, and it confirmed the gulf in confidence between the sides. The fifth arrived on 78 minutes, Clarke reacting first after Tanganga’s effort took a deflection. One swing, one bounce, one final cheer.

• 20' — Philogene curls in the opener, cutting inside from the left.
• 51' — Philogene doubles the lead with a dribble and low finish.
• 61' — Hirst slots through the keeper’s legs for three.
• 68' — Philogene completes his treble with a sharp finish across goal.
• 78' — Clarke pounces after Tanganga’s effort deflects into his path.

Look a little deeper, and the selection tweaks mattered. McKenna made two notable changes after the 2-2 draw with Derby County. Darnell Furlong came in at right-back for his Town debut, adding pace and a steady outlet down the flank. Ashley Young dropped out of the squad entirely, and that alone changed the athletic profile of the back line. Higher starting positions, earlier crosses, and a bit more bite in duels—it added up.

Chuba Akpom also made his first start, taking the No. 10 role behind Hirst after Conor Chaplin left on loan for Portsmouth. Akpom did what a good support striker should: he occupied defensive midfielders, received on the half-turn, and drew fouls in clever spots. It gave Hirst a partner to bounce off and left Philogene isolated one-v-one more often. That’s exactly where Ipswich wanted the game. When the winger got isolation, he won it.

The balance across the front four clicked. Hirst stretched the line and pressed from the front, pulling a center-back around and creating channels for runners. Philogene and Clarke attacked from the wings with opposite movements—one coming inside, the other stepping outside—and Akpom threaded the early pass when it was on. It wasn’t complicated football. It was repeatable football with a purpose: win the second ball, run at the gaps, shoot early.

Credit the defense, too. Tanganga played with a calm head, stepped in to intercept at the right moments, and kept the ball moving. Furlong’s debut brought a bit of aggression wide right without losing shape behind the ball. Ipswich didn’t sit deep, but they didn’t leave the back door open either. When Sheffield United did break, the recovery runs were committed, and the first contact on crosses was usually blue.

For the Blades, this was a tough watch. Under head coach Ruben Selles, the team is now five defeats from five in the league. That equals the club’s worst start to an EFL season since 1995/96 in the second tier. They haven’t scored since opening day, and it shows in how they play: hesitant at the final pass, tentative when a shot is on. The defensive side wasn’t much better here. Simple errors fed Ipswich chances—loose first touches, missed clearances, gaps between full-back and center-back. Michael Cooper made several saves to keep the scoreline from getting ugly earlier, but he could only do so much with waves of pressure arriving.

The contrast in confidence was stark. Ipswich took shots early and hit the target; Sheffield United needed extra touches and saw the space close. When you’re bottom and goalless, the mind plays tricks. You overthink routine passes and second-guess your runs. Ipswich pressed those nerves and feasted on the rebounds.

That said, this wasn’t just a bad day for United. There are structural issues to fix. They struggled to protect the zone in front of their center-backs, where Akpom and then later Clarke found joy between the lines. Their full-backs were pinned by Ipswich’s wing play, which meant the midfield couldn’t double up on Philogene without leaving someone else free. On top of that, set-pieces offered little relief—clearances went straight back to blue shirts far too often.

McKenna will focus on the repeatable bits. The press triggered smartly, especially when the ball went back to Cooper or when United tried to play square across their own penalty area. Ipswich’s front four stepped as one, the midfield compressed the space, and turnovers followed. These are patterns you can take on the road, not just at home when the crowd is roaring you forward.

The personal milestones add weight to the story. Philogene’s hat-trick is his first at senior level and the first by an Ipswich player since Conor Chaplin hit three in a 6-0 win over Charlton in April 2023. Hirst’s goal matters too; strikers live on goals and hard running only gets you so far without the payoff. Clarke’s late strike, a clean finish from a broken play, sends him back into training with a smile. Add Furlong’s assured debut and Akpom’s tidy first start, and you get a night full of ticks in the right boxes.

Then there’s the bigger release: a home league win at last. Portman Road has waited since that 3-1 against Chelsea on December 30. Long runs without a home win change the mood around a club. Every mis-hit cross feels heavier, every misplaced pass louder. Ending that stretch doesn’t just change the table—it changes the conversation. Ipswich can now talk about momentum instead of droughts.

For Sheffield United, the table does the talking. Bottom, no points, no goals since opening day, and a goal difference trending the wrong way. Five straight losses at the start of a season have happened only once before in the club’s EFL history, back in 1995/96, and repeating that now piles pressure on Selles. He has to find a formula that brings a first clean sheet or a first scruffy goal—ideally both. A team that can’t score and can’t shut the door usually can’t climb.

What can change quickly? A few things. More direct service into the box when the first build-up stalls. A set-piece routine that targets the near post rather than the deep floater that Ipswich’s center-backs ate up. A clearer assignment for the holding midfielder to sit and screen when the full-backs step out. None of this requires a redesign of the team; it requires sharper habits and a bit of bravery in the final third.

And what should Ipswich carry forward? The speed of decision-making. Philogene’s first touch and finish for the opener set a standard: no extra touches, no waste. The runners backed it up. When the pass was on, they played it. When the shot was on, they took it. That’s how a side turns pressure into goals instead of just possession numbers.

McKenna’s team didn’t look fragile when Sheffield United tried to push back either. The midfield tracked runners, the back four squeezed up at the right times, and the distances between lines stayed tight. That compactness gave Philogene and Clarke the platform to break with purpose. If Ipswich keep that balance—ambition without chaos—they’ll collect points even on off-days.

No one inside the stadium needed a reminder of how long it’s been since they celebrated a home league win. By the time Clarke made it five, the songs were back and the tension was gone. Nights like this can give a group belief that carries into the slog of autumn. The Championship doesn’t hand out style points for one big win, but it does reward teams that find a clear identity. Ipswich looked like themselves again.

How the game swung and what it means

Key stretches told the story. The first goal calmed Ipswich. The second, right after the break, broke Sheffield United’s plan. The third came from pressure and punishment. The fourth crowned the star of the night. The fifth underlined the gulf. Within those moments were the habits that win games: speed on the ball, clean runs off it, and a back line that dealt with crosses without fuss.

There’s also the human side. Players feel droughts. A winger who hasn’t scored in a while might turn down a shot. A striker without a goal in weeks might snatch at a chance. Friday cut those knots at Ipswich. Philogene will walk into training lighter. Hirst will, too. Clarke’s timing looked sharp. Furlong now has a base to build on after a positive debut.

For the Blades, it’s about small wins to stop the slide. A first goal to break the streak. A first point to change the narrative. The Championship can be unforgiving, and this kind of start can bury a season early if it isn’t arrested. The work now is about clarity: who presses, who stays, who protects the box, and who takes responsibility in the final third. Selles has decisions to make, and he needs some to land fast.

As for Ipswich, the table will look a little kinder this weekend. The bigger takeaway is that their plan worked with the players on the pitch. The changes—Furlong’s energy, Akpom’s link play, Clarke’s end product—gave McKenna options he can trust. And when your match-winner is flying, everything else feels simpler. Portman Road went home happy, and not just because of the scoreline. They saw a team that looked sharp, sure of itself, and ready to make up the ground it lost in August.