Ipswich Ends Pre-Season with Impressive 4-2 Win Against Union Berlin

Ipswich closed out their pre-season with a sharp, grown-up 4-2 win at Union Berlin – a performance that started slowly, then roared into life, and quietly revealed plenty about Gary O’Neil’s plans for the Premier League.

Union struck first. Ipswich were slow out of the blocks and punished in the ninth minute, Zeno van den Bosch slamming in from close range after a short, smartly-worked free-kick routine caught them cold.

The response was swift.

Jack Clarke, operating in the no.10 role, drifted into the box and finished neatly from a low Leif Davis cutback on 16 minutes. One pass, one touch, one calm side-foot. Ipswich were level and suddenly playing with tempo.

The pressure built and turned the game.

On 40 minutes, Sindre Walle Egeli glanced on a ball into the area and Emersonn pounced, smashing home from close range to flip the scoreline. Then came the moment from the captain. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Dara O’Shea stepped forward from right-back, collected the ball on the edge of the box and drilled a ferocious strike into the top-left corner. From 1-0 down to 3-1 up in the space of half an hour. Ipswich had taken control.

Union clawed one back early in the second half. Josip Juranovic broke through and delicately lifted the ball over Kjell Scherpen on 53 minutes to make it 3-2 and jolt the hosts back into the contest.

Ipswich didn’t panic. They rotated, they tightened, and they waited for their chance.

It arrived on 78 minutes. Substitute Kasey McAteer, fresh from the bench, met an inviting cross from fellow sub Anis Mehmeti with a crisp first-time finish to restore the two-goal cushion and effectively kill the game. A ruthless counter-punch to end a lively night in the German capital.

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 a raft of second-half changes including Raab, Trimmel, Querfeld, Kohn, Haberer, Ljubjic, Schafer, Skarke and Guther.

Ipswich matched that 4-2-3-1 shape: Scherpen; O’Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Lukic, Nunez; Walle Egeli, Clarke, Maeda; Emersonn. O’Neil also turned to his bench, introducing Philogene, Furlong, Akpom, Humphreys, Mehmeti, McAteer, Kipre and Johnson as the game wore on.

A crowd of 12,421 watched it unfold. They saw more than just a friendly.

O’Shea on the right – and in the spotlight

The teamsheet carried one of the night’s big clues. Dara O’Shea, Ipswich’s captain and natural centre-back, again started at right-back, with Darnell Furlong and Ben Johnson both named among the substitutes.

This wasn’t a one-off experiment. O’Neil tried the same thing against Rayo Vallecano last week. Twice in quick succession, in serious pre-season fixtures, suggests this isn’t tinkering – it’s a plan.

Furlong will still fancy his chances of forcing his way into the XI, and the club could yet strengthen that side of the defence in the market. Abdoul Ouattara, due to arrive from Strasbourg, may well have a say in that conversation.

Right now, though, O’Shea at right-back looks like O’Neil’s preferred route to getting his skipper on the pitch alongside Issa Diop and Jacob Greaves. On this evidence, it may well be the blueprint for Sunderland next weekend.

O’Shea has made no secret in the past of favouring centre-back, but he’s also the kind of leader who will play wherever the team needs him. Here, the switch gave him licence to stride forward more than he typically would from the middle of the back line. The reward was that thunderous goal from the edge of the area – the sort of strike that underlines why O’Neil trusts him to influence games at both ends.

Clarke’s new brief

If O’Shea’s role was one talking point, Clarke’s was another. The winger started centrally as the no.10, pulling strings rather than hugging the touchline.

We’ve seen flashes of this before. Clarke filled that role at times last season and has dipped into it again during this summer’s friendlies. Starting there in the final warm-up game, though, feels significant. It suggests O’Neil sees him as a genuine option between the lines, not just an emergency fix.

Julio Enciso, once his return to Portman Road is completed, is expected to be the main man in that position. Daizen Maeda looks nailed on for the left flank, with Jaden Philogene rejoining the mix too.

That’s where Clarke’s versatility becomes a weapon. He can plug into either role, drift wide or drive inside, and his form this summer has been impossible to ignore. Against Union, he produced a tidy equaliser from Davis’ cutback and later swung in a teasing cross from the right that Emersonn finished with real composure.

Where does he land once the real stuff starts? That’s one of the more intriguing selection puzzles heading into the Premier League opener.

Philogene back in blue

Philogene’s summer has been noisy. Rumours, speculation, and plenty of talk that he could be on his way out. Yet, as things stand, Ipswich have not received a single offer for him.

Injury has kept him out of most of pre-season. A hamstring issue limited his involvement, though he has stayed close to the group at Playford Road and travelled with the squad to Berlin.

Named on the bench here, he replaced Maeda at half-time and immediately brought a bit of spark. There were tricks, flicks, and a couple of efforts on goal, but not quite the end product he would have wanted. Down the left, he threatened without truly bending the game to his will.

His future still hangs in the balance. What’s clear, though, is that seeing him back in an Ipswich shirt, one week out from their Premier League return, is a step in the right direction for O’Neil.

A strong finish, with room to grow

Strip away the “just a friendly” tag and this was a serious, encouraging performance. Pre-season started slowly as players built fitness and new signings settled. The last two fixtures, though, have seen a marked rise in intensity and cohesion.

Ipswich never completely dominated long stretches of the game. Their best spell came in that first-half burst when they rattled in three goals and put Union on the back foot. Yet, across the 90 minutes, it felt like they kept their Bundesliga hosts at arm’s length in their own stadium.

For a side still tuning up, that matters.

Clarke and Walle Egeli stood out, both sharp and inventive in advanced areas. Sasa Lukic, on debut, brought control and bite in midfield. Across the XI, there were encouraging performances, with the bench adding depth rather than disruption.

Not everything was spotless. The first goal came from a lapse at a quick free-kick, the second from a momentary switch-off at the back. Scherpen will not enjoy watching either back, though he was far from the only one at fault in those sequences.

Those are the details that will occupy O’Neil on the training pitch this week. With seven more days to drill, refine and recover before Sunderland arrive, Ipswich look close to where they need to be.

Pre-season done. Now for the real test

Seven games that fans could watch. Four wins, one draw, two defeats. A steady upward curve rather than a dramatic leap.

The squad looks fit. The ideas are bedding in. O’Neil’s tactical and physical demands are starting to show in the way this team presses, counters and manages games.

But the Premier League is a different animal entirely. The margins are thinner, the punishments harsher, the questions louder.

Are Ipswich ready to face it head on again?

We start to find out when Sunderland roll into Suffolk next Saturday.