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Champions
in Europe ... A Tribute to the 1981 UEFA Cup Winners
3RD ROUND: WIDZEW LODZ
Mind it's
cold out !. Town fans brace themselves for the 2nd leg in Poland
WARK
HITS THREE AS IPSWICH BUILD FIVE-GOAL LEAD
Ipswich 5 Widzew Lodz 0
Ipswich overwhelmed Widzew Lodz of Poland in their UEFA Cup third round first-leg at Portman Road last night. John Wark scored three goals to bring European total this season to 10, and Alan Brazil and Paul Mariner also found the net.
The match quickly developed into the absorbing contest everyone had expected, with Ipswich battering away at the Polish goal, and Widzew looking dangerous on the break.
Ipswich, for whom Brazil had passed a pre-match fitness test, had Cooper back in goal after a five match injury absence, but it was Mylnarczyk, the international goalkeeper, who was the first to be tested.
In the fourth minute Gates sent a square pass to Mariner, his England colleague, and the goalkeeper, having just saved from Gates, was at full stretch again.
Thijssen was a dominant figure figure in midfield and, from one of his passes, Gates fired only just wide.
The Poles put in a dangerous attack when Boniek found Smolarek, the young international striker, but Cooper, with great determination, raced from his goal and dived bravely at the Lodz player's feet.
As early as the 19th minute, Widzew brought on a substitute, Romke for Pieta, who was limping slightly and, with two minutes, Ipswich went ahead deservedly.
The Polish goalkeeper went to collect a cross from Muhren but was impeded by his defender, Grebosz, and the ball ran to Brazil, who crossed for Wark to drive the ball home from 18 yards. Seconds later, Muhren struck a post with a fierce left-foot shot.
Ipswich went further ahead in the 42nd minute when Thijssen intercepted a weak clearance by Mlynarczyk and slid a through pass to Brazil, who raced through and hit a venomous shot which struck the underside of the bar and went in.
Wark scored his second goal two minutes later when McCall crossed from the right and Mariner has a shot blocked by the 'keeper. The ball rebounded out to Wark who drove it into the net.
The Poles, demoralised by the speed of the opposition, began the second half struggling against a succession of Ipswich attacks with Gates, Muhren and Thijssen firing just wide.
There was a bonus for Ipswich for the second leg when Boniek, already cautioned in a previous match, was shown the yellow card. He will miss the second leg in Lodz on Wednesday week.
Brazil, feeling the injury that made him doubtful, was replaced by O'Callaghan, who made his first European appearance, in the 68th minute.
Within two minutes, Ipswich produced the best goal of the night when Muhren, hitting a pass from Thijssen his fellow Dutchman, drove a magnificent cross from the outside of his left foot and Mariner headed the ball home.
Still Ipswich were not satisfied, and in the 77th minute, O'Callaghan went outside Plich and Mariner headed on for Wark to score his third goal.
With eight minutes remaining Mills, the Ipswich and England captain, was carried off on a stretcher with a leg injury and was replaced by Beattie.
Ipswich - Cooper; Mills, McCall, Thijssen, Osman, Butcher, Wark, Muhren, Mariner, Brazil, Gates.
Widzew Lodz - Mlynarczyk; Plich, Grebosz, Mozejko, Zmuda, Tlokinski, Pieta, Jezewski, Boniek, Rozborski, Smolarek.
Daily Telegraph
PANTOMIME
ON ICE AS IPSWICH SKATE INTO NEXT ROUND
Widzew Lodz 1 Ipswich Town 0
(Ipswich win 5-1 on aggregate)
Ipswich Town skated into the the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup with a highly polished display in snow bound Lodz yesterday. They had the cushion of a five goal lead from the first leg of their third-round tie at Portman Road and were prepared to defend in depth.
Icy conditions made the match a farce. Bobby Robson, the Ipswich manager, described the pitch as "downright dangerous".
Amazingly, their were no injuries, although Dutch international Arnold Muhren limped of with a recurrence of a calf muscle strain sustained in training on Tuesday night.
The Polish league leaders stood a real chance only if they could pull back a couple of early goals.
That there was no score by the interval, thanks largely to a superb performance by Terry Butcher at the heart of Ipswich's defence, gave Lodz an almost impossible second half task.
The Lodz goal came after 55 minutes when Pieta cashed in on slips by Burley and McCall to hammer a shot past Cooper from close range. After this, Ipswich called on Beattie to replace Muhren and he was immediately drafted into the back line/
It was like a pantomime on ice. The lines were marked in orange and most of the players wore tracksuit bottoms and gloves.
Only twice did Ipswich look like scoring. In the 25th minute Wark made a late run and met Muhren's cross with his head, but the ball skimmed the bar. Then Gates collected a pass from Muhren after 33 minutes, but his shot was deflected.
It was bitterly cold with occasional falls of snow throughout the game, but Ipswich gave a sound display against opponents who had already knocked Manchester United and Juventus out of the competition.
Mr. Robson said: "The standard was very high considering the conditions. I thought before the match that the players would slip and slide all over the place.
"We showed a far better attitude and at half time I felt we could have won the match. We didn't play as well in the second half, but we did not have to weather a storm.
"Now we can forget about Europe until March and turn our attention to the league scene. I am delighted and relieved that we came through this tie without serious injury."
Widzew Lodz - Klepczysinki; Plich, Grebosz, Mozejko, Romke, Tiokinski, Pieta (Lisiak, 82), Surlit, Jezewski, Rozborski, Smolarek.
Ipswich Town - Cooper; Burley, McCall, Thijssen, Osman, Butcher, Wark, Muhren (Beattie, 56), Mariner (O'Callaghan, 83), Brazil, Gates.
Daily Telegraph