By David Parsons
Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut has called for more aggression after his team surrendered a two-goal lead to drop to 19th place in the early season Championship table.
The Bluebirds boss accused some players of going missing as Ipswich Town recovered from 2-0 down in front of their own fans to win 3-2.
Cardiff have picked up just one victory from their opening five matches, but that is one more than rivals Swansea City.
When the Welsh derby comes around in two weeks’ time, immediately after the international break, it will involve two teams who have won just once in 10 matches between them.
“In the second half, some of my players were not involved in the game,” was the blunt and damning assessment of Bulut after the game.
“If you cannot keep the ball, you get pressure. I think the break now will be good for us to analyse our issues defensively.
Ipswich Town striker Freddie Ladapo netted an early contender for Championship Goal of the Season against Cardiff City this afternoon! 😂😜#CCP | #ITFC pic.twitter.com/B9VjFyJA9t
— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) September 2, 2023
“We could not manage to keep the opponent from our goal. Everybody has to be 100 per cent. We know we have a lot of positive things in our game but we have to be more aggressive.
“These type of games when you are leading 2-0, you have to not give it away. We could not manage it in the second half so that we can keep the result or to score one more because we had the chances.
“Even in the first half we had the chances. I lost three points today. You have to be more calm. The team is not from three or four players, everybody has to be involved.”
The Bluebirds led 2-0 through midfielder Aaron Ramsey and skipper Joe Ralls.
But the Tractor Boys came back strongly, dominating the second half thanks to goals from Wales international Nathan Broadhead and two from substitute Freddie Ladapo.
It was a fourth win in five league games since Ipswich returned to the second tier after four years in League One.
FT: Ipswich 3-2 Cardiff
2 nil up and in control for it to just fall apart. There was an air of inevitability as the home side assumed complete control to take the victory.
Ipswich must have the worst mobile data reception, not just the stadium but the town as well. pic.twitter.com/r2t6OxKg6V
— Cardiff City Mad (@cardiffcitymad) September 2, 2023
Kieran McKenna’s team are up to second in the early-season league table, while Cardiff drop to 19th having won one, drawn one and lost three of their five league matches.
Ipswich’s McKenna said: “That’s a wonderful way to win the game.
“We showed all the qualities that I believe we’ve got in the group and that we’ve built over the last 18 months in terms of the resilience, the belief in what they’re doing and the unity for the subs to come on and bring us something different and to keep going right until the last whistle. It’s a great win.
“We said at the start of the season that we’re not going to win every game, we’re not going to win every game here, but we’ll try and give the supporters a team that will play brave football and we’ll fight to the last minute and I think today we did both.
Ipswich Town's eye-catching return to the Championship continued as Freddie Ladapo's second-half double helped them fight back from 2-0 down to claim victory against Cardiff City ⚽#BBCFootball
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) September 3, 2023
“It was definitely a different type of game and a difficult challenge. I think it’s the first time in the Championship that somebody has come here and played a low block against us.
“It’s the first time a team has come here and defended in numbers behind the ball and that’s a big challenge for us.”