Saviour Sereni comes to rescue

13 April 2012

Ipswich Town will need a repeat of their Moscow heroics to progress in the UEFA Cup after being held by Helsingborg.

In truth, George Burley's side were fortunate to escape with a goalless draw. Time and again they failed to stop their Swedish opponents waltzing through a static home defence only to waste a succession of opportunities when faced with Ipswich goalkeeper Matteo Sereni.

The Italian, a £4.5million signing from Sampdoria at the beginning of the season after being recommended by watching England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, stood firm on every occasion, making possible what Ipswich fans hope will be a second successive victory in the competition following their 2-1 away win against Torpedo Moscow in the last round.

Helsingborg arrived at Portman Road with a reputation as awkward opposition after defeating Aston Villa on away goals in 1996 and losing out to Chelsea by a single goal three seasons ago. That renown also extended to a cussedness of purpose which had seen their four matches against English clubs in European competition produce just three goals.

The manner of Ipswich's start suggested that the statistics sheet would be ripped up in this leg alone. Corner after corner was won in the opening 10 minutes as they pressed the Swedes deep into their own half.

The visitors also gave away a succession of free-kicks. The second, conceded by Jozo Matovac when he tripped Jermaine Wright, was headed into the path of Finidi George by Mikael Gustavsson, but the Nigeria international's volley landed on the empty terraces of the new stand Ipswich are building.

Two minutes later, George went even closer to finding the opening goal. A Mark Venus corner was stabbed goalwards by Hermann Hreidarsson and George, instinctively turning on to it, lifted his shot against the crossbar.

It seemed only a matter of moments before the Suffolk club would take a lead which evaded them in the home leg against Torpedo. Instead, they reverted to the stuttering doubt which has plagued their Premiership season to date.

Helsingborg, sensing a growing hesitancy in the home side, began to tentatively step forward. And when they realised they were unlikely to be punished for such cheek, they developed a swagger which almost swept Ipswich away for the remainder of the first half.

Fortunately for the anxious crowd, Helsingborg could not rid themselves of a collective fright in front of goal.

Hans Eklund, played in by Alvaro Santos in the 17th minute, dragged their first shot on goal wide before Santos struck a tame effort into the body of Sereni. The Brazilian also forced Sereni into a flying effort to the left to fingertip away a flicked header after 23 minutes.

Helsingborg's biggest culprit was midfielder Rade Prica, whose nerve deserted him twice in two minutes. If allowing Sereni to dive low to his right to push away a weakly-struck shot wasn't bad enough, his reluctance to shoot when clean through in the 37th minute was as unforgiveable as John McGreal's block was commendable.

Five minutes into the second half, the Swedish side were back wasting opportunities. Hansson's poor control of a Gustavsson header meant he could only stab a shot against the outside of Sereni's post.

Moments later, Christoffer Andersson joined the list of the guilty men when clean through. Finding the body of Sereni was his last act of the night as Hreidarsson clattered into him from behind, necessitating a stretcher for the unfortunate midfielder.

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David Jones (Footballer)

Ipswich Town

Sven-goran Eriksson

Sweden

Saviour Sereni comes to rescue

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