After defeating Plymouth Argyle 2-0, Ipswich Town secured their place in the Championship’s automatic promotion spots for the first time in a month.
The greatest effort of the first half came from Mickel Miller’s shot for Argyle, which was blocked on the line.
But Ipswich ramped up the pressure after the interval, with Kieffer Moore missing two chances before Conor Chaplin opened the scoring with a deflected strike that caught Argyle keeper Conor Hazard off guard.
After a corner was flicked on, Moore pounced to seal the points, and Miller struck the post for the home team.
With their sixth straight victory, the Tractor Boys pull two points ahead of Leeds United, who slip to third position after being beaten to a 1-1 draw at 10-man Huddersfield Town in the first match of the day.
After Leicester’s unexpected loss to struggling Queens Park Rangers at home, Ipswich is now only three points behind the leaders.
The R’s victory, together with wins for Swansea City and Stoke City, causes the Pilgrims to plummet to 16th place, albeit they are still only two points above the relegation zone.
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After fifteen minutes, Moore had the first good effort of the match when the Wales forward’s flicked header caused Argyle’s Conor Hazard to make a nice low save.
After thirty minutes, Omari Hutchinson had a good attempt, which Brendan Galloway brilliantly blocked. Seven minutes later, Miller’s volley from Morgan Whittaker’s cross was cleared off the line by Luke Woolfenden, giving Argyle their first real chance.
As the second half went on, Ipswich began to take control. Just before the hour, Axel Tuanzebe earned a corner with a strong effort, and Moore had a header saved.
Just before the first, Moore had a header go over the roof, then Chaplin curled a 25-yard attempt that struck Galloway and ended up in the opposite bottom corner.
The Devon-born attacker scored his fifth goal in seven games following his loan move from Bournemouth when he crashed in after Chaplin’s corner was
