Ipswich Town 0 Brentford 1: In-form Schade nets the winner to send Bees eighth | OneFootball

In-form Brentford striker Kevin Schade scored his fourth goal in three games to secure a 1-0 victory for the Bees against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

Bryan Mbeumo was ordered to retake his corner three times before the eventual set-piece was headed home at the near post by the German forward, to send the west Londoners eighth in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank named an unchanged side for the third game in a row. The only difference to the squad that beat Manchester United last time out was Paris Maghoma, who replaced Kristoffer Ajer on the Bees bench.

Ipswich had the first effort of the game. It came from some nice work by Omari Hutchinson on the right wing, as the former Chelsea man cut inside and whipped a cross towards Liam Delap inside the penalty area, but the forward's header was saved by Mark Flekken, who got down well to keep it out.

Brentford took the lead after 18 minutes, with their first real chance of the game. A bizarre series of corners, which referee Sam Barrott ordered Mbeumo to retake twice due to wrestling inside the penalty area, ended with the third attempt being whipped in and headed home at the near post by Schade.

The west Londoners had a chance to double their lead soon after, when Yoane Wissa drove through midfield and played in team-mate Mbeumo. The Cameroon international looked to be in on goal, but he decided to take it on his weaker right foot rather than cut in on his left, and Palmer saved his tame cross-cum-shot.

Jack Taylor had two long-range strikes on goal as he looked to get the hosts back into the game, but neither troubled Flekken.

Brentford had time for one more chance in added time of the first half, when Mbeumo received the ball from Michael Kayode, and the Bees right-winger's shot was deflected into the air by Jacob Greaves. It fell to Schade inside the area, who fantastically cushioned it down for Mikkel Damsgaard, but his effort towards the far post bobbled just wide.

Brentford took the game to Ipswich inside the first minute of the second period, as Wissa had plenty of space to drive into in the centre of the pitch. He fired a shot from outside the area, but a good block by the back of Greaves' head stopped a promising attack.

Ipswich were close to an equaliser on 54 minutes, when Hutchinson sent another teasing ball into the area. It evaded everyone in the centre of the box, and whistled between the goal and Greaves at the back post, before going out for a goal kick.

Brentford came close again to finding a second. Kayode powered into Ipswich's final third before the ball found its way to Keane Lewis-Potter. The left-back jinked into the penalty area but was tackled, before Kayode and then Schade both had efforts on goal, with the latter's being saved and held by Alex Palmer.

Sam Morsy had an effort from the edge of the area with 10 minutes to play, but it went sailing over the bar.

An even better chance came moments later, when a miskick from Sepp van den Berg saw George Hirst in on goal, but he skewed his shot wide of the post under pressure from the recovering van den Berg.

The Tractor Boys were piling on the pressure, and Hutchinson hit the post after cutting in again onto his left foot, before a corner deflected off of Nathan Collins and whistled an inch wide of the Brentford goal.

The penultimate chance of the game was arguably the best for the already-relegated hosts. A cross from wide fell to Cameron Burgess inside the six-yard box, and his point-blank effort was saved superbly by Flekken, who then caught a header from George Hirst with less than a minute to go, securing three points for the Bees.

Ipswich: Palmer; Tuanzebe, O'Shea, Burgess, Greaves; Taylor (Cajuste 62), Morsy; Hutchinson, Chaplin (Clarke 57), Enciso; Delap (Hirst 62)

Subs not used: Walton, Woolfenden, Johnson, Luongo, Godfrey, Boniface

Brentford: Flekken; Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Nørgaard, Yarmoliuk; Mbeumo, Damsgaard (Thiago 86), Schade (Jensen 72); Wissa (Konak 90+3)

Subs not used: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Mee, Henry, Maghoma, Nunes

Attendance: 29,511

Frank: A well-deserved win

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank reflected on the Bees' 1-0 win against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

“I knew it would be a tough challenge," said Frank. "Big praise to Ipswich, they gave everything and worked incredibly hard to try and hurt us.

“I think we controlled and dominated the first half, and got 1-0 up. In the second half, I thought we controlled it up until the last five minutes.

“The last five minutes is always going to be hectic when you’re 1-0 up away from home and we needed a big save from Mark [Flekken] to get it over the line, but I think it was a well-deserved 1-0 win.”

Frank also confirmed that Kristoffer Ajer missed the trip to Suffolk through injury.

“A minor injury," he confirmed. "He actually played with that against Manchester United but couldn’t push through this time.

“He’ll hopefully be available against Fulham.”

Nørgaard: A difficult game

Brentford captain Christian Nørgaard discussed the west Londoners' 1-0 away victory against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon.

“It was a difficult game," said the Danish midfielder. "They badly wanted to win in front of their fans coming into the last part of the season having done not so well at home.

“We couldn’t kill the game in the second half but except for when Mark [Flekken] had a really good save, I think we managed it pretty well.

“It’s what he’s there for and what we need from him in these moments. I think he’s been outstanding this season.

He added: “We’ve really found good form away especially in the second part of the season. The fans were amazing today, they were loud and there was so many of them. It was a joy to play in front of them.

“It’s so fun to have something to play for at this part of the season. It’s amazing we can create these special moments and these ‘finals’ coming into the last part of the season.

“Hopefully by the end of it, we can create something magic."