Newcastle moved to the top of the Championship with a 3-0 win.
Matt Ritchie of Newcastle United and Grant Ward of Ipswich Town in action
Ipswich midfielder Grant Ward has conceded that the Tractor Boys were beaten by the better team when they lost to Newcastle at the weekend, just as Mick McCarthy had also suggested, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Magpies moved themselves into top spot in the table after an Ayoze Perez brace and Matt Ritchie strike led them to a 3-0 win over McCarthy’s men.
Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy conceded that Newcastle were the better team
And after hearing his manager tell BBC Sport that his side had perhaps been beaten by the best team in the division, Ward clearly found it difficult to argue with McCarthy’s assessment.
“When they had chances, they took them. We didn’t have as many but we hit the crossbar and had a few we could have done better with,” he said, as reported by the Mirror.
Ayoze Perez opened the scoring inside the first minute
“The manager couldn’t fault our effort and he knows that everyone will put it all in every week. But he said we were beaten by the better team which is probably true.”
The fact that Newcastle are now three points clear at the top of the table confirms how good their recent form has been, especially as they, of course, lost their opening two games of the campaign.
Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez
Benitez’s men have won 12 of their last 14 games in all competitions, with 10 of those victories coming in the league to put some daylight between themselves and the likes of Brighton, Huddersfield and Norwich.
And with four of their next five games coming against teams in the bottom half of the table, it would not be a surprise if they manage to extend that advantage further heading into the busy Christmas period.
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