Liam Delap’s brace ensured Ipswich secured their fourth point of the Premier League season, leaving Unai Emery and Aston Villa ruing a wasted opportunity to jump up to second in the league.
It was a topsy turvy affair, one which saw both sides leading at various points, but in the end a draw represents both a fair result and one which neither side will be entirely satisfied with.
As it happened
On the hunt for their first Premier League win since 2002, Ipswich might’ve been optimistic to hope it would come against Champions League opposition. Aston Villa travelled to Portman Road in fourth place once more knowing a win would send them all the way up to second. Kieran McKenna’s side weren’t going to let them have things all their own way, though.
Unai Emery’s side started in much the way you’d expect; in the opening 8 minutes, the hosts hardly saw the ball at all, but that suited them just fine. Despite only having two touches in the attacking third during that time, their first attack was all they needed to open the scoring.
Crowded around the edge of Aston Villa’s penalty area, their first shot came through captain Sam Morsy. It was speculative, hopeful, and it crashed inadvertently off his own teammate Omari Hutchinson in the box. The danger looked to have dissipated for the visitors until they tried to clear the ball.
It was a weak attempt. Low, soft, straight at Kalvin Phillips. The former Manchester City man worked the ball to Jack Clarke down the lefthand side before cutting it back to Liam Delap in the middle. One touch later, the ball squirmed past Emiliano Martínez into the bottom left corner, and Ipswich were suddenly in front.
Embed from Getty ImagesThat’s not too surprising, though. That was their fourth goal of the Premier League season and their third in the opening 15 minutes. They’re proving specialists at taking the lead early on; what happens after that can be less fruitful.
This game followed that blueprint too – at least, for a while it did. After the goal, it was all Villa. They kept 64% possession in the first half, and while they weren’t totally in control – in truth, there was an element of openness in the middle of the park which Emery might not have been entirely satisfied with – the next goal seemed almost certain to come from a white shirt.
It didn’t take long. 15 minutes in, they would find their equaliser, eerily similar to the opener in the sense that it came courtesy of a miscued clearance of its own. This time it was Jacob Greaves, hacking the ball away from the byline with a degree of panic.
The clearance didn’t even clear his own penalty area. Instead, it found the feet of Morgan Rogers as if a pass entirely intended to reach him. One quick one-two with Ollie Watkins later, the former Middlesbrough man had enough room to take his shot. He didn’t waste it, either, slotting the ball with aplomb into the bottom left corner, routing Arijanet Muric to the spot in the process.
Embed from Getty ImagesNow Villa were truly in control. Baring a miscued header from Jack Clarke in the 18th minute, Villa kept the ball almost constantly. They were patient and methodical, not creating a mass of chances, but when the moment arrived there was to be no mistake.
After assisting the equaliser, this time it was Watkins’ turn to shine. Leon Bailey took the ball to the righthand side and whipped a gorgeous cross in his striker’s direction. Sandwiching himself between Dara O’Shea and Axel Tuanzebe, Watkins architected just enough room to meet the cross and nod it slap bang in the middle of the net. Muric, overeager perhaps, vacated the space with a hurried dive, and Villa were in front for the first time. Business as usual.
Ipswich didn’t lie down at the end of the first half, though; Martínez was well and truly kept on his toes. First, he was called into action to push wide a wicked half-volley from Kalvin Phillips, then he had to spread himself to deny a certain goal, one-on-one with Delap. It was a promising end to the half for The Tractor Boys – but nothing gave.
Come the second half, the affair was far less eventful, the first shot of the half coming on the hour mark among a flurry of fouls in the middle of the park to snuff out any sniff of an opportunity. Suffice to say the shot itself, a hit-and-hope from Morsy on the edge of the area, did not trouble Martínez.
In one sense, it was good game management from Villa. Neither side were creating chances, and that suited them. Hold the lead, take three points, leap up to second in the table: that was the plan.
Not all plans go the way they’re intended, though. Ipswich, without a genuine chance since before the break, made sure to let their opponents know that.
It was on the counter. 72 minutes in, Omari Hutchinson played a short, simple pass to Delap just inside the Villa half. He did the rest, driving forwards, defenders tracking back as quickly as they could, all the time his mind on one thing. Once breaching the area, he had one final man, that being Diego Carlos, to beat – a single step over later, the Brazilian was out of his way, and a clinical finish into the bottom right corner gave Ipswich their equaliser.
Embed from Getty ImagesThey were left deciding whether to sit and play for their fourth point of the season, or ride their momentum to try to take all three on offer today.
In the end, though, they were neither here nor there. Between their equaliser and the end of the game, chances were few and far between, Villa keeping the ball for long stretches and Ipswich trying in vain to launch a desperate counter. First it was Ross Barkley, hitting a hopeful strike much too centrally to trouble Muric, then Jack Taylor curling an effort into the grateful grasp of Martínez. But that was that, the spoils shared in a particularly entertaining clash.
A draw was the fair result. Ipswich did tremendously well to hold on, but they’ll have to wait another week for another crack at their first topflight win in over 20 years.
Aston Villa will be disappointed – this was a big opportunity to keep up with Liverpool at the top of the table. For now, they’ll have to settle for fifth – but there’s plenty of time left to climb.
The lineups
IPS: Muric; Davis, Greaves, O’Shea, Tuanzebe; Phillips, Morsy, Hutchinson; Clarke, Delap, Ogbene
AVL: Martínez; Digne, Torres, Carlos, Konsa; Tielemans, Onana, Rogers; Ramsey, Watkins, Bailey
