Ipswich Town gave away two penalties and scored one themselves as they stayed put in the Premier League relegation zone with a 2-2 draw away in West London.
Fulham dominated the half from minute one, earning a plethora of attacks, however they could only force one big chance through their man up top, Raúl Jiménez. The domination was not enough for the home side however, as Ipswich Town took the lead in the 38th minute after poor defending from the Cottagers fell to Sammie Szmodics who smashed it home, giving the away side a narrow lead going into half-time at Craven Cottage.
Action continued all over the pitch in the second half, with a moment of madness occuring in the final 20 minutes. Fulham earned themselves a penalty which was converted by Jiménez bringing the scoring to 1-1, however a minute later Ipswich also got a penalty, which was subsequently converted by Liam Delap to retake the lead in the match.
As it hit the 90th-minute mark, Fulham earned yet another penalty, which again was cooly put away by Jiménez. The goals stopped there, and both sides shared the spoils in an entertaining affair.
As it happened
Fulham kicked off on the day and started the game well, passing the ball around the Ipswich Town players with ease, but not being able to create a big chance in the opening minutes. An Ipswich attack then saw the side earn a free-kick in a dangerous area, however their set piece was not taken well and nothing came from it.
The cold affair continued to have a quick tempo, yet neither side could see sight of goal within the opening quarter of an hour. The Cottagers looked the better side though, seeing more of the ball in the away side’s half and pressing them back far.
Raúl Jiménez finally earned the first big chance of the match, and for the home side, on the 20th-minute mark, after a cross from Tom Cairney found the Mexican striker who headed down low; Christian Walton got down well however to pull off a big save. The chance lit a fire in the Fulham side, who started getting into the final third a lot more.
Leif Davis was let off the hook as the half-hour mark approached after fouling Harry Wilson as the Welshman was through on goal, but the challenge was only deemed a yellow card due to a covering defender being just alongside Wilson. Despite being on the back foot, Ipswich took the lead in West London in the 38th minute.
A poor clearance by Calvin Bassey, after a chance from Ben Johnson, fell to Sammie Szmodics, who smashed it home to give the Tractor Boys the lead and leave Fulham fans in disbelief. Despite Fulham dominating the half and pushing hard in the final minutes, it was Ipswich who went into half-time with a 1-0 lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesFulham came out in the second half switching to a four-back formation, with Issa Diop being subbed off for Emile Smith-Rowe. Ipswich fans continued to spur their team on starting the second half, and the continued singing was working for the away side as they kept forcing Fulham into rash decisions in the final third.
The home side then earned themselves a lifeline after Ipswich captain, Sam Morsy, fouled Wilson in the box to give the Cottagers a penalty. Jiménez took a long, slow run-up, but he calmly converted the penalty to earn the equaliser and put the scoring at 1-1 with 20 minutes to go.
The penalties didn’t stop however as just a minute later, Ipswich went down the other end and earned themselves a penalty. Liam Delap stepped up to take the penalty and thumped it into the top right corner giving the Tractor Boys the lead back, two minutes after conceding.
Embed from Getty ImagesMarco Silva’s men were fighting hard, and with 10 minutes to go, the general feeling inside the stadium was that the game still had more action. The action didn’t stop there as in the 90th minute, Fulham earned another penalty. Jiménez stepped up to take it again and placed it into the roof of the net to put the scoring at 2-2 with seven minutes of added time to come.
Kieran McKenna’s men were looking nervous in additional time, allowing Fulham to create chance after chance. However, the home side just couldn’t grab the match winner, and the full-time whistle blew, with both sides earning a point.
The lineups
FUL: Leno; Castagne, Diop, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Lukić, Cairney; Wilson, Jiménez, Iwobi
IPS: Walton; Johnson, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis; Morsy, Cajuste; Szmodics Broadhead, Delap
FEATURED IMAGE: Tom McAtee