Liam Delap’s brace saw Ipswich hold Aston Villa to a 2-2 draw at Portman Road.
Delap rescued a vital point for Ipswich with a clinical 72nd minute counter-attack finish, having burst up the left from Omari Hutchinson’s pass.
Delap initially fired Ipswich ahead with an eighth minute strike from Jack Clarke’s pass. before Jacob Greaves’ sloppy cutback clearance seven minutes later allowed Morgan Rogers to smash in Villa’s equaliser.
Ollie Watkins then headed Villa ahead from Leon Bailey’s 32nd minute cross in an energetic first-half.
Ipswich moved out of the relegation zone and up to 15th in the table, whilst Villa stayed fifth on goal difference behind Chelsea and missed the chance to go second.
Winless in all competitions so far this season but having drawn their last three matches, Ipswich unsurprisingly made a solid robust defensive start.
Their first attack in the eighth minute however produced an immediate scare for Villa, with Clarke free to cut a pass back for Delap to smash in after Unai Emery Villains failed to clear an initial wave of shots.
Villa soon sparked to life and got back on level terms in the 15th minute as a fluid move up Ipswich’s right caused chaos, with Greaves only able to cut his clearance to Rogers in the middle of the box free to rifle in beyond Arijanet Muric.
Emery’s Villains continued to patiently up the intensity whilst pressing Ipswich, which ultimately saw the hosts’ defence crack open as Watkins reacted quickest to nod in Leon Bailey’s 32nd minute cross.
Leif Davis though proved a key player for Ipswich’s next two chances as Axel Tuanzebe nodded over from his free-kick, before Delap fired wide of the right corner from his pass but Ipswich couldn’t find an equaliser before half-time.
Ipswich continued their momentum into the second but lacked the penetrating end product until the 72nd minute, when Hutchinson unleashed Delap up the left on a counter-attack to cut in and bend in his equaliser.
Jacob Ramsey two minutes later attempted to restore Villa’s lead but blasted his shot over the bar.
Both teams soon proceeded to exchange chances in an end-to-end conclusion but couldn’t find a winner.
What’s Next?
Ipswich visit West Ham at London Stadium on Saturday 5 October in a 3pm BST kick-off.
Villa meanwhile host Bayern Munich at Villa Park in Champions League action on Wednesday 2 October (8pm), followed by a league clash at home to Manchester United on Sunday 6 October (2pm).
Teams
Ipswich: Arijanet Muric, Leif Davis, Jacob Greaves, Dara O’Shea, Axel Tuanzebe, Kalvin Phillips (Taylor 69′), Sam Morsy (Luongo 90+1′), Jack Clarke (Szmodics 90+1′), Omari Hutchinson, Chiedozie Ogbene (Burns 69′), Liam Delap (Hirst 90+1′)
Substitutes: Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin, George Hirst, Ben Johnson, Massimo Luongo, Sammie Szmodics, Jack Taylor, Conor Townsend, Christian Walton
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Lucas Digne (Maatsen 84′), Pau Torres, Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans (Barkley 84′), Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers (Duran 64′), Leon Bailey (Philogene 64′), Ollie Watkins (Buendia 84′)
Substitutes: Ross Barkley, Lamare Bogarde, Emiliano Buendia, Jhon Duran, Joe Gauci, Ian Maatsen, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Jaden Philogene, Sil Swinkels
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