| Ipswich Town 2 v 2 Aston Villa FA Premier League Sunday, 29th September 2024 Kick-off 14:00 |  |
Ipswich Town 2-2 Aston Villa - Match Report Sunday, 29th Sep 2024 16:13 Liam Delap scored twice as Town drew 2-2 with Champions League Aston Villa at Portman Road, the Blues’ fourth Premier League draw on the bounce. Delap gave Town the lead in the eighth minute before the visitors hit back via Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins to lead 2-1 at half-time, however, Delap’s excellent second levelled the scores on 72 and it was Town who were pushing for a winner at the whistle. Blues boss Kieran McKenna made three changes with Kalvin Phillips, Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Clarke coming into the side. Phillips replaced Jens Cajuste in the middle of midfield, with the Swedish international left out of the 20-man squad. Ogbene and Clarke, who was making his full league debut for the Blues, were on the right and left respectively with Wes Burns and Sammie Szmodics on the bench. Omari Hutchinson, who again the number 10, was making his 50th league appearance for the club. Villa made one change from the team which beat Wolves 3-1 last weekend with Leon Bailey replacing skipper John McGinn, who is out with a hamstring injury. Keeper Emiliano Martinez wore the armband. Former Town defender Tyrone Mings was absent from the squad and sitting in the stands as he continues his recovery from his ACL injury, but Blues summer target Jaden Philogene was on the bench. Following a minute’s applause for long-serving former club secretary David Rose, who died earlier in the month, the Blues got the game under way. Quickly, however, Villa began to dominate and in the fourth minute Youri Tielemans was given the time to take a shot from distance, but the Belgian international’s effort flew well over. But despite the visitors seeing all the early ball, the Blues took the lead in the eighth minute. Villa made heavy weather of clearing after a Sam Morsy shot had been blocked and Phillips played in Clarke on the left of the box from where the former Sunderland man cut it back to Delap, who squeezed a shot between Martinez and the post, the striker’s second goal of the season. The Argentina international keeper will feel he should have done better. Having gone in front, Town survived a penalty claim when Ollie Watkins went to ground under the attention of Jacob Greaves - if there had been a foul, it was outside the area with the Blues defender having hold of the England striker’s shirt - then soon after Pau Torres ran into Leif Davis as a free-kick came into the box, claiming he’d been fouled. As the clock ticked past the 13-minute mark, the ground erupted into applause in tribute to 13-year-old Taylen Ireton, who was killed in a road accident last weekend. Two minutes later, Villa were level. Greaves poorly cleared a cross to Rogers on the penalty spot and the several-time-Town-target exchanged passes with Watkins before hitting a shot across Aro Muric and into the net. However, the Blues didn’t seem unduly affected by conceding such a poor goal and on 18 went close to going back in front, Axel Tuanzebe, facing the club where he spent three spells on loan, looped a header over from Davis’s corner. Within a minute, Davis created another opportunity, crossing from the left to Clarke, who headed onto the roof of the net. For a spell, the game became more even with the Blues seeing their fair share of the ball and preventing the visitors from seriously threatening. But the Villans gradually began to take charge again and in the 33rd minute they took the lead. After a long spell of patient possession, Bailey whipped over a brilliant looping cross from the right and Watkins got between Dara O’Shea and Tuanzebe to nod down and past Muric. A great cross and well-placed header, but Town will again feel their defending might have been better, while keeper Muric may well have come for it. The Blues set about getting back on terms and on 36 they weren’t far away. A Davis free-kick was half-cleared to just outside the area to the right from where Phillips smashed a powerful strike which Martinez superbly palmed behind to his left. Town had another chance to get back on terms two minutes later when Davis played an inch-perfect through ball for Delap, putting the England U21 striker in on goal. However, Martinez was off his line quickly to divert the striker’s effort out for a corner with his left hand. On 40, O’Shea was caught by a flailing Watkins arm, leaving the Irishman with a very evidently bruised eye. Referee Stuart Attwell took no action. Three minutes later, Martinez was fortunate to grab a Town corner at the second attempt having collided with one of his own defenders. The keeper threw the ball out quickly, then took to the turf once the ball had gone out of play, holding his face. However, it came as little surprise when he was able to continue. In the third minute of time added on, Morsy was booked for a foul on Pau, then Delap quickly joined him for protesting about an earlier challenge. The Town skipper has now been cautioned four times in six Premier League matches with a fifth leading to a suspension. That was the last action of an incident-packed half, Delap leaving the field still in discussion with referee Attwell. Town really oughtn’t to have gone off behind. Although Villa had seen most of the ball, the Blues had got their noses in front via Delap’s second Portman Road goal of the season, Town profiting from the Midlanders failing to clear their lines. Villa’s leveller and then the goal which put them in front both owed much to similarly disappointing defending from Town with the Blues quickly learning that mistakes at this level are punished more clinically than in the Championship. As in previous games, Town themselves had failed to show a similar cutting edge having created a number of opportunities. Tuanzebe and Clarke both had decent headed opportunities and Delap had been unable to convert his one-on-one, while Phillips’s strike would have been a goal against poorer keepers than Martinez. Town started the half brightly with Clarke twisting and turning on the edge of the area before hitting a shot which was blocked. Morgan somehow avoided a yellow card for a succession of minor fouls, then Tuanzebe was booked for a trip on Tielemans as Villa broke following a Town corner. On 56, Muric was off his line and out of his area to head a through ball for Watkins clear. Town had maintained their positive start to the half and just before the hour, a spell of Blues possession in the Villa half ended with Morsy hitting a low shot not too far wide of Martinez’s right post. The visitors made the first changes of the game in the 65th minute, swapping Rogers and Bailey for Jhon Duran and summer Blues target Philogene, who was booed by the Town support. In the 69th minute, Clarke did well to ride a couple of tackles before feeding Davis to his left, but the former Leeds man’s shot was wide. While the Villans prepared to restart, Town swapped Phillips and Ogbene for Jack Taylor and Burns. In the 71st minute, Morsy was fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card for a foul on Philogene, not his first offence since his booking. Referee Attwell initially seemed not to see a foul but fully 10 seconds later called play back, much to the annoyance of players on both sides. A minute later, Town got back on terms via a superb Delap goal. Taylor brought the ball out from the back and played forward to Hutchinson on the left on halfway, who moved it on first time to Delap. The striker took it on into the area, feinted to go inside, then went left before hitting a powerful low strike past Martinez and into the net to send Portman Road wild. Villa went looking for their third goal of the game, Jacob Ramsey shooting over from the left of the box. Greaves was subsequently cautioned for a foul in the build-up. But having got back on terms, Town were looking increasingly confident, Hutchinson bringing the ball across from the right before hitting a shot which flew over. As the game moved into its final 10 minutes, the Blues broke following a Villa attack through Clarke. The former Sunderland winger found Burns bursting into the area on the right but the Wales international’s shot was deflected behind for a corner. On 83, Taylor fouled Duran a few inches outside the penalty area. Ahead of the free-kick, the visitors made a triple change, swapping Digne for Ian Maatsen, Tielemans for Ross Barkley, Watkins for ex-Norwich City midfielder Emiliano Buendia. The former Canary took the free-kick but sent it well into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, much to amusement of the home support. With the game in its final scheduled minutes, Villa were taking the game to Town with the Blues looking to catch them on the break. A promising opportunity to send Delap away on the right was spurned when Clarke slipped over, before Barkley shot from distance straight at Muric. Greaves then made a superb challenge to dispossess Duran as the striker broke into the area on the right. Town made their final changes, switching Morsy, as so often on a yellow-card tight-rope, for Massimo Luongo, Delap for George Hirst, making his 50th Town league appearance, and Sammie Szmodics for Ogbene ahead of five additional minutes. The Blues were now the ones looking for the winning goal with Villa pinned back in their final third. Taylor smashed a well-struck shot through a crowd of players but too close to Martinez before the Blues won back-to-back corners on the right. From the second, Town briefly appeared to have a clear sight of goal from Luongo’s header back into the box but the linesman’s flag was raised. That was the last serious action of a very entertaining and at times controversial game, the Blues perhaps achieving their best result of the season so far. It was certainly a deserved point for the Blues, who may still be without a Premier League win but are now unbeaten in four having picked up four draws of different types. This was one in which they showed all sides of their game, battling to keep out a dominant Villa side for periods, then taking the game to the Champions League team for spells, particularly in the second half. Delap’s first goal and the two conceded by Town were to an extent the result of defensive errors by both sides, but the Blues striker’s second was a brilliant effort illustrating so many of the attributes which led to McKenna bringing him to Portman Road. Villa may claim Morsy should have been shown a second yellow card before the leveller, but Town could equally claim that referee Attwell had failed to show visiting players cards on several occasions prior to that. Overall, it was another very encouraging display. Similar performances against lesser sides than Villa should secure the Blues’ that elusive first win since the return to the Premier League. Town move up to 15th with Villa, who would have gone level on points with top side Liverpool if they had won, now fifth. The Blues are next in action at West Ham, one point and one place ahead of the Blues, next Saturday. Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (c) (Luongo 89), Phillips (Taylor 70), Ogbene (Burns 70), Hutchinson, J Clarke (Szmodics 89), Delap (Hirst 89). Unused: Walton, Johnson, Townsend, Chaplin. Aston Villa: Martinez (c), Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne (Maatsen 83), Onana, Tielemans (Barkley 83), Bailey (Philogene 65), Rogers (Duran 65), Ramsey, Watkins (Buendia 83). Unused: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Swinkels. Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire). VAR official: Darren England (Doncaster). Att: 29,943 (Villa: 2,983).
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