First-half goals from Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane saw Everton to a 2-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. The Toffees netted on 17 and 40 as Town, who had a penalty awarded but denied following a VAR check, put in their poorest home display of the season and never looked like getting back into the game.

Town made two changes from the 4-1 defeat at West Ham a fortnight ago with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess coming into the side for Jacob Greaves and Ben Johnson.

Both Greaves and Johnson were absent from the matchday 20 with the central defender understood to have picked up a knock.

Dara O’Shea, who was subbed with a back problem while playing for the Republic of Ireland in midweek, was OK to start and moved to right-back with Woolfenden, making his 200th appearance for the club, and Burgess, making his Premier League debut, renewing their central defensive partnership, with Leif Davis at left-back.

Former Toffees youngster Nathan Broadhead was in the Town matchday squad for the first time this season having come on as a sub for Wales in midweek.

Everton made two changes from the team which drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle before the international break.

Left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko returned from a knock and replaced James Garner, who has a back problem, with Ashley Young moving to right-back. In midfield, Idrissa Gueye came in for Orel Mangala, who dropped to the bench.

England centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite remained absent due to a thigh injury with Keane, twin brother of former Blues striker Will, starting in his place. Ex-Town loan keeper Asmir Begovic was one of two glovesmen on the Toffees bench.

The game kicked off at 3.15pm following IT-related turnstile issues, Everton winning the toss and switching ends so the Blues attacked the Sir Bobby Robson Stand in the first half. Before the start, both teams took a knee in support of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign.

From the kick-off, Davis landed awkwardly on his hip after challenging for a high ball, but was OK after brief treatment.

Town created the first chance of the game in the fifth minute, Omari Hutchinson sending Wes Burns away on the right as the Blues broke quickly. The Wales international cut back from the right of the box to Jack Clarke, but the former Sunderland man mishit his shot high and wide when he really should at least have made Jordan Pickford make a save.

Two minutes later, Kalvin Phillips sold Woolfenden short with a pass five yards outside the penalty area and Dominic Calvert-Lewin was in on goal. Fortunately for the on-loan Manchester City man, Aro Muric was quickly off his line and the Kosovan international was able to force Calvert-Lewin’s shot wide.

Three minutes later, Clarke made a big challenge inside the Town box to take the ball away from Dwight McNeil, who had been found in space and was about to shoot.

On 11, moments after Pickford had come well out of his goal to reach a Hutchinson diagonal ball for Davis and Everton had inexplicably played the ball back towards their own area, Liam Delap threatened for the first time, squeezing a shot across the face and wide from the edge of the area.

Both sides had made frequent errors in a scruffy, defensively nervy start to the game and just before the quarter-hour mark Muric scuffed a Woolfenden back-pass out for a corner when under little pressure. Fortunately the flag-kick came to nothing.

And three minutes later, another mistake led to the visitors taking the lead. O’Shea headed a deep Jack Harrison cross from the right only as far as Burns at the back of the box.

The wideman chested it down but scuffed his second touch, allowing Ndiaye to get on it and smash a shot past Muric and into the net.

It was another poor goal for the Blues to concede, following on from several similarly disappointing at West Ham, once again illustrating that errors tend to be punished more clinically by Premier League attacks than Championship strikers.

On 21, Everton had another opportunity, Calvert-Lewin turning away and hitting a shot which Muric saved sharply and then cleared after the loose ball had been tapped back to him.

Having gone in front, the visitors began to take control but on 24 Hutchinson made a direct run towards the penalty area and was felled by Keane, who was shown the game’s first yellow card.

Hutchinson took the free-kick but it hit the wall and eventually the ball was worked back to the former Chelsea man on the right, from where he won a corner.

In the aftermath of the flag-kick, Clarke did well to dribble his way into the box, riding a couple of tackles and looked to be felled by McNeil and referee Michael Oliver initially awarded his first spot-kick of the season.

However, following the VAR check, Oliver was called over to the VAR screen on the Cobbold Stand side of the ground and having looked at the incident again, reversed his decision.

On 37, McNeil struck a shot from just outside the area, which Calvert-Lewin diverted wide of Muric’s goal.

But three minutes later, the Toffees did make it 2-0. Following a corner, unnecessarily conceded by Burgess with Muric ready to claim behind him, Everton skipper James Tarkowski headed a deep ball into the box across goal. Burgess nodded away to McNeil on the edge of the area. The former Burnley man started to dribble into the box but then fed Keane to his left and the central defender slammed a shot from a tight angle past Muric.

Soon after the goal, another Town will feel they ought to have been able to prevent, Delap headed over from Davis’s free-kick on the left, then just before the fourth official announced six additional minutes, Phillips curled a free-kick from not far outside the area over.

In the third minute of time added on, Ashley Young curled a 25-yard free-kick past the wall but straight into Muric’s arms.

That was the last action of probably Town’s worst half of the season so far, certainly their poorest at Portman Road.

As at West Ham, the Blues made far too many errors in all areas of the pitch and had been made to pay in their final third.

Town’s big opportunity had been Clarke’s early chance which he had failed to take, while Everton had made defensive mistakes of their own but with the Blues unable to profit from them.

The second half began with Everton looking for a third and on 52 Doucoure caught Clarke on his heels, stole the ball, brought it forward and found Calvert-Lewin, who shot wide not too far wide.

Town’s second half hadn’t started much better than their first had ended and in the 55th minute O’Shea’s poor touch allowed Ndiaye a run in on goal but Muric was equal to the Senegal international’s shot.

On the hour, the impressive McNeil cut in from the right following a corner and hit a low shot which was too close to Muric.

Town had shown little sign of getting back into it and on 63rd minute manager Kieran McKenna swapped Burns and O’Shea for Conor Chaplin and Harry Clarke, who was making his Premier League debut. Hutchinson moved wide with Chaplin in the middle behind Delap.

On 71, having been unable to threaten Pickford’s goal, although having got into one or two promising situations, the Blues swapped Jack Clarke and Phillips for Sammie Szmodics and Jack Taylor.

Four minutes later, following a quick break forward from Hutchinson, Szmodics laid Taylor’s pass back to Delap just outside the area but the ex-Manchester City striker’s shot flew over.

Hutchinson was an increasing threat down the right and in the 77th minute, the England U21 international cut in from the right and hit a shot across the face which deflected behind for a corner.

Soon after the flag-kick, Szmodics crossed from the left and Burgess rose high to flick a header just over the bar. On 79, George Hirst replaced Delap.

A minute later, Town hit their first shot on target of the afternoon in a manner familiar from League One and the Championship. Davis played a low corner from the left to Chaplin just ahead of the penalty spot but the forward’s shot was into the ground and too close to Pickford. Ahead of the restart, Everton switched Ndaiye was switched for Mangala.

With the game in its final 10 minutes, Everton were happy to sit back on their lead with the Blues camped in the around their area and with Burgess providing an additional aerial threat up front.

But the Toffees backline were strong enough to prevent Town from forcing Pickford into a save and on 87 Calvert-Lewin ought to have done better with a cross from the right but headed the ball very wide.

As the game moved into its final scheduled minute, ahead of four added on, Taylor hit a low effort from distance which Pickford saved down to his right and claimed at the second attempt.

In the second minute of additional time, Taylor looped a header well over from a cross from the right with Szmodics behind him better placed to add a final touch.

A minute from the end, Taylor was booked for a foul, then seconds before the whistle Calvert-Lewin was played in on goal but as earlier in the game Muric was able to block.

A thoroughly disappointing afternoon for the Blues, who went into the afternoon hoping to end their winless start to the season against another side in the division’s lower reaches. A run of eight matches without a victory at the start of a top-flight season is a new club record.

However, hopes of claiming three points were all but extinguished following an uncharacteristically disjointed first-half display in particular, the worst at Portman Road this season and among the poorest of the McKenna era at home.

Town were made to pay for that mistake-ridden performance and in the second half showed few signs of getting back into the game until the latter stages after the substitutions when Hutchinson provided a greater threat from out wide, but with Pickford never seriously tested, while the visitors might well have added to their lead with Muric the busier keeper.

While there were plenty of positives to be taken from Town’s first six games of the season, the last two have mainly raised concerns, however the Blues remain 17th - although with Wolves and Crystal Palace below them in action on Sunday and Monday respectively - ahead of next week’s difficult trip to 12th-placed Brentford.

Town: Muric, O’Shea (H Clarke 63), Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Phillips (Taylor 71), Burns (Chaplin 63), Hutchinson, J Clarke (Szmodics 71), Delap (Hirst 79). Unused: Walton, Townsend, Ogbene, Broadhead.

Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski (c), Keane, Mykolenko, Gana, Doucoure, Ndiaye (Mangala 82), Harrison, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin. Unused: Virginia, Begovic, Patterson, Beto, O’Brien, Coleman, Armstrong, Dixon. Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland). VAR official: Graham Scott. Att: 29,862 (Everton: 2,977).

Photo: Reuters

Miaow added 17:26 - Oct 19 It's going to be a long season.
17

Karlosfandangal added 17:27 - Oct 19 Board now just making up numbers 4 point gap now……….KmK gone at the end of the season as will our big names………..but at least it will be exciting instead of expecting to lose every week. championship more exciting than the Premiership circus.
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WizardNinja added 17:29 - Oct 19 Tough one today. Greaves looks like he was missed. Burns just isn't hitting form at the moment. Id like to see Omari on the right wing , maybe give chappers a go centrally now. Anyway on to the next game !
16

Broadbent23 added 17:32 - Oct 19 Unfortunately the standards we learnt in the championship are not good enough now in the PL. We need to be on the ball for 95 minutes. Our defence today failed again and our forward play is not good enough. Please KMc create plan B or C. Keep the beliefl
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inghamspur added 17:38 - Oct 19 Bad goals again but we didn't really create much. Woolfenden nowhere near good enough at this level. A long, hard season ahead, which we would have expected.
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TimmyH added 17:44 - Oct 19 Well that's a first for us, no wins from the first 8 games at the top level. Our worst home performance so far, still consistently making mistakes at the back and almost as worryingly how poor we are on the transition when we lose the ball and lack of winning the ball back when out of possession. Thought Phillips was poor today and on the flip side thought Burgess had a reasonably good debut at this level. Have to admit I'm more pessimistic now of our chances of survival than at the start of the season

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warktheline added 17:47 - Oct 19 The gap between Championship and Premier is huge, so leap frogging from Div 1 to Premiership over 2 seasons is gigantic . McKenna is working with virtually a new starting 11 and it’s going to take time, still believe come May we will retain Premier status, and I’m confident he’ll be backed to bolster squad, in every department ! It’s a little worrying to have failed to pick up any points in the last two games against teams we should be competitive with! Defensive frailties clearly evident, as they were in the Championship !

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blueboy1981 added 17:48 - Oct 19 Championship Grade - a swift return beckons, unless things change quite rapidly - and they need to !!
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Suffolkboy added 17:49 - Oct 19 Very obviously still need to harden up and sharpen the steel ! No doubt KM will have’words’ and a full squad training will provide an excellent platform ! BUT we must not get too disappointed or disjointed in our commentary ; ITFC are back in the PL ,and there’s much to learn and ground to cover! COYB
12

ITFCSG added 17:50 - Oct 19 We look worse than last season for sure. Sure, the team might need time to gel, but how much more time is needed before we get cast adrift at the bottom? New players bought / loaned for millions of £££ flatter to deceive. Muric, Johnson, today Philips. Only Delap, Greaves and perhaps Szmodics have stepped up so far. Our very own Harry Clarke showed O'Shea how to play RB. First time in eons we seem scared to play and attack at home. Where was the trademark high press. Second to every ball. Everton hadn't won away in 2024 and lo and behold we make them look like Man City.

5

blueboy1981 added 17:54 - Oct 19 …… at this Prem’ level - EVERYONE gets ‘found out’ - some won’t like this being said, but it’s TRUE and already HAPPENING in front of all our eyes….. !!!
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Lightningboy added 17:58 - Oct 19 We just look shambolic & a shadow of the team that we were..the team spirit has been taken apart. Not going to slate the players who got us here - some look out of their depth yes but this is a big step up and they deserve their chance - as for some of the ones who have come in,well I think we've made some daft signings and i'll leave it at that.
5

DannyITFC added 18:02 - Oct 19 We look so disjointed from making huge weekly mistakes at the back resulting in goals to poor transitions moving forward (also missing simple opportunities I.e Jack Clarke today). When you add that to the likes of Kalvin-Phillips constantly giving the ball away every game (who is reportedly on £250k! a week between the two clubs) it’s no wonder we now find ourselves in this downward spiral. With the amount of changes of personnel this season we look worse than last season imo. No team spirit, no belief, no creativity and no hope unlike last season. I understood we needed to add quality but I think too many players have come in who are at top championship level when all was needed was better class of players but much less in terms of quantities. Like Southampton and do not see us turning this around, we look nowhere near able to compete with other relegation contenders atm as proved in the last two games. A loss to Leicester which is highly likely in two weeks will pretty much signal where we are going this season (championship). It’s hard to be positive, be the reality is this season will be a long one unless KM can somehow produce miracles.

5

Barty added 18:02 - Oct 19 Very very poor and so so so many errors in our play. Also we simply can't afford to miss chances like Jack Clarke did.
4

Bromley_Blue added 18:05 - Oct 19 Really poor today. Slow building up with all the play in front of a slow Everton defence we need to open up teams with some runs in behind if nothing else gives more space to the player on the ball. Hutchinson is a great player with a technical flaw he struggles to beat a man outside on the right and cross with his right foot everything is a cut back onto the left. I love him but a big issue for a £20 million pound player. Philips and Morsy look a cumbersome pairing.

6

cymroglas added 18:07 - Oct 19 Dunno. Thought the defence was poor today. We sorely missed Tuanzebe and Greaves. Woolfenden looked off pace, Burgess was slightly better, maybe because he's played a bit of international football recently. Defensive frailties yes but a bit worried about our lack of chances. Delap worked so hard but he was out fluffed by Everton centre halves.... Onward and upward! There will be better days! My day was made better by a long chat with Jason Dozzell pre match. Found him a humble and genuine guy.

4

Help added 18:11 - Oct 19 Suicide football from Ipswich. Poor at the back, midfield lost and overrun, nothing up front. Nothing coming from the wings. No one tries to beat the man and cross the ball, stops cuts back and passes back inside. Need to get beyond the defence and put the opposition back line under pressure. Did Pickford make a save today? Only players any good were Omari, delap and Burgess. Look better after the subs but then Everton had already won the game and they only had to hold us at bay, which is easy when we are so slow going forwards. Very poor today and disappointing after the bad performance against west ham. Two tough games coming up and a point against either will be welcome but unlikely

3

Rimsy added 18:22 - Oct 19 Bit of a shambles really. Our new players, in the main are just not delivering. Luckily there's easy solutions. Omari looks different class when moved to the right, gotta start there. Phillips looks like he's just going through the motions, let Luongo and Taylor share game time. Woolfy not up to it, O'Shea it is. Clarke is a better stand in for Axel. Chappers and Szmodics at ten. Burns looks out of his depth.

6

algarvefan added 18:23 - Oct 19 I don't agree what we learnt last season is not good enough for the Prem. For me we signed too many new players too late in the window. Should have gone with the Championship side mostly from day one, what a difference little Connor Chaplin made when he came on, Harry Clarke looked good too. There is passion in these players and we so need that at the moment. George Burley did well with Just a very few signings and we stormed the league, the team that got him promoted was the backbone of the Premier League side. Oh and Omari belongs on the right wing, not in the centre.

10

benslifeyt added 18:23 - Oct 19 Overall we looked so far off it. Play omari on the right or not at all . He’s ineffective playing at 10 in prem . We need to switch systems sometimes to 3 in midfield . We played like we did in championship trying to out score teams …… but most teams in prem are more solid in defence so out scoring teams is gonna be very hard to do . I hope this game makes McKenna see that we need a change sometimes. We need to stop playing the ball so slowly around . Know when to play a fast ball and when to slow it down. But overall we knew prem is tough and it’s a learning curve

9

leagueonescum added 18:25 - Oct 19 On the bright side, I love the Championship. Much better league.
10

ArnieM added 18:31 - Oct 19 Same old thing each game isn't it. We Couldn't help the fact our first team defence was wiped out by injury and the 2nd string degence are weak, so conceeding goals from gifts yet again no surprise today. For me, McKenna MUST change his approach up front. Burns is not good enough. Rarely beats his man or puts in any decent crosses into the box. He's no threat at all. Omari is by far the better player, wide right. Delap doesnt hold the ball up so, its constantly coming back at us, nor does he make the CBs work, or pulls them all over the park, and he doesn't bring the other forwards into play. His first, and only thought when he gets the ball is to run at the defence and try and shoot. A lot more guile is needed at this level and it's not in his armoury atm. He's young and inexperienced. Hirst needs to come in. Szmodics needs to come in for Clarke. The latter spent most of the game trying to beat the whole Everton all on his own, often losing possession. I'd say both Delap and Clarkes naive play makes us much less potent in attack. We nowhere near a cohesive attacking unit with them both in the team. But my overridning thought is unless McKenna changes HIS approach and HE " learns from the game" we will continue to be prefer puff. Also week after week far too many players are making silly mistakes eg unforced errors, gifting goals to the opposition. So the question is, why? At least stop this trait and we might starting picking up points again.

3

bluebullet29l added 18:37 - Oct 19 Firstly that was an awful performance coupled with the wrong team selection. Hutchinson should of started on the right with szmodics as the number 10. Now if km doesn't get out of this my sh#t don't stink....I walk on water....I am the messiah attitude then I'm afraid the championship beckons. Whilst I appreciate what he has done for the club he has got to realise not only are the players up against better teams but he himself is up against better managers. Km you are not the messiah...your just a very naughty boy.

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Bert added 18:39 - Oct 19 A very scrappy game, mistakes from both teams but Everton’s forward play far superior. Time for Jack Clarke to pull up his shorts.
4

Lukeybluey added 18:41 - Oct 19 We lacked aggression right from the start up until when chappers, taylor and szmodics came on. Burns head dropped from his mistake for the 1st goal. II would start the team that finished the game next game. We had no urgency, aggression, and was just too slow with everything. I have no idea we had a midfield until Taylor came on.. I do think that Mckenna needs to change the tactics,...dominating the possession and ball worked for us in League 1 and the Champ, but we're just not good enough for the ultra slow build up play in the Prem.

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