Ipswich Town claimed a shock 2-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur to end their wait for a first Premier League win of the season.
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1–2
IPS
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Sam Szmodics opened the scoring for the visitors with an acrobatic finish just past the half-hour mark before Liam Delap doubled Ipswich’s advantage prior to the interval.
Spurs, who saw a Dominic Solanke goal disallowed for handball early in the second half, were handed a lifeline when Rodrigo Bentancur headed in from a corner to cut the deficit in the 69th minute.
Solanke had a great chance to restore parity in stoppage time, but Arijanet Muric made a fantastic stop as Ipswich held on for a memorable triumph, securing their first win in the Premier League since April 2002.
It is a victory that takes Kieran McKenna’s side up to 17th, while Spurs are 10th, with 16 points from their 11 matches.
How the match unfolded
Ipswich set the tone early on as Szmodics forced a save out of Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario inside two minutes before Cameron Burgess rattled the crossbar from a corner.
And the visitors took a deserved lead in the 31st minute when Jens Cajuste’s cross hit Delap and hung in the air for an unmarked Szmodics to finish with a well-timed overhead kick.
Szmodics played a part in Ipswich’s second as his cross was parried by Vicario and the ball rebounded off Radu Dragusin, and Delap was on hand to prod in his sixth league goal of the season.
Solanke thought he had dragged Spurs back into it in the 49th minute, but his goal was overturned following a VAR review because he had kicked the ball on to his hand while shooting.
Bentancur thumped in a header from Pedro Porro’s corner, but with Muric in sharp form between the sticks, Ipswich held firm to finally get their season up and running.
Tractor Boys get that long overdue win
The pressure was on for Ipswich after fellow strugglers Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton all got their first wins of the season in recent weeks.
But Ipswich pulled off one of the shock results of the season so far and will now hope to build on the momentum after the international break, as McKenna enjoyed a happy return to the club where he came through the academy and began his coaching career (below, left) almost a decade ago.
The Ipswich boss was without the services of suspended Kalvin Phillips and brought Axel Tuanzebe and Cajuste into the line-up and he was rewarded when the latter’s cross led to his side’s opener.
McKenna’s side have now shipped 22 goals following Bentancur’s header, but they defended in numbers late on and restricted their opponents to very few clear chances.
They will next host Manchester United at Portman Road in Ruben Amorim’s first match in charge of the Red Devils and will fancy their chances of giving the Portuguese a tough welcome to the Premier League.
Spurs falter, again
Spurs delivered an impressive performance in beating Aston Villa last week, but questions about their consistency have lingered this season.
Indeed, they had fallen behind in their last two home league outings, but fought back to claim 4-1 wins over West Ham United and Villa respectively.
And there was to be no such comeback this time around, as Spurs’ faltering form continued.
They have now lost three fixtures when coming off the back of midweek outings in the UEFA Europa League and Ange Postecoglou’s team just could not get going after defeat to Galatasaray in Istanbul on Thursday.
The Spurs head coach had kept his trust in the same 11 that fought back against Villa, but this is a worrying patch of form for Postecoglou, and his team will need to rediscover some consistency if he is to deliver UEFA Champions League football this season.
Club reports
Spurs report | Ipswich report
What the managers said
Kieran Mckenna: “It’s a massive, significant moment. A day to cherish in the recent history,” McKenna told Sky Sports.
“The journey the club has been on – the highs and the depths. For the fans to see their club in the Premier League and win in a stadium like this is a massive day. Where the club was two years ago to now competing in the Premier League. A significant landmark.”
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Guglielmo Vicario made his 25th home start for Tottenham Hotspur today in the Premier League. Across those 25 starts, Vicario has kept just three clean sheets, the joint-fewest by any Spurs keeper across their first 25 home starts in the competition, along with Ian Walker.
Today’s victory was Ipswich’s first in the Premier League since a 1-0 win vs Middlesborough in April 2002, as well as their first away win in the competition since beating Everton at Goodison Park in February 2002, ending a run of 12 away matches in the competition without a win (D3 L9).
Since the start of last season, Sam Szmodics has scored 31 league goals across his spells with Blackburn Rovers and now Ipswich Town, with only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (39) scoring more than him across England’s top four tiers.