Liam Delap’s ruthless Ipswich double denies Aston Villa share of top spot

They may have to wait for their first win of the season but, on this evidence, Ipswich are not far off. They denied Aston Villa the chance to move level on points with Liverpool at the Premier League summit with a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Portman Road, a goal from Liam Delap in each half cancelling out strikes from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.

For fans who lived through the clubs’ 80s glory days, this meeting was imbued with deep nostalgia. With Villa dining at Europe’s top table for the first time since the 1982‑83 campaign – the season after their underdog European Cup triumph, and two seasons after they last won the league as Ipswich finished runners-up under Bobby Robson – there were echoes of history everywhere.

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Villa fans queued before kick-off for photos with the statue of a smiling Robson outside the Cobbold Stand, commemorating the manager who so often masterminded victories against their side even in that golden era. From the moment Delap squeezed in at the near post with eight minutes on the clock, it became clear that, just as in Robson’s day, Villa were in for a difficult afternoon in Suffolk.

Kieran McKenna made three changes to the side that snatched a draw at Southampton last weekend – Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Clarke coming in on the wings as Kalvin Phillips replaced Jens Cajuste in midfield – while Unai Emery made one change to the team which beat Wolves, the injured John McGinn making way for Leon Bailey. Phillips and Clarke carved out the opening goal, the former latching on to Ezri Konsa’s loose pass out from the back and freeing the latter to tee up Delap.

The stands erupted, Ipswich fans revelling in only their fourth league goal of the season. The euphoria had barely dissipated before Villa levelled the score. A badly misplaced clearance from Jacob Greaves, a summer arrival from Hull, found Rogers who, after a neat one-two with Watkins, lashed a shot past the Ipswich goalkeeper, Arijanet Muric. “The first goal was a mistake, we’re going to make them,” McKenna said. “A lot of our players are playing their first games in the Premier League and the ruthlessness of the execution to punish you when you make a mistake is really, really high.”

Ipswich puffed up their chests and came again, Axel Tuanzebe heading just over from a free‑kick before Leif Davis, after an overlapping run on the left flank, whipped in a dangerous cross which Clarke could not direct on target. Gradually, though, Villa started to turn the dial, asserting control with carefully constructed passing moves and patient possession. With a little over half an hour gone, they worked a crossing opportunity for Bailey who, having found Watkins with a sweeping ball out wide on the right, watched as his teammate headed back across Muric to give the away side the lead.

Ipswich came forward once more, Emi Martínez making excellent saves to keep out a rebound smash from Phillips and then Delap one‑on‑one, but they could not find an equaliser of their own before the break.

The home side maintained their tempo in the second half, Clarke and Davis proving a tricky combination on the left. Clarke got the better of his battle with Konsa, drifting into the inside channel to set up Davis, haring in from out wide, for a shot which whistled past the stanchion.

Cracks began to appear in Villa’s defensive structure before, with 72 minutes gone, it fragmented. Omari Hutchinson spotted Delap in a vast expanse of space, again on the troublesome left flank. Delap charged in behind and, turning Diego Carlos inside out with a subtle stepover, rifled a shot across Martínez and in at the far post.

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Emery conceded his side lost their grip in the second half. “We can accept how difficult this league is,” he said. “Playing away, playing a team like Ipswich … after they were promoted, they are excited, they are motivated, they are really astute tactically and they are playing with confidence.”

Ipswich were half a yard away from taking all three points, Clarke sprinting clear and teeing up the substitute Wes Burns to his right only for Pau Torres to rush across and make a decisive block. The hosts pushed hard for the winner, the match ending in a succession of corners which must have left the travelling fans watching through their fingers, but it ended with honours even. Ipswich’s fourth draw on the bounce was enough to lift them out of the relegation zone and give them hope of even better to come.