Liam Delap’s ruthless Ipswich brace denies Aston Villa a share of the top spot | Premier League

They may have to wait a little longer for their first win of the season, but on this evidence Ipswich aren’t far away. They denied Aston Villa the chance to move level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Portman Road. A goal from Liam Delap in each half canceled out goals from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.

For fans who lived through the clubs’ glory days in the 80s, this meeting was filled with a feeling of deep nostalgia. As Villa sat at the top of Europe for the first time since the 1982/83 season – the season after the underdogs’ European Cup triumph and two seasons after their last league win, when Ipswich finished second under Bobby Robson – there was Echoes of history everywhere.

Villa fans lined up for photos with the statue of a smiling Robson outside the Cobbold Stand before kick-off, remembering the manager who so often engineered victories over their side even in that golden era.

From the moment Liam Delap shot past the near post with eight minutes left, it was clear that Villa, like in Robson’s days, were in for a difficult afternoon at Portman Road.

Kieran McKenna made three changes to the side that secured a draw against Southampton last weekend – Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Clarke came on on the wings, while Kalvin Phillips replaced Jens Cajuste in midfield – while Emery made a single change to the side, who defeated Wolves The injured John McGinn made way for Leon Bailey. Phillips and Clarke contributed to the opener, with the former taking advantage of Ezri Konsa’s loose pass from behind and the latter releasing it to shoot down Delap.

There was a roar in the stands as the Ipswich fans celebrated their fourth league goal of the season. The euphoria had barely faded when Villa equalized, but a completely misguided free throw from Jacob Greaves found Rogers, who, after a fine one-two with Watkins, fired a shot past Arijanet Muric into the home goal.

Ipswich puffed up their chests and came again, Axel Tuanzebe heading just over from a free-kick before Leif Davis, after an overlapping run down the left, sent in a dangerous cross which Clarke was unable to direct on goal.

Gradually, however, Villa began to turn the dial and gain control with carefully constructed passing maneuvers and patient possession. It paid off when, just over half an hour later, they created a crossing opportunity for Bailey, who, after finding Watkins with a sweeping ball past the right-hand goal, watched as his team-mate headed back over Muric to give the visitors the goal to bring about.

Ipswich went forward once again, Emi Martínez made two excellent saves to keep out a Phillips rebound and then Delap went one on one but they failed to equalize themselves.

The hosts maintained their tempo after the break, with Clarke and Davis proving a tricky combination on the left. Clarke began his battle with Konsa, drifting into the inside channel and setting up Davis, who was charging from the outside in, for a shot that whistled past the post.

Cracks began to appear in Villa’s defensive structure before it fell apart after 72 minutes. Omari Hutchinson spotted Delap in a huge space, again on the problematic left wing. Delap charged forward from the back, turned Diego Carlos with a subtle overstep and fired a shot over Martínez to the far post.

Ipswich were just half a meter away from taking all three points, Clarke sprinted away and beat substitute Wes Burns to his right, but Pau Torres stormed over and parried the decisive ball.

The hosts pushed hard for the winner, the game ended with a series of corners that the traveling fans must have watched with their eyes, but it ended with honor, Ipswich’s fourth successive draw enough to take them out of the relegation zone Give them hope for better things to come.