IPSWICH were pretty in pink as they finally won a Premier League match after 22 years of waiting – and gave boyhood fan Ed Sheeran the perfect afternoon.
The previous top-flight success was as far back as April 2002 when Darren Bent scored the winner as the relegated Tractor Boys beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at Portman Road.
That was the season they waved goodbye to the Prem for more than two decades until gaining top-flight promotion last May
Having waited a generation and more, acrobatic Sam Szmodics and quick-thinking Liam Delap were the heroes this time as Kieran McKenna’s patient men got off the mark at the 11th attempt this term.
As they so often do, Tottenham take one step forward, two steps back, and after smashing Champions League outfit Aston Villa 4-1 last weekend, they were deservedly beaten by one of the bottom three clubs.
Boss Ange Postecoglou will head off for the international break stewing over this defeat, which was greeted by boos from disgruntled supporters.
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The promoted side used Remembrance Sunday as the day to debut their pink third kit, a particular colour found on many of the county’s iconic cottages.
And it also has a silhouette of Framlingham Castle – the famous ‘Castle on the Hill’ immortalised in Sheeran’s love-letter to his Suffolk upbringing.
The singer-songwriter, 33, was in the VIP seats for this occasion and the minority investor could not contain his delight as he witnessed the drought end in North London.
It was a fast, frenetic start because with barely three minutes gone, both Ipswich and Tottenham should have scored from close range.
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Less than 90 seconds had passed when Szmodics produced a smart save from Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario after Radu Dragusin failed to deal with a simple delivery.
Moments later, Son Heung-min’s delightful cross into the box found Brennan Johnson – whose dad David played for Ipswich 23 years ago – but the flick from his outstretched boot bobbled wide of the goal.
Set-pieces are an area in which Tottenham have shown defensive vulnerabilities and their disorganisation and lack of communication was evident during the second Leif Davis corner on eight minutes.
Over it came with purpose and Cameron Burgess, a tall, powerful Australian defender, got the better of his marker but his header bounced off the crossbar before being booted away to safety.
The warning signs for Tottenham had been there and on 31 minutes their worst fears came true.
The cross from Jens Cajuste struck the back of Delap and Szmodics adjusted his body perfectly to the trajectory of the spinning ball before scoring with a sensational overhead kick.
Maybe Brennan Johnson should have stopped that – the winger pulled out of a challenge at the last minute, perhaps thinking he might get hurt or would be penalised for a foul, but that lack of intervention was crucial.
Tottenham fans have grown accustomed to this sort of narrative – in 2024, their team has conceded the opening goal in 13 of 15 home league matches.
It got even worse before half-time when Axel Tuanzebe retained possession on the touchline and then the excellent Omari Hutchinson shrugged off Rodrigo Bentancur before spraying a pass out wide to Davis.
The eventual cross from Szmodics was saved by Vicario but then, much to the goalkeeper’s misfortune, the clearance bounced off Dragusin’s leg.
It would have gone down as an own goal but Delap showed enough enterprise – and crucially avoided being flagged for offside – to capitalise, bunding-in his easiest goal of the season.
The entire Ipswich bench went mad and so did the 3,000 punters in the away corner.
Booed off at half-time, Tottenham knew they had to respond quickly but an early goal by England striker Dominic Solanke was rightly ruled out for handball by VAR.
It saved the blushes of referee Darren England, who was in charge of matters here for the first time since his VAR blunder in September 2023 when Liverpool’s Luis Díaz had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside.
Quiet in the first half, Son went close on 48 minutes when his 22-yard strike was superbly tipped over by Town stopper Arijanet Muric.
And Tottenham were furious they were not awarded a penalty when Davis handled Porro’s right-wing cross on 61 minutes.
Porro – who is donating part of his salary to Valencia flash flood victims – played a key part in Tottenham’s goal.
It was his pinpoint corner that was headed in by an unmarked Bentancur, who blew kisses to his family members in the crowd.
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Tottenham are known as Prem Comeback Kings, given the number of times they have turned around a losing position.
But this time they were unable to get out of the straitjacket that had been tightened by their own making as Ipswich celebrated a famous victory, especially after Muric blocked Solanke’s attempt deep into stoppage time.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
