You suspect that outside the blue corner of East Anglia, nobody will have enjoyed this match more than Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany and his squad.
In front of their flat-screen televisions in their upmarket apartments, Bayern’s players will have watched with delight as Aston Villa took punch after punch from Ipswich and somehow managed to emerge from Portman Road without being knocked out.
How that leaves them for Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Bayern, one of the biggest fixtures in Villa’s recent history, is quite another matter. Bayern themselves had a ferocious duel with champions Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday yet after seeing how Villa were stretched here, they may feel the extra 24 hours’ rest could prove decisive.
Villa boss Unai Emery certainly looks in need of a lie down. The Basque gave new meaning to the expression ‘kicking every ball’ as he danced about his technical area, a study in agitation. The most famous result in Villa’s history was a 1-0 win over Bayern in the 1982 European Cup Final and to repeat it will require something Villa find all too difficult – keeping a clean sheet.
Emery’s side had fought back to lead at half-time after Liam Delap had put Ipswich in front, thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins. Emi Martinez made fine saves to keep Ipswich out but they were not to be denied and Delap’s second with 18 minutes left was fully merited.
Though Ipswich are still waiting for their first win of the campaign, they should take huge encouragement from this. Against one of the best teams in the land for the last 18 months, Town looked their opponents in the eye and Emery could not have complained had his team left with nothing. They will also feel they were on the wrong end of some controversial calls, notably when Ollie Watkins was not even booked after his elbow caught Dara O’Shea in the face.
Ipswich hope to ride the wave optimism that carried them to consecutive promotions and is unlikely to subside whatever the results this season.
And with the crowd roaring them on, Ipswich took the lead in the eighth minute. When Sam Morsy’s shot cannoned off team-mate Omari Hutchinson, Ezri Konsa’s weak clearance fell straight to Kalvin Phillips. Jack Clarke collected his former Leeds colleague’s pass and cut it back for Delap, whose low effort from close range crept in via Emi Martinez’s right hand.
Town were full of energy at this stage, snapping into tackles and breaking swiftly, with Morsy and Hutchinson impressive. All that positive work was ruined in the 15th minute, though.
Under little pressure, Jacob Greaves thrashed blind at a clearance deep in his own box. Rogers intercepted it, took the return ball from Watkins and swept home from 12 yards.
It was a heavy blow yet Ipswich continued to make chances. Axel Tuanzebe headed over Leif Davis’ free-kick and Clarke missed an even better headed chance from another Davis cross. Villa boss Unai Emery used a break in play to give a pep talk to Pau Torres, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey and just after the half-hour mark, Villa edged ahead.
Following a patient build-up, the ball was worked back to Leon Bailey – in for injured skipper John McGinn – and he crossed brilliantly with his weaker right foot, allowing Watkins to slip between Dara O’Shea and Tuanzebe and head beyond Arijanet Muric.
MATCH FACTS & PLAYER RATINGS
Ipswich (4-2-3-1): Muric 6; Tuanzebe 6.5, O’Shea 6.5, Greaves 6, Davis 7.5; Morsy 8, Phillips 6.5 (Taylor 69, 6); Ogbene 6 (Burns 69, 6), Hutchinson 7.5, Clarke 7; Delap 7.5
Subs not used: Walton, Johnson, Townsend, Luongo, Chaplin, Szmodics, Hirst
Scorers: Delap 8′, 72′
Booked: Morsy, Delap, Tuanzebe
Manager: Kieran McKenna 8
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez 7; Konsa 5.5, D Carlos 5.5, Torres 6, Digne 7 (Maatsen 84); Onana 7, Tielemans 7.5 (Barkley 84) Bailey 6 (Philogene 65, 6), Rogers 7 (Duran 64, 6), Ramsey 6; Watkins 6.5 (Buendia 84)
Subs not used: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Swinkels
Scorers: Rogers 15′, Watkins 32′
Booked: Digne
Manager: Unai Emery 6
Referee: Stuart Attwell 6
Attendance: 29,943
If Martinez had been at fault for Delap’s goal, he more than repaid his side before half-time. First he showed fine reflexes to push away Phillips’ rising drive and then, with Delap bearing down on him, the Argentine managed to divert the ball wide with his left foot. No wonder Martinez celebrated a save that was similar to his iconic stop from France’s Randal Kolo Muani in the 2022 World Cup Final.
Ipswich were starting to grow irritable with referee Stuart Attwell. They were baffled to see Watkins escape punishment when his flying elbow caught O’Shea below the eye, and then Delap followed Morsy into the book for protesting against the yellow card shown to his captain for a challenge on Rogers.
Though Ipswich were making all the running after the break, they were finding Villa a tougher nut to crack. Diego Carlos started to gain greater control over Delap and Martinez was not required to bail out his team as he had in the first half.
Attwell was no more popular with the home crowd, either. Still sore at the calls they felt had gone against them in the opening 45 minutes, the Ipswich fans blew their top in the second half. With Delap about to burst clear down the left, Attwell halted play with Villa substitute Jaden Philogene down in the centre of the field.
Their anger turned to joy soon afterwards. Released by a quick pass from Clarke, Delap drove for the box, tricked his way far too easily past Carlos and clipped the ball beyond Martinez into the far corner. It was no more than McKenna’s men deserved for a performance brimming with effort and skill – and it could have been even better had Pau Torres not made a fine sliding block to stop sub Jack Taylor’s drive at source.
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