After Liverpool, then Manchester City, a first realistic opportunity for Ipswich to lay a marker. Fulham presented a truer litmus test. And though the wins will have to come sooner rather than later, the conclusion from a helter-skelter draw in which Ipswich were usually the better team is that Kieran McKenna’s side have enough talent and spirit to survive the Premier League.
Ipswich’s manager has received backing to achieve that objective, around £110m worth. Ed Sheeran spent Saturday in Sofia but maintained his presence, his current tour an official club sponsor, his face and voice heavily rotated on Portman Road’s public broadcast system. It isn’t just the Gallagher brothers who can crash a web server. As an investor in the club, what have Suffolk’s pop hobbit’s spare royalties been spent on? McKenna blooded a number of signings, on-loan Kalvin Phillips making an impressive first start in midfield, Chiedozie Ogbene’s speed employed effectively down the wing.
“I think the players have come away from our first three games with more belief,” said McKenna. “The jump is massive but they don’t feel too far away.”
Ipswich’s promotion through two divisions came via attacking principles. There is no sense they will be surrendering them. McKenna fielded four in attack, Ogbene off the right, Sammie Szmodics, on the other flank, with Omari Hutchinson buzzing behind the goalscorer Liam Delap.
Marco Silva, McKenna’s opposing manager, has shown that a mixture of adventure and grit can establish a Premier League club. “They have shown ambition,” he said of Ipswich. “I have massive respect for them.” This is Fulham’s third season since promotion, and a measure of their establishment as a top-division club was a bench rich in experience, including new signings Joachim Andersen and Sander Berge.
Fulham’s plan appeared to centre around Adama Traoré getting at Leif Davis, the left-back’s defensive shortcomings pinpointed. The reason for Davis being in Ipswich’s team was soon made explicit in a key contribution to Delap’s goal, intercepting Andreas Pereira’s pass, zipping down the wing before supplying his teammate. If Bernd Leno might have saved it, the goal precipitated an explosion of noise from the home fans. “A great moment,” said McKenna of the first Ipswich Premier League goal at Portman Road for 22 years.
Delap might have had a swift second but could only head wide. That it was Davis who left Traoré unmarked for Fulham’s equaliser, converting Antonee Robinson’s cross, showed the wisdom of Silva’s tactics and that McKenna will have to find a means to protect Davis. There is something of the Trent Alexander-Arnold conundrum about the Wallsend Boys club product. He is a delight going forward, a very possible liability in defence.
An entertaining first half closed with Leno making a fingertip save from Ogbene’s header after Phillips, seeking form and regular football, reminded everyone of his innate ability with a strafing delivery. After those lost years at Manchester City and last season’s moribund loan at West Ham, the former England anchor looked more comfortable than for a long while. “He’s fitted really well into the group, and we’ve really enjoyed having him here,” said McKenna. As Phillips’ influence grew, Emile Smith Rowe’s faded, with the Ipswich captain Sam Morsy offering able, muscular support in the midfield battle.
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Delap might not be the deadliest finisher in football history but his hard-running style was a sincere problem for Fulham. “I’ve never doubted him,” said his manager. The 21-year-old ran himself to the point of exhaustion and forced Leno into a good second-half save after recovering a lost cause. Fulham created a few of their own chances, two falling to Smith Rowe in quick succession, only for Ipswich defenders to hurl bodies in the way. “In the second half we were solid,” said Silva. “But it was more difficult to create.”
Phillips left the field with 20 to play to applause, Smith Rowe also departing for Berge. Raúl Jiménez, one of those battle-hardened Fulham subs, went closest in the closing moments. Ipswich, meanwhile, desperately chased the points but that first Premier League win evaded them, Hutchinson having the best of a number of snatched opportunities. Their back gate was meanwhile often left open; if Ipswich are to survive, these are the means McKenna has chosen.
