Liam Delap’s fine strike not enough for Ipswich as Fulham claim a point
Premier League newcomers Ipswich picked up their first point of the season following a competitive 1-1 draw with Fulham at Portman Road.
Kieran McKenna’s men had been handed a tough return to the top flight and fell to successive defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool, but a wonderful long-range effort from Liam Delap gave them their first home goal of the campaign.
Adama Traore levelled proceedings before the break and both sides were unable to break the deadlock after the interval.
Ipswich forced Bernd Leno into action early on after Omari Hutchinson’s looped corner saw Jacob Greaves’ nodded effort tipped over, but it was Fulham who made the better start in Suffolk.
Target-man Rodrigo Muniz dropped deep, tempting defenders out of position before unleashing Adama Traore in behind to win a corner. However, Marco Silva’s side were unable to make the most of their early possession and chances.
A sensational run from Delap against the run of play saw him score an incredible solo effort to open his Tractor Boys account.
Leif Davis marauded down the left flank before laying it off to Delap, who joined from Manchester City in the summer. The forward picked the ball up on half-way and then skipped past defenders, driving towards goal before he unleashed a thumping strike which was buried into the top left-hand corner.
Portman Road was well up for the occasion and the home fans geed their players forward.
Fulham steadied the ship and managed to regroup to equalise after 32 minutes.
Emile Smith Rowe picked out the overlapping Antonee Robinson, who burst past team-mate Alex Iwobi. The full-back’s first-time delivery was fizzed low and hard across the area and Traore was well-positioned to finish into the bottom-right corner.
Delap had wreaked havoc on the Fulham back-line and his persistence nearly saw him score on the half-turn but Leno got a slight hand to deny the striker from giving Ipswich a dream start to the second half.
For Fulham it was Traore who continued where he left off with a fine performance in last week’s 2-1 win over Leicester.
The rapid forward had troubled Davis all match and this time his delivery to Iwobi was laid off to Smith Rowe, but the former Arsenal midfielder’s shot from six yards out was deflected behind courtesy of some brave defending.
Silva handed a league debut to Sander Berge, who joined from Burnley last week. The Norway holding midfielder gave Fulham more control in the final stages as Ipswich allowed them possession.
Berge showed his quality with a well-weighted pass to set substitute Raul Jimenez clear.
The Mexico international went one-v-one but his shot was fired straight at Arijanet Muric after some good pressure from the Ipswich defence.
Ipswich had a late chance of their own through Hutchinson during five added minutes but the game ended 1-1.
