Match Report
Ipswich Town (1) 1-1 (1) Fulham
Premier League Match Day 03 24/25 at Portman Road,
Saturday 31st August 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Lewis Smith (Lancashire)
|
Fulham manager Marco Silva named an unchanged starting eleven from last weekend’s 2-1 win against Leicester City in the Premier League. New signings Joachim Andersen and Sander Berge replaced Ryan Sessegnon and the outgoing Jay Stansfield on the bench, who rejoined Birmingham City on deadline day.
Bernd Leno was called into early action, denying Jacob Greaves looping header from a corner. Adama Traore broke away for Fulham’s first opening on ten minutes, racing in behind the defence, but his cutback to Rodrigo Muniz was just out of the Brazilian’s reach.
Liam Delap opened the scoring for the home side 15 minutes in, driving forward on the counter and arrowing an effort past Leno from 20 yards.
Fulham were quick to respond and regained control of the game’s tempo, patiently building attacks, and were rewarded on 32 minutes, Emile Smith Rowe picked out Alex Iwobi on the left wing, Antonee Robinson overlapped and drilled a low cross for Adama to sweep in and finish.
| Match Stats |
Ipswich |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(1)1 |
1 (1) |
|
| Scorers |
Delap 15 |
Traore 32 |
| , |
| Goal attempts |
11 |
9 |
| On target |
4 |
4 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
36% |
44% |
| Possession |
49% |
51% |
| Passes |
345 |
359 |
| Crosses |
16 |
26 |
| Corners |
8 |
6 |
| Tackles |
13 |
11 |
| Saves |
3 |
3 |
| Fouls |
15 |
15 |
| Offsides |
4 |
0 |
| Yellows |
2 |
3 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
Rodrigo Muniz was unfortunate not to fire Fulham ahead just a couple of minutes later, having a header from close range well saved by Arjanet Muric.
Neither side made changes at the break and the match restarted at a similarly fast pace. Sasa Lukic found Robinson racing in behind with a ball from deep, but the Ipswich defence recovered well to thwart the full back’s progress.
Smith Rowe was the next to go close, having an effort from just inside the box deflected out for a corner following clever Iwobi play from an Adama cross. From the resulting corner, Emile had another effort blocked.
Leno was called into action on 68 minutes, coming off of his line to deny Chiedozie Ogbene one on one.
Raul Jimenez, having come on for Muniz minutes earlier, stung the palms of Muric following a counter attack as the game approached the final five minutes.
Ipswich were the side who looked likeliest to take all three points in added time, going close through efforts from Jack Clarke and Omari Hutchinson, but Fulham held out to take a point from Portman Road.
Fulham boss Marco Silva:
"
"It was a tough game against an aggressive side. They have great support which demanded us to win duels and beat the pressure.
"First half we did this better than the second. They scored in a moment where we were in control and we should have done better.
Ipswich Town: Muric, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Phillips (Cajuste 71), Ogbene (Chaplin 88), Hutchinson, Szmodics (J Clarke 81), Delap (Al Hamadi 81)
Unused substitutes: Johnson, Townsend, Luongo, O'Shea, Walton,
Goals:
Delap 15; (A brilliant strike from Liam Delap puts the home side ahead!
Delap receives the ball just inside the opposition half and drives towards the edge of the Fulham box before letting fly. He finds the far left corner with a thumping effort.
Leno does get a hand to it and perhaps could've done better, but it is a great strike nonetheless. )
Booked: Morsy (37,f), Al Hamadi (94,f),
Fulham: :Leno, Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Pereira (Cairney 87), Lukic (Reed 87), Smith Rowe (Berge 72), Traore, Muniz (Jimenez 79), Iwobi (Wilson 87)
Unused substitutes: Andersen, Cuenca, Castagne, Benda
Goals:
Traore 32; (Traore finds the finishing touch to direct Antonee Robinson's low whipped cross into the Ipswich net.
Alex Iwobi timed his pass to perfection, slotting in Robinson who reaches the byline and delivers a typically incisive cross from the left wing.
Traore is at the far post and guides it low into the right hand side of the goal. )
Booked: Lukic (51,f), Robinson (58,f), Traore (78,f),
Referee:
Lewis Smith (Lancashire)
Attendance: 29,517
Fulham are next in action on the Saturday 14th September against West Ham at The Cottage