Ipswich stun Spurs to claim first league win this season

LONDON: Ipswich Town secured their first Premier League victory of the season when they deservedly beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away thanks to first-half goals by Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap and climbed out of the relegation zone on Sunday.

Promoted Ipswich took the game to Spurs from the start and hit the bar with a towering header by centreback Cameron Burgess from a Leif Davis corner after nine minutes following a spell of pressure that had put Spurs on the back foot.

Ipswich took the lead just past the half-hour mark with a superb overhead kick by striker Szmodics, who was left unmarked after Tottenham defender Cristian Romero’s misguided header, to the delight of Blues fan and singer Ed Sheeran in the stands.

The visitors scored again in the 43rd minute through Delap who pounced on a rebound after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario could only parry a low cross from Szmodics following good work by Omari Hutchinson who had broken clear in midfield.

“We knew we had to start fast,” said Szmodics after Ipswich’s first Premier League win in 22 years. “It’s a tough place to come. We deserved the goals in the first half.”

Tottenham came out fighting in the second period and created chances, with captain Son Heung-min coming close with a curler that was acrobatically tipped over by keeper Arijanet Muric.

Dominic Solanke thought he had got Spurs back into the match soon after but his close-range effort was ruled out by VAR as the ball had hit his hand on the way into the net.

Solanke and Son also fired over the bar as Spurs struggled to find a way through a well-drilled defence but midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur finally got them on the scoresheet with a powerful header from a Pedro Porro corner in the 69th minute.

Tottenham brought on midfielders Yves Bissouma and James Maddison to try to fashion an equaliser but Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich side held firm to finally record a league win after five draws and five defeats on their return to the top flight.

“It means so much,” said Delap. “We’ve put in so many great performances and just lacked that final bit. The performance was terrific. We couldn’t be happier.”

The boos rang out from the home fans at the final whistle as Ipswich claimed their first Premier League victory since April 2002. It moved the visitors up to 17th place in the standings on eight points, while Spurs are languishing in 10th spot with 16.

“Hugely disappointing,” said Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou. “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb. Second half we had chances but didn’t do enough to win the game.”