Ipswich 2-2 Aston Villa: Liam Delap double steals the show in Ipswich's best performance of the season so far

Villa come from behind again

Despite being pinned back in the opening exchanges, Town found the breakthrough against the run of play just eight minutes in.

Phillips picked up the loose ball and found Clarke, who, with a smart cut back, found Delap. Delap’s instinctive first-time finish was too much for Martinez to handle, making it back-to-back Portman Road goals.

Villa were able to bounce back quickly in the 16th minute, an extremely rare mistake from Jacob Greaves whose clearance was smashed straight into the middle of the penalty area and picked up by Morgan Rogers, Villa’s biggest threat.

The mistake was brutally punished - after a sharp one-two with Watkins, Rogers smashed a clinical finish which wrong-footed Muric, who had no chance.

Town had a great chance to regain the lead just three minutes after Villa equalised. Davis had all kinds of space down the left-hand touchline to whip in a tremendous ball to Clarke, who unfortunately got his header all wrong.

Villa came back from behind to take the lead for the third game in a row when a devastating cross from Bailey allowed Watkins to sandwich between Tuanzebe and O’Shea to head home, yet again not the most convincing defensive showing from Ipswich.

Ipswich responded well but were denied by the heroics of Martinez.

Firstly, Martinez did well in reading Phillips’ bullet of a strike and turning it around the corner.

Secondly, and the better of the two chances, Davis threaded a perfectly timed through ball for Delap. Delap went low with the strike, and one-on-one specialist Martinez spread himself well to pull off the foot save around the post.

A deserved point for Town

The first 20 minutes of the second half were flat, with little going on.

Villa were happy to try and run down the clock and sit on their one goal advantage. Mckenna addressed this with an aggressive midfield change, bringing Taylor into the frame for Phillips, who had a major impact off the bench.

In the 72nd minute, Ipswich finally got the breakthrough they craved. Delap was isolated one-on-one with Carlos, and a couple of stepovers sent the Villa man spinning. The finish on his weaker left foot into the far corner was devastating. It was an extremely satisfying goal to watch.

We pushed for the winner at the end with a spell of corners but could not find that elusive third, with Burns having the best opportunity but seeing his shot charged down by Torres.

A fantastic performance and a point against a Champions League club to make it four games unbeaten!

The Liam Delap show

I am running out of superlatives for this man. He has managed to top his exceptional performance against Fulham with an even better display! Both his goals were on his weaker left foot, so it is great to know he is very comfortable striking the ball off both feet.

His opening goal was an instinctive first-time finish. I liked how he did not think about taking a touch; the only thought in his mind was to get the strike off.

His second goal was simply sensational. He had Carlos backtracking and took advantage of the situation with devastating stepovers and a clinical finish into the far corner that sent Portman Road into delirium.

The sky's the limit for Delap. He is making what many thought was a steep £15m fee (plus add-ons) look like an absolute steal. His work rate and physicality are a handful for any defence in this league, and his ball striking is excellent.

One thing he can work on is sometimes playing the simple pass instead of going for the Hollywood ball, as happened in the first half when he should have slotted in Ogbene down the right.

It is also important to note that he is only 21, playing his first minutes in the Premier League, and is still very raw. The scary thing is that he has plenty of room to grow even further. If Delap can stay fit, he can easily get 15 goals this season.

Attacking oomph is back

In the opening five games, it was evident that prioritising our defensive shape was impacting the number of chances we were creating. Against Southampton, it was glaringly obvious how disjointed our attack looked. This was not the case against Villa. We created four big chances, and the attacking balance of the team was the best it had looked all season by a mile against a very strong Aston Villa side.

The addition of Jack Clarke to the fray was a big contributor to the upturn in attack - he utilised the ball exceptionally well and was a constant threat. The Yorkshire Ronaldinho capped an excellent full league debut with an assist for Delap’s first goal.

Leif Davis also had his best attacking performance of the season, creating seven chances, and Villa struggled to pick up his marauding runs. I look forward to seeing the Clarke and Davis partnership blossom more in the next few games. It certainly helped that they played together for Leeds.

The attack will only continue to grow week in and week out when the players build relationships and master our patterns of play; we have multiple options in each role that can impact games off the bench if needed.

Change of formation

We reverted to the 3-4-2-1 we trialled in pre-season against Nice and played against City. This was the strongest it has been; take the errors out for the goals, and we were super solid at the back, especially in the second half. We limited Villa to a few chances. We looked devastating on the break, and the attacking trio of Clarke, Hutchinson, and Delap was so fluid. They all worked their socks off. 

It will be intriguing to see if McKenna sticks with this system after it has given us our best performance of the season or if it was a one-off game plan to counter Aston Villa’s threats.

A slight concern was that Ogbene sometimes looked lost and did not fully understand his role. If either he or Burns picks up their performance levels in that role, then the system could look devastating, with wing-back threats from the left and right sides.

Midfield brutality

This was also the best we have seen of the Morsy—Phillips pivot, and they did well to disrupt what was looking like a strong partnership in Onana and Tielemans. Phillips, especially, had total control in the midfield, was positive on the ball, and was physical in the duels.

Morsy had an excellent game but can count himself lucky not to have been sent off! Having been booked in the first half for committing multiple fouls, he twice made what looked like a bookable offence in the second half but somehow didn’t see red.

Morsy always plays on the edge, but players are super quick at this level and fall down easily, making yellows more likely for him.

McKenna bravely resisted the urge to remove his captain from the battle.

Unbeaten in four

Our impressive start to the season continues, even if we are still waiting for our first win.

However, picking up four draws in a row in the Premier League is an impressive feat, especially against teams of the stature of Brighton and Aston Villa. We remain outside the dreaded relegation zone and sit at a respectable 15th.

Again, we are going to be a very tough team to beat. Even if you think we are down, we have the game-changers off the bench who can come on and turn the tide in our favour.

I can feel the first win coming if we continue to play at a similar level to what we did against Villa.

Moment of the match

Got to give it to the main man, Liam Delap for his second solo effort. Everything about the goal was sensational and I will admit I have watched it at least 50 times!

Next Up

We have a trip to the London Stadium to face an under-fire West Ham side who have made a poor start to the season. The Hammers spent big in the summer, but Lopetegui’s boys are still waiting to hit the ground running and sit one point and one place ahead of us.

Again, a draw away from home and unbeaten in five does not sound like a bad outcome. The next four fixtures look very favourable for us. Away trips to London against West Ham and Brentford will both be tough, but they are fixtures we can take something away from.

Everton and Leicester at Portman Road present the perfect opportunity to secure our first three points of the season.

Player ratings: Muric 6, Tuanzebe 6, O’Shea 6, Greaves 5, Davis 9, Morsy 7, Phillips 8, Ogbene 5, Hutchinson 6, Clarke 8, Delap 9 (MOTM)