A superb individual strike from two-goal Liam Delap earned Ipswich Town a draw against Aston Villa, who missed a chance to move level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool.
With Ipswich trailing 2-1 in the second half, striker Delap collected the ball just inside Villa territory, raced into the penalty area and tricked his way beyond Diego Carlos before firing low past goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
The former Manchester City forward had turned in Jack Clarke’s cutback to give Ipswich an eighth-minute advantage, but visitors Villa recovered to lead by half-time at Portman Road.
Morgan Rogers collected Jacob Greaves’ poor clearance and exchanged passes with Ollie Watkins before crashing in his first goal for the season to equalise.
Leon Bailey’s cross from the right then picked out unmarked England striker Watkins, who nodded past Arijanet Muric from six yards.
At that stage Villa looked set to achieve a comeback victory for the third Premier League match in a row.
However, Delap’s intervention secured a fourth successive league draw for Ipswich as the Tractor Boys climbed to 15th in the table.
Positives for Ipswich but win still elusive
Ipswich were decent value for their point, which lifted them out of the relegation zone.
Their wait for a first win since returning to the Premier League goes on, although manager Kieran McKenna will take positives from this latest display.
Delap’s two goals were both well taken but quite different in execution.
His first was a predatory first-time strike from inside the penalty area and his second was all of his own making, reminiscent of his first Premier League goal for Ipswich in the 1-1 draw against Fulham on 31 August.
The 21-year-old perhaps should have had a hat-trick, but Martinez denied him when he was sent through for a one-on-one in the first period.
Kalvin Phillips had a hand in Ipswich’s opener, winning a turnover deep in the Villa half before feeding Clarke to set up Delap.
England international Phillips also tested Martinez with a stinging drive from outside the penalty area.
Of concern to McKenna will be the defensive lapses that led to two soft goals at the other end.
Ipswich’s next four league fixtures are against teams currently outside the top 10, so hopes of a first league win of the campaign arriving soon will be high – especially if Delap can continue this fine start to his career in Suffolk.
