Ipswich's Late Drama Falls Short Against Everton

Ipswich have made a habit of leaving it late this season. Sunderland felt it. Crystal Palace felt it. So when the board went up showing seven added minutes at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the travelling fans rose, waiting for the familiar twist.

It never came.

Down to 10 men and running on fumes, Town still threw on Zian Flemming, the match-winner against Palace and the man many expected to script another dramatic finale. The chance did arrive. Injury time, space opening up, the goal in his sights. But Flemming leaned back and sent his effort sailing over the bar, the moment evaporating into the Wirral night.

The tension didn’t ease. Ipswich kept pushing, and right at the death centre-half Issa Diop almost stole a point. He surged forward, seized on a loose ball and pulled the trigger, only to see his shot smothered by a desperate, last-ditch block from Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner. That was the last breath of hope.

For Gary O'Neil, there was frustration, but also plenty of substance to cling to. His side had not folded. They had not gone quietly.

Before the red card to Abdul Fatawu midway through the second half, Ipswich had gone toe to toe and asked serious questions of Everton. Jordan Pickford, freshly named again in Thomas Tuchel's England squad, had to be sharp and authoritative. He produced four excellent saves, each one a reminder of why he keeps his international place and a measure of how bravely Ipswich attacked the game.

The dismissal changed everything. With Fatawu sent off, Ipswich were shoved onto the back foot, their earlier ambition replaced by stubborn resistance and sporadic counters. O'Neil, watching on in the same week he lost his father, cut a figure of fierce focus on the touchline as his players chased an equaliser that refused to come.

They ran, they pressed, they gambled. It was a relentless pursuit. It was also a fruitless one.

Yet the table offers some perspective. As the league pauses for a three-week international break, Ipswich sit on six points from their first five matches back in the top flight. Not spectacular, not disastrous, but solid enough to keep them clear of early danger.

The late drama deserted them this time. The question now is whether this battling start becomes a platform for safety or just the opening act of a much tougher survival fight.