pwshub.com

Southampton 1-1 Ipswich: Late equaliser stuns Saints

Ipswich scored a last-minute equaliser to deny Southampton a hard-fought first win of the season after the home side held onto a lead for almost 90 minutes. 

The Saints took the lead within six minutes through Tyler Dibling and defended solidly throughout before conceding the sucker punch in stoppage time as Tractor Boys captain Sam Morsy struck home a deflected goal from distance.

Southampton headed into the match at St Mary's stranded on zero points having lost their first four and with only Everton below them in the table.

Meanwhile Ipswich also remained without a win in their first season back in the top flight for more than two decades.

And it was a link-up of the generations that broke the deadlock just six minutes in as veteran Adam Lallana was gifted the ball by the away side before finding Tyler Dibling, half his age at 18, just outside the box.

Ipswich scored a last-minute equaliser through Sam Morsy to deny Southampton a hard-fought first win

Tyler Dibling finished smartly, slotting the ball low into the corner to send the home fans, starved of goals so far this campaign, into raptures

The youngster finished smartly, slotting the ball low into the corner to send the home fans, starved of goals so far this campaign, into raptures.

Ipswich responded well to the early setback, knocking it around nicely and creating a few substantial chances but failing to make the breakthrough.

And just before the half-hour mark Southampton spurned an opportunity to double thier lead and leave the Tractor Boys in real trouble, with Cameron Archer slamming the post after beating two defenders and goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

Kieran McKenna's side then missed a golden chance on the stroke of half-time as Dara O'Shea disappointingly tapped it straight at Aaron Ramsdale after the former Arsenal goalkeeper had conceded a cheap corner.

The Saints knew something had to change if they were to protect their tenuous lead for another 45 minutes and Archer, in a move that echoed his first-half chance, ghosted past two Ipswich defenders before striking the ball into the keeper's grateful arms.

Southampton then made a host of changes, including hooking Archer for Ben Brereton Diaz who held the unwanted record of going winless in his first 18 Premier League matches.

With both sides fighting furiously for the victory to kickstart their campaign, tempers overflowed with a melee causing Ipswich striker Liam Delap and Southampton captain Flynn Downes to enter the book. 

The away side were struggling to gain a foothold in the second period and the travelling suppoters could sense the game was getting away from their team.

At the other end, Brereton Diaz flashed a shot over the bar as the Saints looked to put the match out of reach.

Cameron Archer ghosted past two Ipswich defenders before striking the ball into the keeper's grateful arms

But, with an equaliser seemingly nowhere to be seen, captain Sam Morsy stepped up to stun the Saints with a thundering shot from 25 yards which was deflected off Joe Aribo and in.

Ipswich, sensing blood, even tried to push for a winner in the dying seconds but once the final whistle sounded, McKenna's men could celebrate a draw which felt like a win.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Related stories
1 month ago - The 2024-25 Premier League season got off to a bang last weekend, with plenty of talking points rising out of a bumper opening round of fixtures.
3 weeks ago - CHRIS WHEELER: Garnacho has made an impact off the bench after a delayed return to pre-season training following his success in the Copa America with Argentina this summer.
1 day ago - Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League with a resounding 3-0 win over Bournemouth as Tottenham eased the pressure on Ange Postecoglou by beating Brentford 3-1 on Saturday.
1 month ago - Manchester United crashed to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat against Brighton and an Erling Haaland's hat-trick fired Premier League champions Manchester City to a 4-1 win against Ipswich on Saturday.
3 weeks ago - Arsenal's Premier League title challenge hit its first stumbling block in a 1-1 draw with Brighton after Declan Rice was sent-off on Saturday, while Aston Villa won 2-1 away at Leicester.
Other stories
15 minutes ago - Victor Boniface struck a stoppage-time winner to give Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen a thrilling 4-3 win over Wolfsburg on Sunday
15 minutes ago - Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 1st Test Day 5, Live Updates: New Zealand will be resuming the final day of the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka from 207/8 in Galle.
15 minutes ago - While the match was happening on the ground, an out-of-favour India batter was battling his emotions to perform as a host for live broadcast of the game.
15 minutes ago - Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli bowed to Ravichandran Ashwin after the spinner completed his five-wicket haul during Day 4 of the first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai.
15 minutes ago - Arshdeep Singh saved his best for the last game and returned career-best figures of 6 for 40 as India D thrashed India B by 257 runs to end their Duleep Trophy campaign with a consolation victory.