Liam Delap opens Ipswich Town account as Blues draw with Fulham to earn first Premier League point at Portman Road

Ipswich Town are off the mark in the Premier League as they claimed their first point back back in the top flight after an entertaining 1-1 draw with Fulham at Portman Road.

Having made a bright start, the Blues took the lead via Liam Delap, as the summer signing, who joined Town for a reported £15 million, opened his Ipswich account with a rocket into the top-left corner.

Portman Road was deafening following the opener, but the Blues failed to capitalise on the shift in momentum. The visitors, who dominated possession in the first period, replied and proved how ruthless the league can be, as they took their first chance of the game just after the half-hour mark when Antonee Robinson’s low cross was stabbed home by Adama Traore.

While the goals dried up, the chances certainly did not. Rodrigo Muniz and Luke Woolfenden both went close with headers at either end as the first half came to a close, while Alex Iwobi, Raul Jiminez and Omari Hutchinson saw efforts saved from close range in a second period that the Blues had the better of.

The Town winger’s chance came in the third of five minutes of added time, but his instinctive left-footed drive was beaten away by Bernd Leno.

Kieran McKenna has handed first league starts in Ipswich Town colours to Kalvin Phillips and Chiedozie Ogbene, who were the only two players to remain from the side that started the Blues’ Carabao Cup exit to AFC Wimbledon on Wednesday night, as the Town boss made nine changes for his team’s third Premier League match of the season.

Following a fire show as the players entered the pitch, Town started on the front foot. It only took five minutes for them to register the first shot on target, as Jacob Greaves’ looping header from an inswinging Leif Davis corner was clawed off the line by Leno.

Hutchinson was next to try his luck against the Fulham shot-stopper after he received a knock-down from Delap. Town’s record signing, who had Ogbene in space to his right, opted for his trademark cut-in onto his left foot, but his effort deflected harmlessly to the boot of Leno.

And it was not long after that Delap broke the deadlock. The striker received the ball from Leif Davis, who burst down the left-hand side, and drove forward before rifling an effort from the edge of the box beyond the dive of Leno, into the top-left corner.

Portman Road exploded into life and Fulham were rocked. Town were pressing their opponents high up the pitch and every interception and block they made, no matter how small, was roared on as if they had doubled their advantage. That they almost did, but Woolfenden guided a header from a corner just wide of the near post.

For all the home side’s early pressure, it was Fulham who dominated possession but they had struggled to calve a chance from it. But after the half-hour mark, they were level. Robinson flashed a ball across the box from the byline on the left-hand side, and while it escaped swipes from both Jacob Greaves and Muniz, it ran through to Adama who prodded home.

The leveller drained the noise from the stands and the game seemed to swing in Fulham’s favour. Minutes after equalising, Adama hung up across for Muniz, but the number nine headed straight at Aro Muric.

Town did respond with a good headed chance of their own, albeit Ogbene, who latched onto Phillips’ whipped delivery with a guided effort towards the far corner, wad offside. Leno was on hand to tip the ball away from danger.

The Blues started the second period well as Sammie Szmodics and Delap both broke in behind the Fulham back line looking to craft a chance. A shot on the turn from the latter forced a finger-tip save from Leno, who diverted the ball round the post for a corner.

Just shy of the hour mark, new signings combined as Phillips threaded a ball through to Ogbene, who bared down on goal but was hacked down by Robinson on the edge of the box. Referee Lewis Smith showed the left-back a yellow card and the resulting free kick from Davis deflected over the bar.

The visitors found opportunities hard to come by in the second half but Emile Smith Rowe came close twice to netting a second Fulham goal on 65 minutes. The former Arsenal man saw two shots from inside the box deflect behind for a corner in the space of a minute – with the away fans ready to celebrate the second as the ball dropped the wrong side of the post.

Iwobi was next to fire a shot at the Ipswich goal. His curling effort from the edge of the box with 15 minutes remaining was straight at Muric after he worked an inviting opening by dancing past two Town challenges.

Both sides huffed and puffed in search of a winner, and had chances to snatch the contest. Substitute Raul Jiminez went closest for Fulham with an effort that was palmed out of danger by Muric, while Hutchinson’s close-range strike was beaten away by Leno in second-half stoppage time.

A positive performance from the Blues who are on the board ahead of the international break.

Ipswich Town: Muric, Davis, Woolfenden, Greaves, Tuanzebe, Morsy, Phillips (Cajuste 71’), Hutchinson, Szmodics (Clarke 80’), Ogbene (Chaplin 87’), Delap (Al-Hamadi 80’).

Unused substitutes: Walton,Johnson, Townsend, Luongo, O’Shea.

Bookings: Morsy (37’), Al-Hamadi (93’)

Fulham: Leon, Tete, Bassey, Muniz (Jiminez 79’), Adama, Iwobi (Wilson 86’), Pereira (Cairney 86’), Lukic (Reed 86’), Diop, Smith Rowe (Berge 73’), Robinson.

Unused substitutes: Benda, Anderson, Cuenca, Castagne.

Bookings: Lukic (51’), Robinson (58’), Adama (78’)

Attendance: 29,517 (2,952 Fulham)

Suffolk News Man of the Match: Sam Morsy. Delap was a strong contender but the Town skipper commanded the midfield superbly well against and also helped to craft some of the Blues’ attacks.