Aston Villa 1-1 Ipswich Town: Alex Palmer shines on Premier League debut as Blues hold onto point with 10 men following Axel Tuanzebe sending off before Liam Delap goal
An Alex Palmer-inspired performance ensured Ipswich Town achieved a hard-earned point in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Blues were forced to play the best part of an hour with 10-men following a sending off to Axel Tuanzebe, but a heroic goalkeeping display meant Town returned to Suffolk with a first Premier League point for more than a month.
Liam Delap’s 10th goal of the season gave the visitors a shock lead early in the second half when he turned home Omari Hutchinson’s deflected cross to add to his brace against the Villans earlier on in the season.
Ollie Watkins brought Villa back on terms after he was in the right place to react to Marcus Rashford’s free-kick that cannoned off the crossbar, marking his own return to the side with a goal.
But while the home side pushed hard for what would have been a first league victory in four matches, goalkeeper Palmer was up to the task to produce no fewer than six saves on his maiden appearance in the top flight.
Town leapfrog Leicester City in the Premier League standings and move to within two points from safety.
Red mist
Tuanzebe had three separate loan spells at Aston Villa, but his first return to Villa Park as an opposition player did not go the way he had planned.
The Town man, often utilised as a specialist hybrid defender, became the sixth player to be given his marching orders by referee Rob Jones this season just 40 minutes into the contest.
His short solo journey back to the dressing rooms came after an earlier foul on Morgan Rogers was added to by a clumsy challenge on Jacob Ramsey.
Ramsey burst towards the penalty area and was brought down just outside the penalty area as Villa pushed for an opening goal.
While he could argue the first was unfortunate, the DR Congo could have no complaints about the second offence that he was punished for.
Point preserved
Despite taking a surprise lead, the Blues will likely look back at their trip to the West Midlands as a point gained and one that stopped the rot of four successive league defeats.
It was a backs to the wall second half from Kieran McKenna’s men as they prevented the Villans onslaught with some help from Premier League debutant Palmer along the way.
Julio Enciso was an early casualty in an otherwise uneventful first half where only a dragged effort from Watkins looked to seriously trouble the Blues prior to the red card.
From there, Villa were the dominant force and Rogers had a close-range effort deflected over the crossbar before the half came to a close.
Rashford was introduced by the home side at the break as they looked to assert their authority, but Town stunned Villa Park when they opened the scoring after 56 minutes.
Delap, who said in the week that he had no shortage of confidence he could score goals in the top flight, had the 3,000 away supporters in raptures for the 13 minutes in which the Blues’ lead lasted.
The equaliser from Watkins was timely as the home crowd intensified in search of a winner, with the arrival of Marco Asensio only adding to the attacking threat Unai Emery had thrown onto the field.
Palmer kept out a header from Rogers that the Spaniard created, before saving an effort of his own by tipping a low strike just past the post and behind to his right.
Rogers and Asensio had late efforts blocked before Palmer produced some magic to deny Rogers in the dying seconds. The keeper acrobatically palmed the deflected shot after Rashford had created it to keep the Blues’ point intact.
Town’s 17th point of the season ensures they avoided a fifth straight defeat and return to action against Tottenham Hotspur at Portman Road next Saturday.
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Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Digne (Maatsen 46), Kamara (Mings 16), Disasi, Garcia; Tielemans, McGinn (c); Ramsey (Rashford 46), Rogers, Malen (Asensio 63); Watkins. Subs: Olsen, Zych, Bogarde, Jimoh-Aloba.
Ipswich Town (3-4-2-1): Palmer; Greaves, O’Shea (c), Tuanzebe; Townsend, Cajuste (Luongo 80), Phillips, Johnson; Enciso (Clarke 17 (Woolfenden 46)), Hutchinson (Taylor 90); Delap (Hirst 80). Subs: Muric, Philogene, Broadhead, Godfrey.
Booked: Tuanzebe (2), Greaves, Phillips, Hutchinson.
Sent Off: Tuanzebe.
Referee: Rob Jones (Merseyside).
SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Alex Palmer. There could be no other contender as Town’s newest recruit showed exactly why McKenna brought him to the club. The former West Bromwich Albion man made a host of outstanding saves to deny Rogers and Asensio in particular and the Blues almost certainly would not have taken a point without him. A sublime Premier League debut.
