Ipswich Town indebted to goalkeeper Aro Muric after holding Brighton & Hove Albion to goalless draw for first away Premier League point

Aro Muric put in a great goalkeeping performance as Ipswich Town earned their second point of the Premier League season with an incredibly hard-fought goalless draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in Sussex.

It was a gritty defensive display against an in-form Brighton side in what was the first top-flight meeting between the sides since 1983 that got the Blues their first point on the road of 2024/25.

Liam Delap hit the woodwork on the break in what was one of Town’s only forays into the hosts’ half on an afternoon where the Blues’ backline will take all the plaudits.

The result keeps Town out of the Premier League’s bottom three after their opening four matches, though they could yet end the weekend in the relegation zone, with Everton (5.30pm at Aston Villa) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (4.30pm tomorrow at home to Newcastle) still to complete their quartet.

Town boss Kieran McKenna was boosted by the return of Wes Burns and George Hirst from injuries following the international break and made two changes from the home draw with Fulham in his line-up at the Amex.

Burns came straight into the side for Chiedozie Ogbene following his hamstring injury, while Hirst was back among the substitutes following knee surgery after breaking down in pre-season.

The other change came in central defence where Luke Woolfenden was replaced by Dara O’Shea, the Republic of Ireland international making his full league debut for the Suffolk club.

Brighton also made two changes from their last Premier League encounter, a 1-1 draw at Arsenal a fortnight ago, with Georginio Rutter, signed from Leeds United, and Yasin Ayari coming into the starting XI. The duo replaced experienced midfielder James Milner and form striker Joao Pedro, who were both absent with injuries.

Muric was the first goalkeeper to be forced into action four minutes into the game. After Town had struggled to clear danger, Carlos Baleba’s half-volley was well saved by the Kosovan low to his left.

Sam Morsy was shown the game’s first yellow card on seven minutes for leaving a foot in on Ayari once the ball had gone, his third booking in four matches.

The Blues were struggling to gain any foothold in the contest as the hosts controlled possession and territory, looking to utilise the dangerous Yankuba Minteh where possible.

Midway through the half, a Brighton corner somehow evaded everyone as Sammie Szmodics missed the opportunity to clear. Moments later, Kaoru Mitoma’s cross was inches away from picking out Rutter in the area and Town survived once more.

Next, it was Danny Welbeck’s turn to get involved as the forward was denied twice in a matter of minutes. First, Leif Davis produced a fine tackle to thwart the striker before his neat flick for Mitoma was just about collected by Muric.

Town attacks were rare but the Suffolk side did have a sight on goal on the half hour mark. Morsy’s cross-field ball found Szmodics, who scuffed his opportunity but the offside flag was up in any case.

Despite that half-chance, the momentum was all with the Seagulls. Welbeck’s header was saved by Muric after connecting with Minteh’s cross.

Muric then produced an outstanding piece of goalkeeping to keep the game goalless on 36 minutes. The former Burnley man first denied Rutter after he had burst through the Blues defence before producing an even better stop seconds later.

Once the rebound fell to Mitoma, the Japan international seemed destined to score before Muric reacted from the ground and denied him from close range. Mitoma’s second chance was subsequently put wide and Town somehow stayed level.

The visitors saw out the remaining minutes of a first half in which they had faced a Brighton siege to go into the break all square.

The nature of the match continued in a similar vein after the break as the hosts began on the front foot, Welbeck seeing a shot blocked inside the opening minute of the half.

Minteh became the first Albion player into the book for pulling back Davis after the Town left-back had won possession.

O’Shea was on hand to block a goal-bound effort from Rutter just outside the area, then Kalvin Phillips was shown a yellow card for clattering into Ayari as he broke through the centre of the pitch.

The resulting free-kick was curled wide by Welbeck, then Rutter fired wide as the Blues continued to live dangerously.

Out of nothing, Town then hit the post on the counter. From inside his own half, Delap powered through the pitch and found space in the box to shoot from an angle, but his right-footed effort slammed off the woodwork.

Hutchinson was booked for jumping into home captain Lewis Dunk, while Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood was carded for tugging back Ogbene moments after he came on.

Along with Ogbene, Jack Clarke and Hirst entered the contest in place of Burns, Szmodics and Delap with around 30 minutes of the game remaining.

Town had begun to make the game a little bit more open and registered their first shot on target on 73 minutes. Hutchinson pounced on a loose Brighton corner and broke up the pitch, but his low effort was held by Bart Verbruggen.

Muric was called into action again soon after as he held Mitoma’s effort after the Japan international wriggled his way through the Blues defence.

McKenna’s final action was to bring on Massimo Luongo and Conor Chaplin for Morsy and Hutchinson for the final six minutes of the match, then Joel Veltman was booked for a shirt tug on Clarke.

Another huge chance went the hosts’ way with two minutes left, as Brighton substitute Evan Ferguson found space on the edge of the area and curled wide of Muric’s post.

Three minutes of stoppage time were seen out to ensure Town recorded a gritty first clean sheet of the season on the road.

The Blues are on their travels again next Saturday when they visit fellow promoted side Southampton at St Mary’s.

• See what manager Kieran McKenna said in his post-match press conference here

• See what striker George Hirst made of the display and more here

Brighton and Hove Albion (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Hinshelwood (Kadioglu 68), Dunk (c), van Hecke, Veltman; Baleba, Ayari; Mitoma, Rutter (Enciso 68), Minteh (Adingra 68); Welbeck (Ferguson 85). Subs: Steele, Igor, Webster, Moder, Estupinan.

Booked: Minteh, Hinshelwood.

Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Muric; Davis, Greaves, O’Shea, Tuanzebe; Phillips, Morsy (c) (Luongo 84); Szmodics (J. Clarke 59), Hutchinson (Chaplin 84), Burns (Ogbene 59); Delap (Hirst 59). Subs: Walton, Cajuste, Johnson, Townsend.

Booked:Morsy, Phillips, Hutchinson.

Referee: Sam Barrott (West Riding).

SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Aro Muric.There was only really one candidate down on the south coast. Town’s Kosovan goalkeeper produced heroics on multiple occasions to ensure the Blues fought out a second point of the season. One of the great goalkeeping displays.