Ipswich Town's unbeaten run ends with 4-1 defeat to West Ham

Ipswich Town’s unbeaten Premier League run came to an abrupt end as they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by West Ham United.

Liam Delap’s fourth goal of the season came after Michail Antonio had fired the Hammers into a first-minute lead, but goals from Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta leave the Blues still searching for the first victory of the season.

Despite defeat, Town remain outside of the relegation zone and return to action at home to Everton after the international break.

Town boss Kieran McKenna made two changes to the side that drew with Aston Villa last Sunday, with Axel Tuanzebe forced out through injury and Chiedozie Ogbene dropping to the bench.

Ben Johnson came in to face his former club while Wes Burns also returned to the lineup, with Harry Clarke making the matchday squad for the first time this season.

West Ham were unchanged from their draw at Brentford last weekend, but did have midfielder Edson Alvarez back on the bench after serving a suspension.

Full-back Aaron Cresswell, who played for Town in the last meeting 12 years ago, was among the Hammers’ substitutes.

The Suffolk side got off to the most disastrous start and found themselves behind after just 49 seconds as Kalvin Phillips, who endured a tough loan spell at West Ham last season, was loose in possession and allowed the home side to break.

Bowen’s low ball across from the right was met by Antonio, who slotted under Aro Muric to score against the Blues for a fourth different club in his career.

But Town were not behind for long as Delap continued his fine form in front of goal to equalise following a corner kick on six minutes.

The Town striker showed great strength to shrug off Paqueta inside the penalty area before turning and firing a powerful strike that could only be palmed into the roof of the net by Alphonse Areola.

The frenetic start to the game eased off and the home side sought about controlling the tempo, Bowen seeing a shot blocked and Kudus testing Muric before the quarter-hour mark.

Looking to avenge his earlier error, Phillips found a yard of space on the edge of the area to shoot, but curled marginally over the crossbar.

Sam Morsy saw a shot quickly closed down as the match turned into an even affair, then Jack Clarke was booked for a late challenge on Tomas Soucek after a poor touch had taken possession beyond his grasp.

The Blues saw a reasonable opportunity go begging moments later as Leif Davis floated a free-kick onto the head of Jacob Greaves, but the defender’s effort glanced just wide before the hosts started to turn the screw.

Muric’s blushes were spared when Antonio’s cross was met by Kudus with the Kosovo goalkeeper nowhere to be seen, but the header bounced wide off the outside of the post.

The Town goal was living a charmed life as Morsy gave the ball away inside the box, ending in Soucek’s close-range effort getting the better of Muric but not Dara O’Shea, who cleared off the line.

Brazil international Paqueta’s next effort was held by Muric after the ball was won high up the pitch again by the dangerous Kudus.

The Hammers finally found the goal they were pushing for on 44 minutes. Antonio could count himself unlucky to meet the underside of the crossbar from his own header, but Kudus was the first on the scene to bundle his own header in from around a yard out.

Muric was by far the busier goalkeeper and he was tested once more by Aaron Wan-Bissaka in stoppage time, which proved to be the final kick of the half.

Bowen extended Julen Lopetegui’s side’s lead within four minutes of the restart with a goal all of his own making. A combination of Johnson’s pass and Muric’s touch led to the ball being given away, allowing Bowen to glide inside beyond Phillips with ease and find the bottom corner expertly.

The goal was allowing West Ham lots of comfort in possession, with Muric diving to his right to keep out a fourth as Kudus almost flicked Bowen’s clipped ball towards the bottom corner.

In a foray forward that was becoming increasingly rare, Wes Burns worked space to cross and found the head of Delap, who continued to look like the Blues’ only route to goal, forcing Areola into action.

The Hammers returned to the front foot and had their reward on 69 minutes as Bowen continued causing the Town defence all sorts of problems. He worked his way down the byline, with his cutback allowing Paqueta to tap into the empty net from close range.

With the result beyond doubt, McKenna made a triple change to replace Clarke, Burns and Phillips with Sammie Szmodics, Ogbene and Jack Taylor.

Muric was forced into another stop from Kudus, then George Hirst and Conor Chaplin were introduced for the last seven minutes in place of Delap and Omari Hutchinson.

The remaining minutes of Town’s first-ever trip to the London Stadium were seen out, with West Ham picking up their first home victory of the season.

West Ham United (4-1-4-1): Areola; Emerson (Cresswell 83), Kilman, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka; Rodriguez (Alvarez 70); Kudus (Guilherme 86), Paqueta (Summerville 83), Soucek, Bowen (c); Antonio (Soler 70). Subs: Fabianski, Coufal, Mavropanos, Ings.

Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Muric; Davis, Greaves, O’Shea, Johnson; Phillips (Taylor 74), Morsy (c); J. Clarke (Szmodics 74), Hutchinson (Chaplin 83), Burns (Ogbene 74); Delap (Hirst 83). Subs: Walton, H. Clarke, Woolfenden, Townsend.

Booked: J. Clarke.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).

SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Liam Delap. The striker’s goal brought Town back on level terms early on in the contest but there was little more to cheer about. Delap forced Areola into his only other save with a low header on what was a poor overall day at the office for the team.