Ipswich's Late Drama Against Everton: A Close Call

Ipswich have made a habit of leaving it late this season. Sunderland felt it. Crystal Palace felt it. So when the board went up showing seven added minutes at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the away end roared as if a goal had already been scored.

It never came.

With 10 men and running on fumes, Town still threw on Zian Flemming, the match-winner against Palace, in one last roll of the dice. The chance arrived, right on cue. The ball broke to him in injury time, space opening up, the script written. He leaned back and lashed it over the bar. Groans from the travelling support, a rueful glance from Flemming. That was the moment.

The drama didn’t stop there. Centre-half Issa Diop stayed up from a late set-piece and almost stole a point at the death, only to see his effort smothered by a desperate, last-ditch block from Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner. It was bodies-on-the-line stuff, the kind of defending that wins tight Premier League games and leaves opponents staring at the turf in disbelief.

For Gary O'Neil, there was frustration, but also something sturdier to cling to.

His side had already asked serious questions of Everton before the match tilted. Jordan Pickford, fresh from being named in Thomas Tuchel's England squad, had to be sharp and defiant, producing four excellent saves as Ipswich pressed and probed with real conviction. Each stop underlined how hard the visitors were pushing for a result.

Then came the turning point. Abdul Fatawu saw red midway through the second half and the entire rhythm of the contest changed. With a man down, Ipswich were forced to retreat, their earlier ambition replaced by grit and damage limitation. The hunt for an equaliser became a test of resilience as much as quality.

O'Neil, on the touchline in an emotionally charged week after the death of his father, watched his players refuse to fold. They chased, pressed and kept believing, right up until that final Diop effort was charged down. The pursuit of a leveller was relentless. It just brought no reward.

Yet the wider picture is less bleak. As the league pauses for a three-week international break, Ipswich sit on six points from their first five matches back in the top flight. No early crisis. No sense of being out of their depth. Just a team learning quickly, competing hard and showing they belong.

The late magic deserted them this time. The question now is whether these narrow margins harden them for what comes next.