Villa miss opportunity to go second after late Ipswich equaliser

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·30 September 2024

Villa miss opportunity to go second after late Ipswich equaliser

A lot has been made about how big the week is for Aston Villa. A trip to newly promoted Ipswich Town, followed by the first Champions League match at Villa Park since 1983, finished with a visit from Manchester United.

Sounds congested right? Well no. This is what we all wanted. Villa wanted to join the big boy’s party again, meaning we needed to learn to juggle various games in a short period. We managed it in a lesser competition last year, now we have a completely new challenge.

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Anyway, enough of that. Back to focus. Yesterday’s opponents were Ipswich Town and Portman Road. With so many in the Prediction League predicting big wins, I wasn’t so sure. My mind has been on Bayern Munich on Wednesday since the draw was made so I am sure the players have been the same.

It’s a new challenge for Unai Emery. He will learn so much about this ground of players. The Basque manager may say we only focus on the next game in front of us but that’s easier said than done. And based on yesterday’s performance, you can’t help but think we failed on that front.

Report: Ipswich Town 2-2 Aston Villa

Villa were without John McGinn who picked up a hamstring injury in the 3-1 win over Wolves last weekend. Leon Bailey replaced the captain in the only change to the starting line-up. Ipswich handed starts to Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke and Chiedozie Ogbene.

Villa dominated early on without causing the home side any scares and it was the Tractor men who took the lead inside 10 minutes.

Clarke got down the wing before cutting the ball across the box, finding Liam Delap who was able to beat Emi Martinez at his near post. A poor goal to concede from all involved for the visitors.

Emery’s side was back level seven minutes later with Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins linked up. Jacob Ramsey won the ball out wide before finding Watkins. The England forward ran towards the byeline and Jacob Grieves attempted clearance fell to Rogers. Watkins and Rogers linked up with some nice footwork before the latter slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

The turn-around was complete just after the half-hour mark when Bailey linked up with Youri Tielemans before crossing the ball, finding Watkins who was able to head home.

Villa looked in complete control in the second half until Sam Morsey fouled Jaden Philogene and despite most thinking it would be a red, referee Stuart Atwell decided no further punishment was needed. This seemed to kick the home side up the backside they needed.

Two minutes later they were back level when the ball fell to Delap. He ran at Diego Carlos and was found wrong footed as the striker made the game all level.

The home side grew in confidence and could have snatched all three points late on but Villa survived to come away with a share of the points despite an overall underwhelming performance.

What the managers said

Emery: “I think the result was fair and even we could lose the match at the end. I am not accepting the result, the point in my idea how I want to raise our level and our demands, but I accept it in our process.

“Overall we have 13 points, but we were optimistic about the possibility to be with Liverpool on 15 points.

“We can accept how difficult it is in this league to play against teams like Ipswich. After they are promoted, they are excited, they are motivated and they are playing with confidence.”

Kieran McKenna: “I thought it was a really good game. We’re a team that is building and rebuilding, so to be as competitive as we were is a big, big positive. Another point, another game unbeaten and we move on.”