Ipswich Town secured their first Premier League victory of the season when they deservedly beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away thanks to first-half goals by Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap and climbed out of the relegation zone yesterday.
Promoted Ipswich took the game to Spurs from the start and hit the bar with a towering header by centre-back Cameron Burgess from a Leif Davis corner after nine minutes following a spell of pressure that had put Spurs on the back foot.
Ipswich took the lead just past the half-hour mark with a superb overhead kick by striker Szmodics, who was left unmarked after Tottenham defender Cristian Romero’s misguided header, to the delight of Blues fan and singer Ed Sheeran in the stands.
The visitors scored again in the 43rd minute through Delap who pounced on a rebound after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario could only parry a low cross from Szmodics following good work by Omari Hutchinson who had broken clear in midfield.
Tottenham came out fighting in the second period and created chances, with captain Son Heung-min coming close with a curler that was acrobatically tipped over by keeper Arijanet Muric.
Dominic Solanke thought he had got Spurs back into the match soon after but his close-range effort was ruled out by VAR as the ball had hit his hand on the way into the net.
Solanke and Son also fired over the bar as Spurs struggled to find a way through a well-drilled defence but midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur finally got them on the scoresheet with a powerful header from a Pedro Porro corner in the 69th minute.
Tottenham brought on midfielders Yves Bissouma and James Maddison to try to fashion an equaliser but Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich side held firm to finally record a league win after five draws and five defeats on their return to the top flight.
The boos rang out from the home fans at the final whistle as Ipswich claimed their first Premier League victory since April 2002. It moved the visitors up to 17th place in the standings on eight points, while Spurs are languishing in 10th spot with 16.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes bagged one goal and created two more in his team’s spirited 3-0 Premier League victory over Leicester City, a victorious send-off for Ruud van Nistelrooy in his finale as interim manager.
United, who have had three wins and a draw across all competitions since manager Erik ten Hag was fired on October 28 and replaced temporarily with Van Nistelrooy, are 13th in the league table on 15 points, four points adrift of the top three. Leicester are 15th on 10 points.
United have lost just two of the last 18 Premier League games against the Foxes.
Chelsea and Arsenal shared the spoils in a tense 1-1 battle at Stamford Bridge, keeping the London sides level in the Premier League but still nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
In a finely balanced game, the sides enjoyed almost equal possession and both had three shots on target.
It was Arsenal who looked the more disappointed at the whistle, Mikel Arteta holding his head in disbelief after substitute Leandro Trossard failed to put away two late chances.
The result lifted Chelsea to third and Arsenal, who have gone four Premier League games without a win, to fourth in the table, both on 19 points.
l Newcastle United striker Joelinton scored his first goal since August as they came from behind to defeat Nottingham Forest 3-1 in their Premier League clash at the City Ground, ending the fine run of their hosts in recent weeks.
Defender Murillo had put Forest into a first-half lead, but Newcastle piled on the pressure after falling behind and Alexander Isak scored for the fourth consecutive game to draw the visitors level after 54 minutes.
There were chances at both ends after that but only Newcastle took theirs as Joelinton curled a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner and Harvey Barnes added a late third.
It ends Forest’s run of three consecutive league wins but they stay third in the table with 19 points from 11 games, while Newcastle climb to eighth with 18.
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