Ipswich 1-2 Bournemouth: Cherries late show deflates Tractor Boys' survival hopes
Bournemouth scored two goals in the final moments of the match, preventing Ipswich from achieving their first home victory of the season. Dango Ouattara sealed the game with a winning goal in the 95th minute, giving Bournemouth a 2-1 triumph.
Kieran McKenna's team seemed set to achieve their first home Premier League win in over 22 years when Conor Chaplin netted his inaugural goal in the league. With this goal, Chaplin has remarkably found the back of the net in all four levels of English football.
However, Bournemouth refused to back down as Enes Unal capitalized on a mistake from goalkeeper Arijanet Muric to equalize the score.
Ouattara's cross got past Muric, and Unal managed to push the ball into the net at the far post, with Cameron Burgess unable to clear it from right beneath the crossbar.
The comeback was finalized five minutes into injury time when Muric saved a shot from David Brooks, but Ouattara capitalized on the rebound and scored.
This marked the fourth occasion this season that Town has been held to a draw at home.
It reminded me of the thrilling comeback against Everton earlier this season when the Cherries were down 2-0 as they neared injury time but ended up winning 3-2. Now, Andoni Iraola's remarkable team has secured three consecutive victories.
Ipswich: Muric (3), Davis (6), Burgess (8), O'Shea (6), Johnson (6), Taylor (7), Morsy (5), Hutchinson (6), Chaplin (8), Szmodics (8), Delap (7) This lineup features Muric with a performance rating of 3, while Davis and both O'Shea and Johnson each scored 6. Burgess and Chaplin both had standout moments with ratings of 8, matched by Szmodics. Taylor followed closely with a rating of 7, while Hutchinson also received a 6. Morsy, however, ended up with a lower score of 5, and Delap finished with a respectable 7.
Substitutes utilized: Al-Hamadi (6), Clarke (6), Burns (6)
Bournemouth Player Ratings: Kepa (6), Smith (6), Zabarnyi (7), Huijsen (6), Kerkez (7), Cook (7), Christie (6), Kluivert (5), Semenyo (7), Tavernier (5), Evanilson (6)
Substitutes utilized: Unal (7), Brooks (6), Ouattara (8), Billing (7)
Match MVP: Conor Chaplin
Ipswich is still the only team that hasn't secured a victory in a Premier League home match this season, making it the second time in their history that they have gone without a win in their first eight league games at Portman Road.
McKenna Frustrated By Disallowed Goal
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In the way the match unfolded, a significant turning point for Ipswich occurred just before halftime. The home team had a goal ruled out after a corner kick because Liam Delap was deemed to have pushed an opponent, even though Burgess had scored from close range. The VAR reviewed the referee's decision to disallow the goal but chose not to overturn it.
Ipswich manager McKenna expressed his bewilderment over the decision, stating: "Throughout the first 14 weeks of the season, I've noticed this happening consistently. I don't think other teams are penalized in the same way. For example, in the match against Leicester, that call was critical as it provided us with a two-goal lead."
This season, Iraola's team has demonstrated an impressive ability to make remarkable late comebacks. Back in August, they found themselves down 2-0 against Everton in the 86th minute, but they rallied and scored three goals in quick succession to pull off a surprising win.
"I believe we played well enough that we shouldn’t have lost," Iraola remarked. "We had several good opportunities to score in the first half, and at the start of the second half, we were really putting in the effort. Then you start to feel like maybe it’s just not meant to be today."
"We required new enthusiasm and fresh perspectives from the substitutes."
The win lifted the Cherries to eighth place, but Iraola isn’t getting ahead of himself regarding a European spot just yet.
Feel free to snap a photo of the standings for your records in case we miss them, but I won’t dwell on it too much. I'm really optimistic about our team since we’re performing well. Let’s keep up this level of play!
Muric: A Weak Link In The Team
Lewis Jones from Sky Sports:
The idea is that a goalkeeper can contribute significantly to a team's points tally over a season, particularly for clubs struggling at the lower end of the Premier League. Take Mads Hermansen at Leicester, for example—he's been their standout performer this season.
The situation with Arijanet Muric at Ipswich is quite different. He poses a risk.
The £15 million summer transfer from Burnley now seems questionable after his reckless decision to leave his goal in an attempt to challenge Dango Ouattara, a task that should have been handled by a defender. Ipswich seemed relatively comfortable in the second half and were close to securing their crucial first home victory, but that mistake resulted in Bournemouth's equalizer, and the outcome was already set.
Burnley supporters aren't likely to be shocked by Muric's recent mistake at the highest level. Last season, he was officially accountable for two errors that resulted in goals against Burnley, but there were also numerous unofficial slip-ups that contributed to the team's drop in the standings.
"He isn't reliable at this stage."
