Is Ipswich Town’s return to the Premier League destined for failure? For a brief, glorious moment, it seemed to be everything they had dreamed of. Leading 2-0, with their fans savoring what appeared to be a triumphant journey to the capital, the visitors could almost touch the reality of their first top-flight victory since April 2002. The bubble burst quickly when Brentford surged ahead 3-2 and Harry Clarke was sent off, only for Liam Delap to score an improbable late equalizer. And then, it all fell apart at the end. With time almost up, Bryan Mbeumo’s speculative cross in stoppage time somehow found its way into the Ipswich net, sealing a frantic 4-3 win for the hosts and another bitter pill for Ipswich fans to swallow.
Perhaps Thomas Frank has inadvertently discovered an unlikely winning formula. His team had taken the lead in seven of their previous eight league games but had thrown away a league-high 11 points from those positions; a worrying statistic that continued from last season’s unwanted record of squandering 30 points after taking the lead. Or maybe this was just one of those freak encounters. The Brentford manager would certainly not want to repeat this rollercoaster ride.
The first 28 minutes were devoid of any excitement, offering no hint of the near-constant thrills that were to follow. Capitalizing on Brentford’s shaky defense with decisive rapid counter-attacks, Kieran McKenna’s side went ahead when they scored twice in three minutes, leaving their stunned hosts speechless. The first goal came after Sam Szmodics was allowed to stroll through the middle of the pitch unmarked, where he received George Hirst’s pass and finished with aplomb. The lead was quickly doubled when a beautiful defense-splitting pass from captain Conor Chaplin found Hirst, who neatly chipped it over the onrushing Mark Flekken.
From fleeting elation, the familiar flat feeling returned for those who had traveled from Suffolk, whose half-time refreshments were rapidly ruined by their hosts’ taste of their own medicine. With the interval approaching, the ever-lively Keane Lewis-Potter drove powerfully down the left flank before working the ball inside to Vitaly Janelt, who squared for Yoane Wissa to finish first time from just inside the penalty area. Just two minutes later, parity was restored. Wissa was again at the heart of the move, timing his run perfectly to latch onto Mikkel Damsgaard’s through ball and stroke goalwards. With the ball destined for the net, Clarke’s desperate slide prevented Wissa from adding to his personal tally, with the ball ricocheting off the Ipswich centre-back to ensure it went down as an own-goal.
Clarke’s first Premier League start soon worsened after half-time when he clumsily dragged down Lewis-Potter as the Brentford winger bore down on the Ipswich goal. The referee initially judged the offence to have been committed outside the 18-yard box, but the VAR changed the decision to a penalty, which Mbeumo confidently smashed home. Clarke received a yellow card for his troubles and his disastrous day was to end early when Lewis-Potter again drew the centre-back into a rash challenge on the edge of the penalty area, prompting Smith to send him off. Ipswich thought they had produced the unlikeliest of stings in their tail when Leif Davis’s cross from the left found Delap, whose fine finish was his fifth league goal of the campaign. But it was not to be. Mbeumo’s deep cross in injury time evaded everyone and Delap’s last-minute strike cannoned off the Brentford upright, to the heartache of the travelling fans.
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