Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich (Bentancur 69′ | Szmodics 31′, Delap 45′)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Whenever you think Tottenham Hotspur have turned a corner they manage to get themselves hopelessly lost and end up right back where they started.
Before the game, the term “Dr Tottenham” was trending on X, a familiar combination of words on the platform. It’s a spin on the tired “Spursy” jibe, an idea that any issues a team low on confidence and lacking points is facing can quickly be remedied by a trip to the Spurs surgery: Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace have both won their only Premier League games of this season against Ange Postecoglou’s side. Dr Tottenham indeed.
Beleagured underdogs Manchester City can take as much hope from this match as the Tractor Boys. Pep Guardiola’s side, who have lost four in a row – a sequence that began with a Carabao Cup defeat in this stadium – face Spurs immediately after the international break.
This was a significant afternoon for Ipswich, their first victory at this level since a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in April 2002. Liam Delap, the scorer of their decisive second goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and tormentor of World Cup winner Cristian Romero all afternoon, hadn’t even been born.
Kieran McKenna, the precocious manager who cut his coaching teeth at Tottenham after a playing career cut short, allowed himself a satisfied smile on the pitch at full-time as his boys in pink celebrated jubilantly in front of an equally elated away end.
It was a deserved win that edged them out of the bottom three. McKenna will hope it can act as a springboard for survival, but few teams will be as charitable as Spurs.
It was a wretched performance, devoid of heart, leadership and quality. Unsurprisingly there was deafening dissent at half-time. The boos were quieter at the end but only because thousands had already left. The international break at least provides a reprieve for supporters.
Tottenham’s powers of recovery in their own stadium have been pretty good, but there is only so long a team can avert disaster. Bad habits remain bad until they are rectified. Sammie Szmodics’s acrobatic overhead kick that put Ipswich in front was the 13th time that Spurs have fallen behind 1-0 in a home Premier League game in 2024.
They have conceded first in five consecutive games but unlike against Brentford, West Ham and Aston Villa there was no fightback to stir the senses. Ipswich’s lead was doubled before half-time when Delap lashed into the roof of the net from barely a yard out after Szmodics had wreaked more havoc down Tottenham’s right-hand side. This time the deficit was too great to overcome.
Within five minutes of the restart, the home faithful believed another comeback was on the cards when Dominic Solanke bundled in from close range. Joy and relief were shortlived when it was disallowed after replays showed that Solanke had unintentionally sliced the ball onto his own hand.
Rodrigo Benancur eventually gave the rescue mission lift-off. Everybody expected wave upon wave of attacks on Arijanet Muric to follow; there was barely a ripple.
Ipswich defended their penalty area brilliantly, both wing-backs tucking in dutifully to help the wide centre-backs and prevent Spurs from creating the one-on-one situations they thrive upon. Here’s the blueprint for blunting Angeball.
Their time-wasting, described as “strategic” by Postecoglou was frequent and infuriating but ultimately successful, swallowing up any momentum that Tottenham hoped to build after Bentancur’s thumping header.
Solanke was a game worker but none of Spurs’ creators showed up. Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson were stifled and the increasingly peripheral James Maddison, only summoned with six minutes of normal time remaining, barely had a kick. Ipswich supporters delighted in the ex-Canary’s misery.
The Premier League table is evidence of how baffling this Tottenham team have become. A goal difference of +10 is only bettered by league-leading Liverpool, and yet they have lost as many matches as they have won, five apiece since a draw at Leicester City in their opening game.
Postecoglou began the campaign by talking up his trophy-winning credentials in his second year at a club. On days like this, Spurs feel as far away from ending that drought as ever.