Ipswich 1-2 Bournemouth: Cherries late show deflates Tractor Boys' survival hopes

Report and free match highlights as Ipswich led on 87 minutes after Conor Chaplin's opener but two late strikes from Enes Unal and Dango Ouattara created a dramatic turnaround

Sunday 8 December 2024 20:32, UK

Bournemouth netted twice late on to deny Ipswich a first home win of the season as Dango Ouattara's 95th-minute winner stole a 2-1 win.

Kieran McKenna's side looked on course for a first home Premier League victory for 8,264 days when Conor Chaplin's first Premier League goal sent them on their way. Chaplin's opener means he has now, incredibly, scored in each of England's top four tiers.

But Bournemouth wouldn't be denied as Enes Unal took advantage of some sloppy goalkeeping from Arijanet Muric to level matters.

Ouattara's cross eluded Muric and Unal bundled the ball in at the far post with Cameron Burgess unable to clear from under the crossbar.

And the comeback was complete five minutes into stoppage time when David Brooks' shot was saved by Muric and Ouattara buried the rebound.

This was the fourth time this season Town have been pegged back at home.

It was echoes of the comeback win at Everton earlier this season when the Cherries trailed 2-0 approaching injury time but won 3-2. It's three wins on the spin now for Andoni Iraola's impressive side.

Player ratings

Ipswich: Muric (3), Davis (6), Burgess (8), O'Shea (6), Johnson (6), Taylor (7), Morsy (5), Hutchinson (6), Chaplin (8), Szmodics (8), Delap (7)

Subs used: Al-Hamadi (6), Clarke (6), Burns (6)

Bournemouth: Kepa (6), Smith (6), Zabarnyi (7), Huijsen (6), Kerkez (7), Cook (7), Christie (6), Kluivert (5), Semenyo (7), Tavernier (5), Evanilson (6)

Subs used: Unal (7), Brooks (6), Ouattara (8), Billing (7)

Player of the match: Conor Chaplin

Ipswich remain the only team yet to win a Premier League home game this season, going winless across their opening eight league games of a season at Portman Road for only the second time in their history.

McKenna frustrated with disallowed goal

With the way the game panned out, a key moment that went against Ipswich happened at the end to the first half when the home side had a goal disallowed from a corner for a shove by Liam Delap after Burgess had prodded home from close range. The VAR checked the on-field decision to disallow the goal and decided not to intervene.

Ipswich boss McKenna was left confused by the call, he said: "I've seen it across all of the first 14 weeks of the season. I don't see it being given against other teams. Like the game against Leicester it was a huge moment in the game to get the two-goal advantage."

Bournemouth for Europe?

It was not the first time that Iraola's side have staged a spectacular late comeback this season. In August they trailed 2-0 at Everton in the 86th minute and went on to score three late goals for an unlikely victory.

"I think it was a game we didn't deserve to lose," said Iraola. "We missed clear chances to score in the first half and the beginning of the second we were pushing, and then you start thinking it's maybe not going to be your day.

"We needed fresh energy and fresh minds from the subs."

The victory moved the Cherries up to eighth but Iraola is not dreaming of Europe just yet.

"You can take a picture of the standings if you want, just in case we're not there, but I won't look too much. I am confident in this team because we are being competitive. Let's hope we can continue playing the same way."

Analysis: Muric is a liability

Sky Sports' Lewis Jones:

"The theory goes that a goalkeeper can win you a certain amount of points a season. That especially can be true for teams down at the bottom of the Premier League. Just look at Mads Hermansen at Leicester - he's been their best player this season.

"The opposite can be said about Arijanet Muric at Ipswich. He is a liability.

"His summer signing for £15m from Burnley looks questionable after his moment of madness to run off his line to narrow the angle on Dango Ouattara when it was a defender's job. Ipswich hadn't looked overly troubled in the second half and could smell that all-important first home win but that error led to Bournemouth's equaliser and the rest is history.

"Burnley fans won't be overly surprised by Muric's latest blunder at the top-level. He was officially responsible for two errors that led to goals against Burnley last season but there were plenty of unofficial mishaps that played a part in their relegation.

"He can't be trusted at this level."

Opta stats: Iraola's comeback kings!

Ouattara's goal was timed at 94:08, Bournemouth's third-latest winning goal in Premier League history behind Luis Sinisterra's goal against Everton in August this season (95:37) and Ouattara's strike against Tottenham in April 2023 (94:11).
Bournemouth are the first team in Premier League history to be trailing as late as the 87th minute in two different away games they went on to win in the same season in the competition (today v Ipswich and v Everton in August).