Szmodics and Delap surprise Spurs as Ipswich ends long wait for first win | first division

Ipswich had waited 22 and a half years for this, and how their vibrant support celebrated after nine seemingly endless minutes of added time. He said a lot that his first first division The win since April 2002 was thoroughly deserved, a smart first-half performance seeing them overcome goals from Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap before passing an endurance test in the second.

Rodrigo Bentancur's header was all Tottenham could manage, disjointed throughout and never managing a late siege, and the result was another feather in the cap for Kieran McKenna. The Ipswich manager started as a coach of the Spurs youth team and his team's performance was a credit to him here.

McKenna knew Ipswich would have to execute their plan to perfection to have a chance of repelling Tottenham, who were able to select the same starting XI that defeated Villa a week earlier. The visitors held firm from the start and their lead was not remotely undeserved in the balance of play.

The first goal came thanks to some good work from Jens Ctrabajo, who took the place of the suspended Kalvin Phillips and changed the pace of a patient pass with a burst through the center of the field. Finally, Cayud sent an awkward cross from the right: Cristian Romero could only finish the ball and Szmodics, with his back to the goal and with little pressure, had time to contort for a high shot that went over the diving Guglielmo Vicario.

Tottenham had looked sleepy at times, a fact perhaps attributable to the air miles accumulated from spending much of the week visiting Istanbul. The situation worsened before they could lay another gauntlet on the visitors, who had prepared with a low block but had committed their men forward with judgment and speed. Ipswich looked alert and, crucially, hungry: both came into play when Omari Hutchinson, refusing to fall to Bentancur's challenge in midfield, carried the ball from end to end and slid it out to the left for Leif Davis.

Szmodics, who was limping moments earlier but now on the overlap, was able to cross from the byline and Spurs were at sea when Vicario misfired his delivery to Radu Dragusin. The ball was headed, but Delap, such an exciting prospect at 21, showed his poacher's instincts to score his sixth goal of the season.

Ed Sheeran, watching from the stands as Ipswich played for the first time in a pink kit whose design he partly influenced, was able to join the away contingent in celebrating wildly. These had not been lightning bolts from the sky. Within two minutes, Szmodics forced a save from Vicario after excellent work from Hutchinson and, after nine, Cameron Burgess jumped to the far post only to plant Davis' corner on the crossbar.

It was an entertaining action, Ipswich settling into a low block with returning Axel Tuanzebe deployed to match Son Heung-min's pace. By half-time he had managed to subdue the South Korean, whose most significant involvement had been a cross in the third minute that Brennan Johnson could have done better than a deflected jab. He also saw a shot saved by Ipswich goalkeeper Aro Muric, who had even more acumen to deflect Dominic Solanke's shot wide with the score goalless.

But Spurs had been flat and would need a rocket from Ange Postecoglou at half-time, hope arising from the spectacular way they responded to dispatch Aston Villa a week earlier. Almost immediately after the break, they sensed the possibility of a comeback when, in a corner obtained thanks to an acrobatic roll by Muric on Son, Solanke attacked from close range. Ipswich, so aggrieved by the video assistant referee's decisions of late that they met Howard Webb at Portman Road in midweek, were saved by technology this time when the striker was correctly judged to have hit the ball in his own hand.

By the hour, Tottenham, allowed all the territory in the world but taking advantage of the opportunities that arose, were barely breaking down the door. Ipswich, dangerously deep for the most part but with a clear threat on the counter-attack, blinked again when the noisy Delap did superbly to set up Hutchinson for a deflected shot. Postecoglou went all out with the introduction of Timo Werner in place of Pape Matar Sarr and, whether by coincidence or not, the landscape changed almost immediately.

The source was a surprise, Bentancur quickly reached a corner taken by Pedro Porro and scored his first club goal since January, beating Muric. Now Ipswich would hang on for dear life, Muric touched a Werner piledriver and then got lucky after missing another Porro set piece. A switch seemed to have been flipped for the home team.

Werner, slotted into space by Son, took the lead with six minutes of normal time remaining but Ipswich managed the closing stages well. When Muric saved Solanke in added time, his season could begin in earnest.