AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Ipswich Town: Nathan Broadhead and Liam Delap goals see Blues end wait for first Premier League win of 2025
Liam Delap’s 11th Premier League goal of the season helped Ipswich Town to their first league win of 2025 with a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Delap struck a powerful effort beyond the reach of Kepa Arrizabalaga on the hour mark to double the Blues’ lead after Nathan Broadhead had given them a first half advantage.
Broadhead’s first Premier League goal came after an incredible driving run from Julio Enciso, the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee eventually finding the Welshman with a neat lay-off.
From there, Dean Huijsen was sent sliding and Broadhead coolly dispatched through the goalkeeper’s legs for his first goal of the season.
Delap added a second when he powerfully struck to continue his fine season in front of goal before Bournemouth pulled a goal back with a quarter of the contest still to play.
It was Evanilson who provided it, netting his fourth goal in five starts since a return from injury after Lewis Cook’s volley was parried by Alex Palmer.
But Town would hold out for just their fourth league victory of the season and move back to within nine points of safety ahead of their meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers, the side directly above them, at Portman Road on Saturday (3pm).
The Blues also recorded their first league victory at Bournemouth since 1953 and dealt the hosts a significant blow in their bid for European football.
First blood to Town
It is almost a year to the day since Broadhead struck the equaliser on Town’s famous evening against Southampton last Easter.
Twelve months on, the Wales international finally added another goal to his career tally and unlocked another personal milestone with his first in the top flight.
After the Blues’ 17-day hiatus from competitive action, Broadhead was drafted in as one of six changes made by Kieran McKenna - two enforced with Leif Davis and Omari Hutchinson missing - and lined up for his first start for more than two months.
The opening goal came with Town’s first major chance having seen little of the ball in the opening 20 minutes without being threatened significantly.
In fact, the only scare on Palmer’s goal came as the Blues were caught playing out the back. Sam Morsy was dispossessed by Ryan Christie and Dara O’Shea was required to clear off the line from Alex Scott.
Just a minute later, Bournemouth, who had lost their last three on home soil, were behind again.
Dynamite Delap
Delap has a happy relationship with the Dorset side, the striker having scored his first-ever goal on his senior debut against the Cherries as a 17-year-old for Manchester City.
It appears likely Town will be playing their football in the Championship next season, and it appears even more likely that Delap won’t be there to join them as numerous top clubs show their interest in the Blues’ talisman.
Regardless, the England Under-21 international was in the mood to show the Premier League exactly what he is capable of, ending his four-game drought for a goal in style.
After laying it off to Conor Townsend, the swashbuckling centre-forward got on the end of the cut-back before rifling a finish beyond Arrizabalaga that four goalkeepers would have struggled to stop the momentum.
The Blues were never going to avoid a nervy finish, though. VAR came to the rescue to overturn a Cherries penalty when Antoine Semenyo was brought down by Axel Tuanzebe, only for the replays to conclude the incident occurred outside the penalty area.
Bournemouth did grab their goal when Evanilson struck, but the trigger-happy Semenyo could not direct any of his efforts goalwards as he continued to try his luck from range.
O’Shea’s powerful header from a corner could have made it more comfortable for Town, but they saw out six additional minutes to take all three points back to Suffolk.
Without doubt, Town are going to need an awful lot to go their way between now and the end of May. They will hope tonight is the start of that change in fortune.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Arrizabalaga; Kerkez, Huijsen, Zabarnyi (Jebbison 87), Smith (c) (Adams 46); Cook, Christie (Senesi 58); Semenyo, Scott (Brooks 58), Ouattara; Evanilson. Subs: Dennis, Soler, Hill, Silcott-Duberry, Winterburn.
Booked: Huijsen.
Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1): Palmer; Townsend, Burgess, O’Shea, Tuanzebe; Cajuste, Morsy (c) (Phillips 82); Enciso (Clarke 72), Broadhead (Taylor 72), Johnson (Philogene 90); Delap (Hirst 72). Subs: Walton, Woolfenden, Chaplin, Greaves.
Booked: Townsend, Philogene.
Referee: Rob Jones(Merseyside).
Attendance: 11,192 (1,307 away).
SuffolkNews Man of the Match: Julio Enciso.The Paraguayan produced his best performance in a Town shirt at the Vitality Stadium. During his time on the field, he looked the most likely to create something for the Blues and it was his piece of individual skill, coupled with a composed finish from Broadhead, that provided the opening goal.
