Watkins ensures Aston Villa point as Palmer saves day for 10-man Ipswich

Aston Villa’s supporters were hoping to see an inspired Premier League debut and they were rewarded. Unfortunately, it was neither Marcus Rashford nor Marco Asensio that shone brightest, instead goalkeeper Alex Palmer stole the show with a string of superb saves to earn 10-man Ipswich a hard-fought point. Liam Delap gave the away side a shock lead as Rashford’s former schoolmate Axel Tuanzebe had been sent off for two bookable offences but Ollie Watkins was on hand to equalise from one of his side’s many chances.

The match, however, could have been very different. Palmer was signed in the window by Ipswich in order to bring calm between the sticks. The experienced goalkeeper almost started life in the top flight in disastrous fashion in the opening two minutes. He hesitated when coming out for a ball over the top, allowing Morgan Rogers the advantage; Palmer eventually sprinted out of his box but the Aston Villa forward knocked the ball past him and went over, there was minimal contact but a less lenient referee could have penalised the goalkeeper and sent him off.

If anyone thought this was an omen for Palmer’s Ipswich career, they were very much mistaken. The goalkeeper made numerous top quality saves after his team had been reduced to 10 men when Tuanzebe was dismissed. Prior to Rob Jones dishing out the red card in the 40th minute, Villa had been on top but failed to threaten Palmer’s goal. After Tuanzebe left the field, Villa upped the attacking stakes, pushing Ipswich back inside their own box. The visitors had Palmer to thank for keeping things level with a superb reaction save to tip a Rogers shot from close range over.

The home supporters were given their first glimpse of Rashford as a Villa player in the Premier League at the start of the second half. Unfortunately for Rashford and his new teammates, it was another striker that left Manchester for a fresh start that opened the scoring. Omari Hutchinson stayed onside on the right and beat Ian Maatsen on the outside before crosses for former City striker Delap to poke home his 10th of the season and create bedlam in the away end.

There was noise from all sections when Maatsen let fly moments later, only to see Palmer produce a stunning save to stop the ball pummelling the netting. For Ipswich, the only thing they could do from this point was waste as much time as possible and stick the remaining 10 players behind the ball in the hope of keeping Villa at bay, further complicated by the arrival of Asensio. From the moment the opener went in, it was a case of attack v defence. Ipswich battled and scrapped but this resulted in Kalvin Phillips committing a foul on the edge of the area. Rashford stepped up and hit the bar and Watkins being the quickest to react, jabbing into an empty net.

Sign up to Football Daily. Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football. after newsletter promotion. With 20 minutes left to find a winner – and it felt like Villa were the only ones capable of doing so. Palmer kept out Asensio with a fine reaction save to his left. Villa kept coming but blue shirts and limbs blocked their path, and a stunning 93rd minute stop from Palmer that physicists would struggle to explain.