Ipswich pay penalty as Raúl Jiménez’s spot-kick double gives Fulham late draw
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A tale of three penalties and an outcome that, ultimately, was fair. Fulham were staring down the barrel of a rare defeat when Raúl Jiménez converted his second spot-kick of the afternoon at the start of added time and could feel they never quite did enough to defeat a well-drilled Ipswich. Kieran McKenna’s team had led twice, through Sammie Szmodics and a penalty of their own from Liam Delap; whether this was one that got away remains to be seen but they do not carry themselves as if destined for the drop.
![[Liam Delap scores Ipswich’s second goal against Fulham from the penalty spot.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2844ceec08cdeec8c76706457864f2ca6ffdfd13/0_139_3208_1925/master/3208.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Any student of two compact, laudably coached teams might have expected a chess match at the outset, albeit one a Fulham side beaten just once in 11 games were favoured to shade. Marco Silva has made them purr, even allowing for a high draw count, and given them the kind of presence Ipswich would love to attain in time.
The away side’s prospects were hindered in the buildup by a groin injury to Omari Hutchinson, who had scored brilliantly in a win over Chelsea that breathed life into their fight against relegation. Ipswich top the division’s charts for fitness-related woes and the sense was that, without their most trusted line breaker, this would be a day for guts and grit in the Thames drizzle.
Those predictions were borne out in a start high on endeavour but lacking in tempo, Ipswich sitting in and trusting Delap’s rumbustious running to take them up the pitch. Within seconds of kick-off he had left a mark on Sasa Lukic; eight minutes later his burst towards the penalty area brought a free-kick and, from the second ball in, a Leif Davis cross that narrowly evaded a lunging Szmodics.
