Southampton revived their faint survival hopes with only a second Premier League victory of the season thanks to Paul Onuachu’s 87th-minute winner at Ipswich. This bottom-of-the-table clash looked destined to finish all square after Ipswich striker Liam Delap scored his ninth goal of the campaign after 31 minutes to cancel out Joe Aribo’s opener at Portman Road. A point did little for either team’s prospects and as the seconds ticked away Kieran McKenna’s men looked more likely to claim a winner, but they were stunned when Onuachu fired in after Arijanet Muric spilled Kamaldeen Sulemana’s low effort to secure Saints a precious away win.

“We have to believe,” said the Southampton manager Ivan Juric. “We have to play every time like this and working hard during the week and then we’ll see. We are fighting. We don’t want to give up and we have character. We want to play like we did today.”. Chances were limited until Southampton broke the deadlock in the 21st minute. Kyle Walker-Peters and Mateus Fernandes combined down the right before the latter’s cross deflected into the path of Aribo, who volleyed home for his third goal of the campaign from 12 yards.

Ipswich goalkeeper Muric did not cover himself in glory with a weak attempt at saving Aribo’s tame effort, but referee Michael Oliver was in the spotlight soon after. Oliver, who was moved onto this fixture and off Arsenal versus Manchester City on Sunday after he received death threats over a red card given to Myles Lewis-Skelly last weekend, faced more hostility after he first opted not to give Ipswich a free-kick in a dangerous position and then decided Walker-Peters’ handball inside the Southampton penalty area had been from a natural position.

Not long after Delap had flicked over from close range, the former Manchester City forward showed his class with an assured finish. Ipswich received a touch of fortune after Nathan Broadhead’s pass ricocheted off Aribo and into Delap, who burst past Jan Bednarek too easily and slotted under Aaron Ramsdale. It was nearly 2-1 two minutes later when a gorgeous outside of the boot through ball by Delap sent Broadhead away, but Ramsdale stood up well to block. There were further efforts by Julio Enciso, Omari Hutchinson and Broadhead before the break as Southampton held on until half-time.

Ivan Juric made a change during the interval with Southampton captain Jack Stephens introduced for his comeback after eight weeks out, but he limped off after 11 minutes. Sign up to Football Daily. Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football. after newsletter promotion. James Bree had a shot deflected wide for the visitors as it turned into a scrappy affair. The Ipswich faithful started to get agitated at a lack of urgency. It sparked the hosts’ into life as Delap muscled his way past Bednarek but had a low shot blocked by Ramsdale before Leif Davis sent a free-kick into the wall.

Juric reacted with Sulemana sent on with 20 minutes left and the substitute helped Southampton claim a first league win in four months when his low effort was spilled by Muric, which allowed Onuachu to smash home. McKenna saidd: “It’s a really poor result, especially on the balance of play. It felt like it was definitely a game that was there for us to win. I thought we were the better team, but it’s not really any consolation at this moment.”PA Media.