Town lose ground in their Premier League survival fight following 4-1 defeat at home to Spurs

Ipswich slumped to a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Portman Road today leaving them firmly rooted in the bottom three of the Premier League and five points away from safety.

The scoreline flattered the visitors who were two goals ahead after just 26 minutes through Welsh international Brennan Johnson.

Town, who are still waiting for their first victory in 2025, pulled a goal back just before the break through Omari Hutchinson but Spurs added two more through Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski.

The defeat was made even more critical for Town as Wolves extended their advantage over Ipswich after a 1-0 victory at Bournemouth leaving the Midlanders five points clear of Ipswich, with a better goal difference and just above the drop zone.

Ipswich made four changes to the team that started last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

In came Ben Godfrey, Leif Davis, Jaden Philogene and Jack Clarke in place of the suspended Axel Tuanzebe, Conor Townsend, Ben Johnson and the injured Julio Enciso.

Meanwhile, Spurs made three changes to the team that beat Manchester United 1-0 at home last week.

In came Destiny Udogie, Andy Gray and Brennan Johnson replacing Pedro Porro, Ben Davies and James Maddison.

The game got off to a frenetic start and Ipswich almost took the lead in the opening minute.

Jens Cajuste surged foward and played in Liam Delap whose shot was initially saved by the Tottenham goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario but it deflected out to Philogene and his effort struck Omari Hutchinson on the line but assistant referee Simon Long flagged for offside.

Then Town keeper Alex Palmer had to dive at the feet of Destiny Odogie as he burst into the six yard area after being played in by Son Heung-Min.

Delap shot wide of the far post and then had a header that struck the angle of the bar and post in the sixth minute following a free kick from Kalvin Phillips.

Jacob Greaves came to the rescue when he managed to get a toe to the ball before Johnson was able to make contact.

But against the run of play Spurs took the lead in the 18th minute through Johnson.

Son made ground down the left and he managed to pull the ball back into the six yard box for Johnson, the son for former Town striker David Johnson, to tap home.

Town were having lots of chances with shots from Delap and Philogene reigning down on the Tottenham goal but they were just unable to get an equaliser and the visitors went further in front … and it was the same combination of Son, the South Korean international, with Johnson firing home through the legs of Leif Davis in the 26th minute.

But Ipswich hit back to keep their chances alive with a well struck shot from Hutchinson nine minutes before the break.

Phillips played in Clarke and his precise cross was met first time by Hutchinson with a left footed shot into the far corner of the goal.

Rodrigo Bentacur’s surging run forward led to him firing at goal from just inside the penalty area but Palmer blocked his effort and Greaves headed the ball out to safety.

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna introduced Luke Woolfenden in place of Godfrey, who had struggled to contain Son during the opening 45 minutes, at the start of the second half forming a centre back partnership with Greaves with Irishman Dara O’Shea moving across to right back.

Cajuste was hurt in the 50th minute after coming into contact with Bentancur and Jack Taylor came on to replace him.

Town thought they had equalised through Woolfenden in the 60th minute following a free kick 25 yards out from goal.

Hutchinson’s shot struck the Spurs defensive wall but the ball eventually landed back at the feet of Hutchinson whose cross was headed home by the Town substitute but assistant referee Steven Meredith had his flag raised.

Leif Davis made a vital sliding tackle to deny Johnson his hat trick as Spurs made their first substitutions of the game bringing on former Norwich man James Maddison, who was given a resounding round of boos, in places of Johnson, and Spanish international Porro for Udogie.

Moments later Nathan Broadhead was introduced in place of Clarke with former Town loanee Dane Scarlett replacing Mathys Tel and Wilson Odebert for Son for the visitors.

Spurs got the crucial third goal in the 77th minute when Spence received the ball from Maddison inside the penalty area and his shot came off the back of Woolfenden leaving Town goalkeeper Palmer flat footed.

Sam Morsy and George Hirst came on to replace Phillips and Delap in the 80th minute but Spurs made the game safe in the 84th minute.

Scarlett beat Greaves in the air heading the ball on for Kulusevski who drove forward and angled a shot across the goal hitting the post and ending in the back of the net to make the final score 4-1 to the visitors.

It angered the Town fans among the 30,003 crowd in the stadium as Greaves was left prone on the ground injured following the challenge with Scarlett.