BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) -Brighton & Hove Albion kept up their unbeaten start to the season but dropped their first home points as a plucky Ipswich Town held out for a fortunate goalless draw in the Premier League on Saturday.
Brighton stayed in third place with eight points from four matches but will consider this an opportunity missed as they dominated proceedings but failed to find the net.
Goalkeeper Arijanet Muric proved key for newly promoted Ipswich as they won their second point of the season to add to the first that they picked up in their last league game at home to Fulham before the international break.
Ipswich were under pressure from as early as the fourth minute when Carlos Baleba brought a high ball under control off his chest and got off a left footed shot that forced Muric into a diving save.
Danny Wellbeck looked to set up Kaoru Mitoma with a clever back heel in the penalty area midway through the first half but the first touch from the Japanese international was too heavy and a good chance lost.
Muric then came up with successive saves to deny Georginio Rutter and Mitoma in the 36th minute, first as the French striker cut inside off the wing to fire in a shot. The rebound fell to Mitoma whose effort was blocked again by Muric and then another effort from the Japanese winger went across the face of goal and wide.
The home onslaught continued from the start of the second half with Rutter’s shot taking a fortunate deflection for a corner when it looked headed into the back of the net.
Wellbeck was then inches away with a curling free kick in the 51st minute before Ipswich finally got an effort in on goal four minutes later.
It came from a barnstorming run by Liam Delap on the counter attack down the right, outpowering the chasing Brighton defence and getting off a shot from a tight angle that hit the upright.
Ipswich then won their first corner in the 64th minute and had a brief patch of potential with substitute Jack Clarke looking dangerous with a pair of teasing runs.
But Brighton, increasingly desperate as time ran out, carved out several more half chances with Lewis Dunk’s freekick hitting the wall and Mitoma firing a tame shot at Muric after a promising dart into the Ipswich penalty area.
Time, however, ran out as desperate defending ensured Ipswich wore broad smiles at the final whistle.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town, Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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