By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) -Everton’s Premier League mini-revival continued on Saturday as they comfortably beat a ragged Ipswich Town 2-0 away to make it four games in a row unbeaten, with the toothless hosts never looking likely to claim their first victory of the season.
First-half goals by Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane were a fair reward for Everton’s dominance and though they failed to convert several good chances in the second half, Ipswich never remotely threatened a comeback.
Everton, who lost their first four games of the season, have now won two and drawn two of their last four to chalk up eight points in 16th place. Ipswich, with four points from four draws, are 17th.
After waiting 22 years for this fixture, the fans were forced to hold on for a further 15 minutes on Saturday as kick off was delayed by a turnstile issue.
Everton were seeking a first league win over Ipswich since 1994, having lost three and drawn the other in four games in the early 2000s, and it looked there for the taking almost from kick-off.
They duly went ahead after 17 minutes when Ipswich’s defenders failed to clear a Jack Harrison cross and Ndiaye was left clear to hammer it in from close range.
Ipswich were awarded a first-half penalty after Jack Clarke clashed with Dwight McNeill and went down, but the decision was reversed after a VAR review ruled that Clarke had kicked McNeill’s leg.
The Portman Road gloom was deepened soon after with a second Everton goal as centre back Keane collected a neat McNeill pass and smashed in a shot at the keeper’s near post from the tightest of angles five minutes before the break.
Everton continued to dominate in the second half but, having led 2-0 against Bournemouth and Aston Villa and lost both 3-2, their fans were desperate for a third.
Ndiaye and McNeill missed good opportunities to settle the nerves, as did striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who twice had one-on-ones with the keeper but finished tamely.
Ipswich, however, were unable to take advantage, failing to test Everton keeper Jordan Pickford until a mild late flurry.
Local boy Ed Sheeran was in the crowd but the only singing came from the visiting fans trooping off into the night to celebrate an away league win for the first time in 15 attempts.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)
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