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Jack Clarke fires Ipswich to late victory over Sunderland
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- Jack Clarke fires Ipswich to late victory over Sunderland
Jack Clarke fired newly-promoted Ipswich to an opening-day victory with a 90th-minute winner to down old club Sunderland .
A new era at Portman Road got under way with Gary O'Neil in the dugout for a competitive fixture for the first time since he replaced long-serving boss Kieran McKenna in June and with six full debutants on display.
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It had been a busy summer for Ipswich with 12 signings made in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of opponents Sunderland, who finished seventh on their own return to the top-flight in the 2025-26 campaign.
This first day fixture looked set to finish all square after Nilson Angulo produced a superb 39th-minute free kick for the Black Cats to cancel out Emersonn 's opener after 24 minutes following excellent play from Julio Enciso .
Substitute Clarke had other ideas and made the most of Omar Alderete 's wayward pass on the stroke of full time to curl into the bottom corner to send Portman Road into pandemonium after they witnessed only a second Premier League home win in 24 years.
Sunderland almost taught the new boys a lesson after four minutes when Trai Hume was given too much time and played in Brian Brobbey , but Leif Davis got back to make a crucial block for Ipswich.
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A shaky moment on the ball for debutant Kjell Scherpen in goal followed soon after before O'Neil watched his new-look team settle down.
Emersonn had provided an indicator of his prowess with an early header which caused Robin Roefs trouble and marked his first start with a goal in the 24th minute, but it was all about Enciso.
Ex-Brighton forward Enciso had impressed during a six-month loan at Town last year and provided the first of potentially several highlights this season when he intercepted Luke O'Nien's pass, dribbled past the centre-back
and Dan Ballard
before he squared for team-mate Emersonn to slide home.
A fine save by Scherpen denied Sunderland an immediate equaliser from Noah Sadiki 's header and brilliant play by Emersonn then teed up Enciso, who lifted over.
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With half-time in sight, the sucker-punch for Ipswich arrived in the 39th minute when Granit Xhaka won a free kick on the edge of the area and Angulo produced a magnificent effort over the wall and in via the crossbar.
It ensured it was 1-1 at half-time, but Ipswich returned after the break with renewed purpose and Abdul Fatawu twice almost created a second goal.
A first Abdul Fatawu cross in the 50th minute was fractionally too high for former Celtic attacker Daizen Maeda before a second fine delivery into the area was flicked inches wide by Enciso.
Marcelino Nunez made a timely block to thwart Brobbey before Enciso produced another mazy run but Emersonn could not find Maeda from the resulting cross.
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Both managers shuffled their pack in search of a winner and Clarke provided it when Sunderland substitute Alderete gave the ball away and Sasa Lukic passed into Clarke, who cut inside and fired beyond Roefs to help Ipswich start with a bang.
