O’Shea heads stoppage-time winner after Ouattara’s 30-yard strike sinks Fulham
Sunday 11 October 2026 · By Chris Donovan
Eighty-eight minutes in, Ipswich Town were losing at home to the bottom-but-one side in the Premier League. By the final whistle, they had won 2–1, and Gary O’Neil had another comeback to talk about.
Ryan Sessegnon’s goal on 55 minutes gave Fulham the lead and set Portman Road on edge. Ipswich pushed and were rewarded late. Ouattara’s strike from 30 yards levelled the game on 88 minutes, and in stoppage time Dara O’Shea rose to head the winner.
O’Neil said he was “proud” of his players and that they “deserved the win”, speaking to the EADT and TWTD. He singled out their fitness, the quality that allowed them to keep pressing when Fulham were tiring.
That late-game energy is turning into a habit. Ipswich have won two of their last three league games, and they have done it by staying in matches longer than their opponents.
The table reflects it. Ipswich have nine points, three wins and three losses. Saturday’s result lifted them from 11th to ninth. Sunday’s results moved Hull and Liverpool level on points and slightly above them on goal difference, so they now sit tenth, still in the top half.
There is work to do at the back. Twelve goals shipped so far is a high number, and O’Neil will know that late comebacks only matter if the team is still in touching distance.
The next fixture is the steepest of the season. Ipswich travel to Manchester City on Saturday 17 October. City won 3–0 at Anfield on Sunday to make it six wins from six. Nobody expects points at the Etihad, which may suit a side who seem to enjoy proving people wrong.
Nottingham Forest visit Portman Road on Friday 23 October (20:00) to open Matchweek 8. Forest lost 3–1 at Crystal Palace on Sunday and have struggled for goals. Ipswich then travel to Hull on 31 October for a meeting of two promoted sides who have both started brightly.
O’Shea and Ouattara captured two sides of this team. One goal came from a moment of individual quality from distance, the other from a defender attacking the ball in stoppage time. Between them, they turned a frustrating afternoon around. Before the season, few would have predicted a promoted Ipswich would sit in the top half after six games. O’Neil’s side are there on merit, and the late goals are no accident.
The common thread is belief. Ipswich do not stop running, and O’Neil has built a squad that trusts its fitness late in games.
The noise at Portman Road in the final minutes showed how much the result meant to the club.
Portman Road saw that on Saturday. The Etihad will be different, but this group will not arrive afraid.
Portman Road has been Ipswich Town’s home since 1884, and it still feels like a ground that grew with the club rather than a bowl parked beside a retail park. For a visiting supporter it is compact, close to the pitch and loud enough that you will know you are in Suffolk. The address is Portman Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DA. Capacity is 30,056, almost all seated, on a hybrid pitch of about 102 by 75 metres.
Behind the north goal is the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, rebuilt in 2001 and renamed after the club’s greatest manager following his death in 2009. It holds around 7,500 and is the noisiest home end. The lower tier is adults only. Opposite, behind the south goal, is the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, rebuilt in the early 2000s and renamed in 2012 for the manager who won the league in 1962. It is home support, and generally less ferocious than the north end.
Along the west touchline is the three-tier West Stand, the largest block in the ground, with hospitality and a family area in the lower tier. The dugouts sit on this side, and the players’ tunnel comes out in the corner where the West Stand meets the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, so the teams run out towards the south-west corner. Facing it, on Portman Road itself, is the Cobbold Stand, built in 1971 and once called the Portman Stand. The away allocation is at its southern end.
That is where you will be. Visiting supporters are housed towards the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand, in blocks VU1, VU2, VU3, VL and VA of the Cobbold. The usual allocation is a little over 2,000 covered seats, with a smaller uncovered lower section used when numbers demand it. Turnstiles and the away ticket windows are on Portman Road. Safe-standing rails went in ahead of 2024–25, but this remains an old stand. Pillars can cut the view at the back, legroom is tight, and the lower tier is the one part of the ground that is not properly covered. On a wet afternoon the upper tier is the better bet.
From those seats you look across at the West Stand and along the pitch to both goals: the north goal in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, the south goal in front of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand. You are side-on, not behind a goal. Seats further forward are worth asking for. The home support will be loudest to your right, in the Robson Stand.
Getting in is simplest by train. Ipswich station is about a ten-minute walk: leave towards the river, cross, and follow Sir Alf Ramsey Way. The designated away pub is the Station Hotel, also known as the Riverside, opposite the station. Most pubs tight to the ground are home-only, and the FanZone is not for visitors. There is no club car park. The nearest pay option is on Portman Road beside the away end, postcode IP1 2BP, but access is restricted around kick-off. Away coaches often use West End Road.
Gates usually open about two hours before kick-off. Expect a search, including a dog unit on some days. Keep bags to something no bigger than a carrier bag, as there is nowhere to leave them. Outside food is not allowed in, and the kiosks are cashless. Use the Cobbold turnstiles rather than following the home flow to the Robson or Ramsey ends. It is not the most comfortable afternoon in English football, but the crowd is on top of you and the goals are where the diagram says they are.