Traore secures a point for Fulham at Ipswich
Ipswich Town earned its first point of the Premier League season but was denied victory by Adama Traore's leveller in a 1-1 draw with Fulham at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys’ search for a first top-flight victory since April 2002 started in stunning fashion as Liam Delap rifled the ball home after good work from Leif Davis.
However, Fulham would respond in the 32nd minute as Traore rounded off a free-flowing move to level the encounter.
Both sides traded blows in search of an important three points at this early stage of the season, with Chiedozie Ogbene and Raul Jimenez seeing their efforts repelled in a seesaw second half.
With neither team able to find a winner, Ipswich sits 16th in the early-season standings, while Fulham is just outside the top half of the table.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna believes his side has gained belief from the opening three fixtures of the season, which have included two tough opening matches against Liverpool and Manchester City.
McKenna believes all three matches were beneficial to help show his side how it can approach the season.
"Especially in the Liverpool game, the players came away with more confidence from it," McKenna said.
"And [against Fulham] we built on what we did against Liverpool. Our pressure was good and aggressive again.
"I think the players have come away from the first three games with more belief to be honest."
The 38-year-old was delighted with Liam Delap’s display after he got off the mark for the first time since his summer move from Manchester City.
"I enjoyed his all-round performance, each week he’s getting stronger, he’s learning and he’s got great growth to come," McKenna added.
“He’s got great potential, we have real faith in Liam and we are enjoying working with him.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva was slightly disappointed that his side failed to build on last week’s victory over Leicester City.
“It was a tough game against an aggressive side. They have great support which demanded us to win duels and beat the pressure," he said.
"The reaction from us [after Ipswich scored] was good, we scored a good equaliser and after that we took a step forward and were completely in control.
"[Traore] created some good moments for other players, he is in good shape, helping the team and the reason why he is playing is because he can be decisive for us if he can take the right decisions.
"But the second half was a lot more difficult for us, we were not able to control the game the way we liked. We were solid, we did not give many things away but we did not create."