Ipswich Town defender Harry Clarke endured a nightmare outing on his first Premier League start in a dramatic defeat at Brentford.
The Arsenal academy graduate was named in Kieran McKenna’s starting XI for the trip to west London, and things were looking good as the Tractor Boys went 2-0 up within 31 minutes.
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However, they were level with Brentford at the break as Yoane Wissa reduced the deficit, before a stoppage-time own-goal from Clarke.
In the opening moments of the second-half, the hosts were then awarded a contentious penalty after the Ipswich right-back fouled Keane Lewis-Potter.
Bryan Mbeumo scored from the spot before the visitors’ afternoon got even worse as Clarke was sent off for a second yellow card.
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That saw him become only the second Premier League player to ever score an own-goal, concede a penalty and get sent off in a single match.
The first played to do so was Jan Bednarek for Southampton in their 9-0 thrashing away to Manchester United in the 2020/21 season.
However, Clarke is the first to ever do it on their full debut in top flight football.
In a roller-coaster match, Ipswich appeared to be heading towards their first win of the season in all competitions when they took a two-goal lead after the opening half-hour.
Sammie Szmodics netted after being fed by George Hirst, who scored his side’s second of the day moments later with a composed finish.
However, their hard work was undone in just two minutes of play as half-time approached with Wissa’s low shot and Clarke’s own-goal.
Mbeumo’s penalty early on in the second-half put Brentford in the lead for the first time in the match and was followed by Clarke’s red.
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With four minutes remaining, though, it looked as though ten-man Ipswich had nicked a point on the road thanks to Liam Delap’s poked finish.
But a lapse in concentration from goalkeeper Arijanet Muric allowed Mbeumo’s searching ball into the box to sneak in for a dramatic winner.
The killer blow came in the sixth minute of stoppage-time, before Delap came agonisingly close to an equaliser only for his wicked curling shot to hit the outside of the far post.
It meant Ipswich fell to their fifth Premier League defeat of the season at full-time, despite scoring three goals away from home.
After nine games played, they are one of four sides who are still yet to seal a win in the top flight for the 2024/25 campaign.
They remain a point above the relegation zone but will drop into the bottom-three if Crystal Palace draw against Tottenham on Sunday.
Brentford’s late win has sent them to ninth in the table on 13 points and just three adrift of the European qualification spots.
Thomas Frank’s side are also the joint-second highest scorers in the Premier League with Spurs on 18 goals.
