Nathan Broadhead scored his first ever Premier League goal as Ipswich beat faltering Bournemouth 2-1 to breathe new life into their survival bid.
Bournemouth, bidding to bounce back from Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Manchester City, were boosted by the return from suspension of defenders Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez.
Ipswich were without Leif Davis and Omari Hutchinson while former England midfielder Kalvin Phillips was fit enough only for a place on the bench.
Bournemouth dominated possession in the early exchanges but their passing was not as crisp as manager Andoni Iraola would have liked.
Lewis Cook’s corner threatened to cause havoc in the Ipswich defence before being nodded behind by centre-back Dara O’Shea.
O’Hara then had to make a last-ditch lunge to turn Dango Outtara’s teasing low delivery out for another corner with the lively Alex Scott waiting to tap home.
Evanilson looked like he would get the chance to score first in the 26th minute after being played in by Outtara only for O’Shea to slide in to block his attempt.
Ipswich, who had lost their last five league games, threatened the Bournemouth goal for the first time when Ben Johnson played the ball over the top of their defence but Liam Delap was unable to reach the pass.
Brighton loanee Julio Enciso also sent a 25-yard curler flying over the angle of post and crossbar as Ipswich warmed to their task.
O’Shea came to his team’s rescue once more by clearing Scott’s close-range strike off the line before Alex Palmer made an excellent flying save to deny the Bournemouth midfielder’s rebound effort.
Moments after that double escape Broadhead fired Kieran McKenna’s men into a shock lead.
Enciso breezed past a cluster of defenders before playing in Broadhead, who sat down Huijsen before poking home through the legs of the luckless Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Scott was close to drawing Bournemouth level seconds after half-time with a vicious 20-yard strike Palmer did well to tip over the bar.
It looked like game over when Delap doubled Ipswich’s lead on the hour mark, with a well-taken 11th Premier League goal of the season.
Delap started the move by releasing Conor Townsend down the left before cleverly finding space around the penalty spot to slam the defender’s cutback into the far corner.
Bournemouth were awarded a penalty when Antoine Semenyo went down under a challenge from Axel Tuanzabe.
Referee Robert Jones was forced to overturn his on-field decision when VAR Graham Scott spotted any contact was outside the box.
The hosts did get a goal back 23 minutes from time when Evanilson pounced from point-blank range after Palmer could only parry Cook’s initial effort.
