Clarke wants Ipswich to ‘keep snowballing’ after win over Sunderland

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Jack Clarke has urged his Ipswich Town to “keep snowballing” after scoring a late winner in their Premier League opener against Sunderland.

Ipswich marked their return to the top-flight with a 2-1 win over Sunderland at Portman Road, with Emersonn and Clarke scoring either side of Nilson Angulo’s brilliant free-kick.

Courtesy of Clarke’s 90th-minute winner, Ipswich have begun a Premier League campaign with a victory for the first time since 1993-94 (3-0 v Oldham Athletic), having lost four consecutive MD1 games in the competition before this one.

The Tractor Boys have also ended their nine-game losing streak at Portman Road in the top-flight.

“Obviously, it’s a nice moment for everybody,” Clarke, who became just the third Ipswich player to score a 90th-minute winner in the Premier League, told BBC Sport.

“I think, based off how the last time we were in the Premier League went, it took us a long time to get the first win.

“So, it was nice today to kick-start with a win and try to use that momentum and confidence and that self-belief we had before the season to just keep snowballing.”

2 – In Hull City and Ipswich Town, this is just the fourth Premier League season to see two newly promoted sides win their opening league game of the campaign after 1997-98 (Bolton & Crystal Palace), 2021-22 (Brentford & Watford) and 2025-26 (Leeds & Sunderland).

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 22, 2026

Sunderland have won their opening game in just one of their last nine Premier League campaigns (D4 L4), with that victory coming against West Ham last season (3-0).

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris felt his side were unlucky to lose the contest, having retained 62.5% of possession, but admitted they had to do more with the ball.

“The result is a bit cruel because we dominated the ball, but dominating possession doesn’t mean you win the game,” Le Bris told Sky Sports.

“They were well-organised and ready to exploit our turnovers. Now it is about us, we have to show more composure.

“Our goal was a nice goal, happy for him [Angulo] but it is still a defeat. We will try to analyse quickly this defeat to go forward.”

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