'Like something you practice in your garden' - Szmodics discusses his goal at Spurs

Ipswich Town attacker Sammie Szmodics felt a huge sense of relief after his side secured their first win of the season, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1.

The Blues went ahead in the 31st minute as the 29-year-old connected with an overhead kick, with striker Liam Delap doubling the lead with a powerful finish from point-blank range.

Rodrigo Bentancur’s header meant that Town had to see out a one-goal lead in the final 20 minutes, with eight added on for stoppage time, but they did so incredibly well to earn three points in the top flight for the first time in 22 years.

“It felt amazing,” Szmodics said after the match. “I think we thoroughly deserved it. Performances recently have been really good.

“This is a tough place to come and we deserved to get the three points.”

Asked whether there were any nerves after conceding late on against Brentford and Leicester City, Szmodics admitted: “Yeah, of course. We’ve been on the end of goals late on. I think we defended well from minute one to minute 98 amazingly. That’s what gave us the platform to go and score goal. We know we can go and score goals at this level.

“It’s a tough place to come, but a big relief really. We’ve played well and it’s a big relief to get that first win.”

Although they adopted a back five for much of the game, Ipswich attacked Tottenham and made life hard for them throughout the match.

Szmodics claimed that this was they approach that they’d prepared all week, which they were able to execute to perfection in North London.

The 29-year-old fired Ipswich Town ahead with an overhead kick (Image: PA)

“The manager said that we’re not going to come here and sit back, we’re going to press them when we can,” he revealed. “We’ve got the mobility and the energy to do that.

“In the first half, we played really well, so we deserved to be 2-0 up and it could’ve been more.

“They’re a tough team to play against, you know we’re always going to score goals. I thought we saw the game out amazingly and thoroughly deserved the win.”

Szmodics’ goal was what got the Blues up and running, but it was no ordinary finish. His acrobatics caught everyone off guard, including himself.

“I can’t even remember the build-up,” he chuckled. “It was behind me. It’s like something you practice in your garden. I found a bit more space than I thought I had, so you attempt one of those things and then I heard the roar.

Szmodics has been keep to block out the noise during the Blues' winless run (Image: Ross Halls)

“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s probably one of the best goals I’ve scored, in one of the best stadiums I’ve ever played in.

“I’ve never scored an overhead kick, so I’ll take that.”

These last few weeks haven’t been easy. Ipswich have been criticised for their results, even if the performances have been strong, which has created a lot of external noise.

Szmodics believes he’s done well to shut it out, however, and is now optimistic that Town can kick on.

“I think we’ve just had to ignore it,” he argued. “We’ve seen all sorts on social media, on Twitter. People who’ve never kicked a ball in their life want to talk to us about winning games and scoring goals. They’ve never played at this level, it’s a completely different level to the Championship.

“We’ve blocked that noise out, we’ve focused on us as a whole squad – managers, staff fans. I think we just thoroughly deserved it as a whole today.

“The journey they’ve been on is amazing. To be brought in and to be part of this is even better for myself.

“We’re not here to make up the numbers. We’re here now. The relief has gone and we’ve got our first win.

“Hopefully we can build on that and add many more.”

Szmodics enjoys his strike (Image: PA) As he walked off, he was asked one final question – whether this win meant more as a West Ham fan.

“Yeah, of course,” he laughed. “That’s for all the West Ham fans.”