It's taken a while, but Brighton seem to be learning how to manage games in the Premier League.
Brighton soaked up pressure in the first half and perhaps even looked a bit ponderous going forward as Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Kaoru Mitoma remained on the fringes. Ipswich were more adventurous and Bart Verbruggen had to be sharp to keep out three low long-range efforts from Nathan Broadhead, Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson.
Joel Veltman's "game management" was at it's peak to see Delap booked and Pedro was a touch fortunate to only see yellow after clattering into former Brighton goalkeeper Christian Walton.
Brighton's moment arrived on 59 minutes as Yasin Ayari's clever ball into the box found Matt O'Riley and the former Celtic man teed-up Mitoma to side-foot a low effort through the grasp of Walton - perhaps still groggy from Pedro's flying challenge.
Walton then saved well to keep out Pedro's shot on the turn but Georginio Rutter, on as a second half substitute for O’Riley, skilfully toe-poked home a second after a scruffy free-kick into the box. His strike was eventually confirmed after a long VAR check. It was Rutter’s third in two matches following his brace in the 4-0 FA Cup win at Norwich last Saturday. The Seagulls have enjoyed their recent trips to East Anglia and they managed the remaining minutes at Portman Road for their first Premier League win in eight.
Here’s how they rated...
13. Substitutes
Georginio Rutter – 7: A clever finish a he recorded his third goal in two matches. Yankuba Minteh – 6: Looked a threat on the right when he replaced Adingra. Lewis Dunk – 6: Replaced Webster on the hour and his experience saw the game out. Good to have him back. Danny Welbeck – 6: Replaced Joao Pedro late on and stretched his legs ahead of Manchester United on Sunday. Jakub Moder – 6: A late, late replacement for Yasin Ayari. Photo: Justin Setterfield