Enciso’s first-half leveller earns Ipswich a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road

Julio Enciso rescued a point for Ipswich as they drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest in a Premier League match at Portman Road on 23 October 2026. The result followed a first-half exchange of goals in a fixture played amid heavy wind and rain.

The game unfolded during a Suffolk squall, with winds whipping and a constant drum of rain affecting play. Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil emerged as the more satisfied coach after the draw, while Forest’s Oliver Glasner reached his 40th match in charge at Portman Road. Glasner’s side had collected five points from seven matches entering the game and had recorded just a single win, and Morgan Gibbs-White returned to the starting lineup after missing the Arsenal match.

Forest opened the scoring when Neco Williams arrived unmarked to convert a low finish following an overlap and a looping cross from Daniel Muñoz. Early in the contest both teams’ No 10s were prominent: Julio Enciso fired wide and Gibbs-White set up an early chance that Liam Delap failed to direct on target. The visitors had threatened to take control after the opener, with Gibbs-White cutting inside and testing Ipswich’s defence.

Ipswich responded before half-time, Jaden Philogene forcing a save from Matz Sels and Enciso weaving through Forest defenders to create another opportunity. A sequence of defensive errors from Forest produced the equaliser: Jair Cunha’s forward foray and a loose touch led to Dara O’Shea’s clearance being poorly handled by Nikola Milenkovic and a slack back-pass, which Enciso finished calmly to level the scores.

The match featured a contested refereeing moment when Thomas Bramall did not penalise Issa Diop’s collision with James McAtee as he burst through; the video assistant reiterated that McAtee had lost possession and Diop was shown a yellow card with a free-kick awarded. Forest continued to press: Williams and Murillo tested Ipswich with shots, Murillo missed a headed chance from a corner, and Leif Davis twice made goal-line or last-ditch interventions to deny clear chances.

Chances continued to fall for Forest late on, with Delap leaping highest to head wide after a mistake by Abdoul Ouatarra and further pressure after a flurry of substitutions. Neco Williams’ evening ended after an awkward fall, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, introduced late, had time in eight minutes of added time to test the Ipswich defence but fired wide.

Forest began the match as the division’s lowest scorers and had blanked more often than any other side, and the 1-1 draw at Portman Road left them unable to find a win from this visit. The point denied Nottingham Forest victory at Ipswich and maintained both teams’ run of inconsistent results in the league.