- Rashford was featuring in the Premier League for the first time in two months
- He hit the post with a free kick before Watkins reacted to poke home equaliser
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Will Liverpool recover from Everton blow in season-defining week?
Marcus Rashford helped rescue a point for Aston Villa in his first Premier League appearance for more than two months.
Unai Emery turned to Rashford at half-time after Ipswich had been reduced to 10 men with Axel Tuanzebe sent off.
And though Liam Delap gave the relegation-threatened visitors an unexpected lead after 56 minutes, the on-loan Rashford came to his new team’s aid with a thunderbolt free-kick which smacked against the post and allowed Ollie Watkins to poach the rebound.
It was an eventful 45 minutes for Rashford, who signed from Manchester United last month after being frozen out at Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford.
Besides his assist, he also forced a fine save from Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer and had a penalty appeal turned down in his first league game since facing Nottingham Forest for his parent club on February 7.
Unai Emery put Watkins back into the starting line-up after his return from a groin injury while Alex Disasi, on loan from Chelsea, made his Villa debut.
Marcus Rashford (left) featured in the Premier League for the first time since joining Aston Villa on loan
He hit the crossbar with a free-kick, with Ollie Watkins putting in the rebound to square tie up
Ipswich survived for more than a half with 10 men after Axel Tuanzebe was shown a red card
Ipswich goalkeeper Alex Palmer, signed last month from West Brom, was playing his first Premier League game at the age of 28 and his heart was in his mouth when he collided with Morgan Rogers in the opening minute.
The Villa player clearly wanted a free-kick which would have meant a potential red card for Palmer, but referee Robert Jones waved the appeals away and VAR Michael Oliver wasn’t interested either.
The flow of the game was interrupted by two early substitutions because of injuries to Villa’s Boubacar Kamara and Julio Enciso of Ipswich.
A rare moment of quality in the first half saw Disasi play in Watkins with a long ball but the England forward couldn’t get a proper contact on the bouncing ball and screwed his finish wide.
Ipswich were reduced to 10 men after 40 minutes when the already-booked Tuanzebe kneed Jacob Ramsey on the back of the leg and was shown a second yellow.
Villa nearly took immediate advantage but when Watkins teed up Rogers from six yards, he fired over via a deflection.
Ipswich sent on an extra defender at the break while Emery turned to Rashford and Ian Maatsen to exploit the extra space.
Both Villa substitutes were denied by saves from Palmer and Ipswich broke to lead against the run of play.
Alex Palmer (left) was playing in the Premier League for the first time and kept busy throughout
Liam Delap had given the visitors a shock lead as he reacted in true poacher fashion
Unai Emery will be frustrated that his team managed only a draw against a side in bottom three
Omar Hutchinson drifted to the right and sent a low cross into the danger area for the waiting Delap.
Like a proper goal poacher, the centre forward reacted quickest to beat John McGinn and Disasi to the ball and divert it past Emi Martinez with a clever one-touch finish.
Emery reacted by sending on another big-hitter, former Real Madrid star Marco Asensio, while Rashford screamed optimistically for a penalty when he flew through the air challenging Town skipper Dara O’Shea.
Ipswich fans chanted ‘cheat, cheat’ at Rashford and it seemed to inspire the forward.
When Villa won their next free-kick, he took responsibility and whipped a right-foot curler against the upright from 25 yards where it fell kindly for Watkins to prod home.
Palmer was kept increasingly busy and saved twice from Asensio as Villa looked to go ahead.
In injury-time, he made arguably his best stop, clawing away a deflection off Jacob Greaves after Rashford had caused danger with a mazy run down the left.
A draw keeps the Tractor Boys in the bottom three but it ended a run of four consecutive defeats. They’ll take it given they survived an entire half a man down.
