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Clarke, who turned out 114 times in all competitions for Sunderland, came off the bench to curl home the winner late on, which was also his first goal in the Premier League.

Ipswich debutant Emersonn had opened the scoring for Gary O'Neil's side, only to see his goal cancelled out by Nilson Angulo's stunning free-kick just before the break.

Both teams had early chances as Leif Davis produced a tremendous last-ditch challenge to deny Brian Brobbey a shot on goal before Emersonn's header from Dara O'Shea's inviting delivery was kept out by Robin Roefs.

However, Roefs was picking the ball out of the back of the net in the 24th minute when Luke O'Nien's loose pass was intercepted by Julio Enciso, who skipped beyond the Sunderland defender and Dan Ballard before unselfishly squaring for Emersonn to steer home.

Noah Sadiki then saw his header kept out by Kjell Scherpen, but the Ipswich goalkeeper could do nothing to keep out Sunderland's 39th-minute equaliser, which came courtesy of Angulo's sensational free-kick that kissed the crossbar on its way in.

Enciso's audacious flick from Abdul Fatawu's cross almost nestled into the bottom corner early in the second half with Marcelino Nunez blocking Brobbey's effort at the other end.

Chances were at a premium until another Sunderland error gifted Ipswich its winner. Omar Alderete's pass into midfield was picked off by Sasa Lukic, who laid the ball on to Clarke as he cut inside from the left and curled his shot into the bottom-right corner to seal the win.