After beating Chelsea 2-0 in their last PL fixture, Ipswich arrived in west London looking to dish out similar pain to Fulham. The Cottagers were completely dominant in the opening stages though, controlling possession and keeping the Tractor Boys firmly in their own half.
Creating chances was proving trickier, but Christian Walton was still called into action on the 20-minute mark to brilliantly keep out Raúl Jiménez’s header.
Shortly afterwards, home boss Marco Silva was left incensed at the referee’s decision not to award a red card to Leif Davis after he wiped out Harry Wilson as the Welshman raced through on goal.
And his rage was only heightened when, completely against the run of play, Ipswich took the lead in the lead-up to HT.
After Nathan Broadhead’s cross was headed against his own bar by a despairing Antonee Robinson, Calvin Bassey’s dreadful clearance landed at the feet of an unmarked Sammie Szmodics, who rifled home via a deflection off the Nigerian defender to score his fourth PL goal of the season - all of which have come on the road.
Emile Smith Rowe, Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz were all introduced by Silva in an effort to spark some life into Fulham’s faltering forward line.
But it was Wilson who inspired the hosts to draw level, as the Cottagers earned a penalty when he was wiped out by Sam Morsy inside the area. Inexplicably, referee Darren Bond didn’t initially award the spot-kick, but after a VAR review, Jiménez kept his cool to slot home from 12 yards.
Rather than use that momentum to complete a turnaround, Fulham were undone just 21 seconds after the restart, with Timothy Castagne wiping out Liam Delap inside the area.
The visitors’ leading marksman composed himself to emphatically slam home from 12 yards, sparking jubilant scenes in the away end and yet more anger in Silva’s dugout.
A second Cottagers comeback was therefore required, but with only Bournemouth scoring more goals beyond the 75th minute in the PL this season than Fulham, Kieran McKenna’s men needed to stay vigilant - as they were starkly reminded when an unmarked Jiménez headed wide from a set-piece.
When time appeared to be running out on the hosts, a third penalty of the contest was remarkably awarded when Davis tripped Jiménez - less than 30 seconds after Jack Clarke had hit the post at the other end.
The Mexican striker once again confidently converted from 12 yards, ensuring the spoils were shared to extend Fulham’s unbeaten H2H run to nine matches and leaving Ipswich rooted inside the relegation zone.