Sunderland - who qualified for Europe as a promoted side themselves last term - started brightly and almost scored after only four minutes when Brian Brobbey manoeuvred himself into a great position, only for a terrific block from Leif Davis to come to Ipswich’s rescue.
The Tractor Boys responded well to that scare, working their way into the match nicely and duly took the lead shortly after the midway point of the first half thanks to Emersonn’s simple close-range finish on his Ipswich debut following an unselfish square pass from Julio Enciso.
Ipswich avoided defeat in all 25 league matches they scored first in last term, but faced a fair amount of pressure from Régis Le Bris’ side after the deadlock was broken here with Kjell Scherpen needing to be alert to keep out Noah Sadiki’s headed effort from inside the box and prevent a quick equaliser.
There was nothing the goalkeeper could do about Nilson Angulo’s sensational free-kick after 39 minutes, though, as the Ecuador international produced a superb strike from 25 yards to level the contest and net his first goal for the Black Cats.
The second half began in frantic fashion as debutant Daizen Maeda and Enciso both spurned golden opportunities to edge the Tractor Boys back in front. As the second half progressed, though, the game became a scrappier affair with both teams fully aware of how vital the next goal would be. As a result, both goalkeepers had little to do until the latter stages of the match.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, the match was set up for someone to take it by the scruff of the neck and produce a moment of inspiration to claim all three points.
As the game looked to be petering out in uneventful fashion, substitute Clarke popped up to produce the moment of magic needed, latching onto a pass from Saša Lukić before slotting the ball past Robin Roefs to seal all three points for the hosts and send the home crowd wild.
A win means Ipswich avoid becoming just the fourth side in English top-flight history to lose 10 consecutive home games, while Sunderland missed out on winning three successive Premier League matches for the first time since 2014.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Emersonn (Ipswich Town)