Ipswich vs Wolves bizarre incident stuns Sky Sports pundit – ‘Can they do that?’
Ipswich Town goalkeeper Alex Palmer and defender Dara O’Shea were involved in a wild mix-up during their clash with Wolves that left Clinton Morrison bemused in the Sky Sports studio.
The Tractor Boys faced a huge game in their battle to stay in the Premier League this season, as they welcomed Vitor Pereira’s side to Portman Road.
Wolves had celebrated wildly after victory over West Ham in midweek had moved them 12 points clear of the relegation zone.
A 2-1 win for Ipswich over Bournemouth the following night had seen Kieran McKenna’s side reduce the gap to safety back down to nine points.
There was therefore plenty riding on this game between the two sides, and after the hosts had taken an early lead through reported Newcastle United transfer target Liam Delap things were looking up, but they couldn’t hold on and relegation now seems inevitable.
Alex Palmer and Dara O’Shea mix up almost proves costly
Palmer has impressed since joining McKenna‘s side from West Brom back in the January transfer window with a number of decent performances.
That had come after several errors by Ipswich’s previous first-choice goalkeeper Aro Muric, who has since dropped to the bench.
Here though, it was Palmer who would come close to making a damaging blunder for his team, in a vital match.
With 35 minutes on the clock, the goalkeeper accidently allowed a pass back to him from O’Shea to run under his foot.
| Ipswich last five games | Result |
| Nottingham Forest (A) | Drew 1-1 (lost 5-4 on penalties) |
| Crystal Palace (A) | Lost 1-0 |
| Nottingham Forest (H) | Lost 4-2 |
| Bournemouth (A) | Won 2-1 |
| Wolves (H) | Lost 2-1 |
That then sent the Ipswich man scrambling back to claw the ball of his goal line, just before it crossed the line to register as a Wolves equaliser.
But due to the fact he had used his hand to clear a ball that had been passed to him, an indirect free kick inside Palmer’s area was awarded against the goalkeeper, which was ultimately cleared, but Morrison was left stunned by what he was seeing as he reported on the game for Sky Sports.
Reacting live, the former Republic of Ireland international said (3.37pm): “Can they do that? Let me tell you, it was a back pass. Dara O’Shea plays a back pass, [Palmer] tries to control it.
“It goes under his feet and it’s going in over the line and he puts his hand out. It’s a free kick, I cannot believe… oh my word.”
Reflecting on the incident shortly after, Morrison then added: “It was like he had a hole in his boot.”
Ipswich Town repreive not enough
Football Insider Verdict
Given Palmer did not actually pick the ball up to bring it under control, which often leads to claims of a back pass, the goalkeeper may arguably feel slightly unlucky to be penalised for this incident.
Fortunately for the Ipswich man this did not gift Wolves an equaliser, which would only have added to his frustration around what happened.
Despite that, two late goals from Pablo Sarabia and Jorgen Strand Larsen were still enough to earn a 2-1 win for Pereira’s side.
As a result, Ipswich now once again find themselves 12 points from safety, with just seven games of the season still to be played.
It is therefore going to be a huge ask for them to overturn that deficit in such a short space of time, particularly when they will be so low on confidence after such a disappointing run of form.
With that in mind it feels more and more likely that they will be back in the Championship next season.