Norwich City suffered their second defeat to Ipswich Town this season, losing 2-0 to their fierce rivals at Carrow Road in a contentious match.
Jaden Philogene gave the Tractor Boys the lead from the penalty spot after Jack Taylor was judged to have been fouled by Anis Ben Slimane, and a superb George Hirst goal extended their lead just before halftime.
Kieran McKenna’s team seemed relaxed in the second half, but Marcelino Nunez was extremely fortunate to escape a second yellow card after committing two fouls on a caution. Ipswich substituted the Chile international just 23 minutes after he had come on.
Philippe Clement slammed Ipswich Town’s Jack Taylor for ‘attempting to cheat. ‘
As a result, there was a lot of controversy around the game, with the penalty understandably being a point of contention since it offered Ipswich the opportunity to take the lead.
Slimane’s contact with Taylor appeared to be limited, with the Ireland international seemingly on his way down after stealing the ball.
Clement was not happy with the decision, stating to journalist Justin Allen that it was the reason he supports VAR, and he made some strong comments regarding Taylor.
“That was good stuff in the first 10 minutes, but then you get a penalty against us. ” For me, that is not a penalty at all.
“Anis wants to clear the ball, the other player notices it slightly faster than him, a split second, and then he dives into Anis, who does not touch his leg as if it had been done.
“We make a transition in that moment and four or five seconds later a decision is made to give us a penalty. That’s a game-decisive point and it’s difficult.
“Because of that, as I’ve stated for weeks, I like VAR to prevent these situations since this was never a penalty with VAR, never. This is a player attempting to deceive (acting) as if he had been stopped by a challenge and falling down, when in fact he did not, and he succeeds in this situation.
“More players will attempt to do those things if you do not have an objective perspective on things. I understand that the referee cannot be in the proper place at all times to view everything; it is impossible. That is why they require unbiased help in these situations, because in football, many games are decided by one or two plays, one or two goals, therefore these choices must be correct.
Ipswich Town took use of the decisions that went their way in their victory over Norwich City.
The first goal is always significant in any game, therefore it is understandable why Clement and Norwich were enraged by Anthony Backhouse’s decision to award a penalty.
You don’t frequently hear a manager plainly state that a player attempted to deceive, so some may find this unpleasant. However, the reality is that Taylor was playing for the penalty, and there was no way he could have gone down in the manner that he did.
Ipswich will correctly emphasize that this occurs week after week across the country, yet it is something that should be condemned.
Backhouse’s failure to send Nunez off was likewise extremely shocking, making it a terrible afternoon for the official, and while Ipswich’s overall performance was excellent, it would have been intriguing to see how the game would have played out if other decisions had been made.
When you look at the goal that Birmingham incorrectly disallowed at Portman Road last week, Ipswich are getting the benefit of the doubt right now, but McKenna’s players nevertheless deserve recognition for the way they have made the most of it.
That felt like a statement victory for Ipswich, and with Millwall and Middlesbrough both losing points, they have moved themselves in a great position to secure an automatic return to the Premier League.
