Ipswich’s hopes of retaining their Premier League status took a huge knock as they lost 2-1 at home to Wolves. The visitors came from behind to extend the gap between the two clubs to 12 points with just seven games remaining.
Ipswich took the lead through Liam Delap after 16 minutes but Pablo Sarabia equalised in the 72nd minute and Jørgen Strand Larsen completed the turnaround with six minutes remaining.
It could have been worse for Ipswich following a dreadful first half error by goalkeeper Alex Palmer, who almost handed a goal to Wolves but recovered after a backpass went under his foot.
Wolves’ Brazilian international João Gomes came close to opening the scoring with a rasping shot which went just over the Ipswich bar, following a one-two with Rayan Aït-Nouri.
Palmer got down to deflect an angled shot from Strand Larsen for a corner after 10 minutes, before the Suffolk side took the lead six minutes later.
Axel Tuanzebe drifted a pass out to Dara O’Shea, who beat Aït-Nouri in the air and headed the ball into the danger area for Delap to poke home from close range for his 12th goal of the season. There was a delay before the goal was allowed, after VAR checked for a possible offside.
Jørgen Strand Larsen scores the winner from close range. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA
Moments later Aït-Nouri’s corner from the right evaded everyone and was going in until O’Shea made a superb clearance on the line under pressure from Toti.
An error by Palmer in the 36th minute resulted in the ball going under his foot following a backpass from O’Shea but the goalkeeper recovered and managed to claw the ball away at the last moment.
Referee Peter Bankes awarded a free-kick on the six-yard line with all 11 Ipswich players on the goal line but Emmanuel Agbadou’s shot struck the wall and was cleared to safety.
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There were appeals for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Andre and the visitors equalised with 18 minutes remaining through Sarabia. Strand Larsen controlled the ball in the penalty area and clipped it back to the edge of box. Sarabia’s first attempt was blocked by Jens Cajuste but his follow-up found the bottom corner.
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And the visitors deservedly took the lead through Strand Larsen, despite a lengthy VAR check. Sarabia cushioned a first-time cross through substitute Leif Davis’ legs and the Wolves and Norwegian striker bundled the ball in from close-range.
The 2,955 Wolves fans among the 29,549 crowd inside the stadium chanted “we are staying up” at the final whistle.
