Ipswich Town manager Gary O'Neil was left angry with the way Liverpool were permitted to 'kill the game' through their timekeeping during Friday night's match at Portman Road. His team fell two goals behind inside the first nine minutes to an Alexander Isak double.
Ipswich responded with a spirited display but never seriously threatened to take anything from the contest. O'Neil was unimpressed by how referee Darren England allowed Liverpool to slow the game down.
O'Neil criticises officials' timekeeping
“We’ve been pushed on timewasting a lot,” the Ipswich boss said after the match. “My goalkeeper is being hurried up at Old Trafford to kick the ball when we weren’t even set - and I felt they [Liverpool] were able to kill the game a lot easier here.
“That upset me a bit. They could have been hurried up a little bit more. But I thought the officials did a good job though. VAR arrived to a good conclusion for the penalty.”
Proud of the group despite defeat
O'Neil also felt his side went 'toe-to-toe' with the Reds after falling behind and were the 'best side' for most of the match. He said: "Proud of the group. I thought we were excellent. Two mistakes in the first 10 minutes made it difficult, but we were the best side for large parts after that."
He added: "More shots, some real good chances. And a test. I spoke about the setbacks at Man Utd and wanting to respond to them better, I thought we did that very, very well.”
“Of course, we won't take any points tonight which is always difficult against Liverpool and it's what we're here for. But a lot of very good signs. To go toe-to-toe with them, I'm very pleased.”
Support for goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen
O'Neil also rallied around goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen after his two mistakes led to Isak's goals. He said: "I don’t know about under (the) spotlight but the way it went in, the first one you don’t expect that to go in, I guess, but he has made some good saves for us as well.
“He was decent for us in build-up and people will make mistakes. I am really clear on that with the group that mistakes are no problem.
“That is going to happen, but it is how we behave as a group and how we perform and commit to things.
“We will have to find a way to not let mistakes be the deciding factor, of course, but let’s be clear – you make mistakes against Isak, (Florian) Wirtz, (Bradley) Barcola and (Cody) Gakpo, there is a fair chance you get punished.
“To basically see 30,000 of our fans still stood there at the end on their feet applauding the players for what they have given, that tells you enough about what they think of the group.”
