Too honest Town get Lamb slam from Paul
PAUL LAMBERT reckons his Ipswich side are paying the price for being too honest.
Second-half strikes from Blackburn’s Danny Graham and Joe Nuttall were enough to inflict a sixth straight defeat on the road for the Tractor Boys and leave them seven points from safety.
But it could have been different had Will Keane made more of tangling with Rovers keeper David Raya before the break – and Lambert called on his players to take a tumble in future.
He said: “I would want my player to have gone down there. Would I have gone down when I was playing? Yeah. A lot of players would have gone down but he tried to stay on his feet.
“They got a penalty and that changed the game because we did not do enough after they scored to get anything.
“We look a decent side and we just need that little run of momentum.”
It was not the day for them to start building that momentum as the hosts showed no signs of heavy legs from their extratime FA Cup defeat to Newcastle in midweek.
Rovers tore into rock-bottom Ipswich from the start but Lambert’s new-look side, with five of his six January signings starting, clung on.
They were behind, though, when Adam Armstrong went down in the box after tangling with Callum Elder and Graham converted the penalty for his 10th goal of the season.
Lambert’s Rovers return got worse when second-half substitute Nuttall doubled their lead seconds after climbing off the bench.
The Tractor Boys had another penalty shout when Elliott Bennett blocked Teddy Bishop’s shot from the edge of the box late on.
But the hosts were in complete control by then and are now eyeing the top six.
Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray said: “Our intensity levels were down but I am pleased that the subs made a difference.
“The second goal was a great pass and a great pick out. There wasn’t enough of that throughout the game.”
IN title triumph there are moments when the character of champions is forged. This felt emphatically like one.
Throughout a frantic contest Liverpool abandoned virtually every discipline that has taken them to the top of the Premier League but discovered reserves of spirit they never knew they had.
After what can only be described as “95 mad minutes” Jurgen Klopp ran to the Kop and punched the air three times as he conducted the jubliant fans.
That’s how much it meant – that’s how important it could prove to be.
Crystal Palace opened up the title race for the Reds with their thrilling 3-2 victory at Manchester City last month and for much of this game looked like they would close it down again.
For a side that had conceded 10 league goals before kick-off, Liverpool’s defending was woeful and their reputation as a team that can grind out 1-0 victories was completely shredded.
They replaced it with something even more valuable – a will to win that saw them through every mistake – and they rediscovered the threat from a fearsome front three that destroys opponents.
Mo Salah was the matchwinner with two goals and a devastating performance that cut Palace to ribbons as he reached 50 goals in the Premier League.
He said: “Yes, it’s nice to reach 50 but I am looking forward to scoring 50 goals with Liverpool, because I got two with Chelsea.”
They are all in this together, that much is clear. Klopp hugged each of his players at the final whistle and each one had unconfined joy etched across their faces.
No wonder. They fell behind to a wonderful first-half counter-attacking goal from Palace who showed throughout what a potent threat they can be.
Wilfried Zaha was magnificent, almost totally unplayable in the second half, and left Klopp admitting afterwards it was a huge win. He said: “It feels an important victory – the main emotion is relief.
“There are different ways to win a football game and we showed we can do it in different ways. The boys did it and it’s important.”
They did it with passion and with last season’s mentality of fighting fire with inferno.
There was anger when Andros Townsend clearly handled in the box and then swiftly went down the other end to convert after Zaha’s fine run and cross.
That came just before the break leaving Anfield stunned into silence. But on an afternoon when legendary manager Bob Paisley was remembered, Liverpool invoked memories of his teams with a rousing comeback.
Immediately after the break Virgil van Dijk hit a speculative shot that took a deflection off James McArthur and when keeper Julian Speroni failed to deal with it, Salah converted brilliantly.
Just eight minutes into the second half Liverpool were ahead and seemingly cruising.
Naby Keita found Roberto Firmino in the box and his shot deflected wickedly