LAMBERT: MY GOD, WE WERE FANTASTIC!
READING 2 IPSWICH TN 2
NEW Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert praised his side’s “fantastic” first-half display in their draw at Reading.
The contest opened at a frantic pace, with three goals in a six-minute spell.
Gwion Edwards gave Ipswich an early lead, but Reading were soon level when Yakou Meite netted with an acrobatic effort.
Ipswich swiftly recovered and were back in front by the 11th minute, when Freddie Sears took advantage of hesitancy in the home defence. But they couldn’t hang on and Meite equalised in the closing stages.
Lambert said: “I’ve managed some really good teams and players in my time in management and the first half was as good as I’ve seen. My God, we were fantastic. We looked great and we should have been three or four goals to the good.
“It never materialised but the strides we have made as a football team have been huge.
“We’ve got a good side that just needs a little bit of help. We’re a club moving in the right way.”
Reading moved out of the relegation places but manager Paul Clement was unhappy with his side’s first-half display.
“In the first half, we were bad. Really, really bad,” he said. “And I was worried, absolutely, because of the context of the season. We were in the relegation zone at the start of play against another team in the relegation zone.
“But it looked like only one team was fighting – and that was Ipswich.
“They were fighting, running and their spirit was great. They played some good football.
“And we were like rabbits in the headlights. We didn’t know what to do.
“We were fortunate to be only 2-1 down at half time. It could have been 3-1 or 4-1 based on the way that we were playing and the errors we were making.
“And especially the way that our backline started the game, which I find very difficult to explain. At half-time, I was angry with the players and they knew it. I didn’t recognise some of the players out there.
“But in the second half, the players reacted to what I had said. They played with the right spirit. The football wasn’t perfect but we finished the stronger team.”
Ipswich went ahead when the home defence failed to clear Jonas Knudsen’s long throw and Edwards volleyed in through a crowd of bodies.
Two minutes later, Reading drew level after Sam Baldock’s fine cross from the left flank.
Meite finished it with a spectacular overhead kick at the near post.
In the 11th minute, Ipswich regained the lead – via a routeone punt from goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
It deceived home defender John O’Shea, with Sears running on to the ball unchallenged before shooting past keeper Anssi Jaakkola.
Reading believed they should have had a penalty soon after, when Mo Barrow appeared to be fouled by Cole Skuse.
But referee Darren Bond ruled that Barrow had dived and booked him.
They finally got their second six minutes from time, when Meite nodded in Leandro Bacuna’s raking pass.