Ipswich 1-1 Fulham: Mick McCarthy and Slavisa Jokanovic reaction
Tuesday 19 April 2016 23:18, UK
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic praised his side's response after they bounced back from a 5-0 mauling at Brighton to all but secure their Championship status with a 1-1 draw at out-of-sorts Ipswich.
The Cottagers had been heading for all three points thanks to Moussa Dembele's sweet strike in the 66th minute.
They were pegged back in stoppage time by Jonas Knudsen's first goal for the Tractor Boys - an equaliser that left Jokanovic disappointed not to claim the win, but satisfied with his side's performance.
"I am disappointed by the late goal but I believe we deserved to win and keep a clean sheet," said the Serbian, whose side are nine points above third-bottom MK Dons with three games left.
"I am satisfied with the fighting spirit and how my team tried to win the game. It was very different to what we offered against Brighton. We need to keep trying until the end of the season and finish the competition in style."
Knudsen's late equaliser brought a small crumb of comfort to Mick McCarthy's under-performing Ipswich side.
It took them 72 minutes to register a shot at goal - a moment that brought disgruntled cheers from the home fans - and McCarthy was spot on after describing the match as forgettable.
Ipswich have not won at home in four matches, and they once again struggled in front of goal.
The best moment of the first half predictably fell to Fulham with Ryan Tunnicliffe denied by Bartosz Bialkowski's smart reflexes.
They made the breakthrough just short of the midway mark in the second half when great work by man of the match Scott Parker led to Dembele firing home his 17th goal of the season.
McGoldrick then unlocked the visiting defence late on when his clever work fed Freddie Sears, whose low cross was fired in by left-back Knudsen.
Summing up the match, McCarthy said: "We got a result at the end but it was always a hard game and not one that will live long in the memory.
"They made it very hard for us, they slowed it down, got men behind the ball and they have some good quality.
"It looked like real end-of-season fare, which was a shame as I didn't set out that way. We kept going and got something out of the game with Didzy (McGoldrick) showing his quality."
