Sports
How one Ipswich backpass caused two of the craziest minutes in the Premier League this season
Just when you think you’ve seen everything that football has to offer, along come Ipswich Town.
Amid another morale-sapping defeat that all but sealed their relegation from the Premier League, Ipswich, with a little help from their opponents, Wolverhampton Wanderers, served up the maddest two minutes of Premier League action you are likely to see this season.
A backpass, a mistake, a save, a free kick, a melee on the goal line, a thudding shot and a point-blank block… there was nothing technically proficient about any of it, but it was memorable. Are you not entertained?
For the uninitiated, this was all about the backpass law, introduced to football in 1992 with the aim of making the game less dull. In the main it has been a huge success, and it certainly was at Portman Road on Saturday.
The rule prevents goalkeepers from handling the ball if it has been passed back to them intentionally by a team-mate and it was conceived to stop teams wasting time, as they often did in the 1980s by passing the ball repeatedly back to their goalkeeper.
It has made goalkeepers learn to play with their feet and usually only comes into play when a goalkeeper loses concentration and picks up a ball after forgetting where it has come from.
Alan Shearer scored for England when Georgia were punished in 1997, Cristiano Ronaldo did so for Manchester United against Aston Villa in 2009 and Bayern Munich even sealed a Bundesliga title in 2001 after Hamburg were punished for one.
But Saturday was very different, a whole lot more entertaining and fairly comical — not least because it threw up a situation that clearly neither team could have prepared for.
In the 36th minute and with Ipswich 1-0 ahead in a game they effectively had to win to keep alive a chance of avoiding relegation, the Republic of Ireland international Dara O’Shea rolled a routine backpass towards his goalkeeper and former West Bromwich Albion colleague Alex Palmer — the fact two former employees of their bitterest local rivals conspired to almost hand them a goal would not have been lost on many Wolves fans.
It was so routine, in fact, that Palmer forgot to do part one — controlling the ball — before turning to part two — deciding what to do with it.
Palmer literally took his eye off the ball, allowed it to roll under his foot and glorious chaos ensued.
The Ipswich goalkeeper did the only thing he could do and scrambled back into his goal, diving and just about clawing the ball away before it crossed the line for the most embarrassing of own goals.
It was touch and go, but Palmer saved his own blushes.
But using his hands forced referee Peter Bankes to award a foul.
Had an outfield player used his hands to claw the ball off the line, it would have meant a penalty and a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
But the backpass law makes an exception for goalkeepers, so Palmer got away with an indirect free kick a few yards out.
An indirect free kick means that two players must touch the ball before a goal is scored — the player taking the first touch cannot shoot directly from the free kick. If the player taking the indirect free kick were to score with the first touch, a goal kick would be awarded to the defending team.
The players on the defending team must be at least 10 yards from where the free kick is being taken, unless they are on their own goal line and between the goalposts.
In the meticulous world of modern Premier League football, coaches prepare teams for almost every eventuality but this was one that was hard to envisage.
So Ipswich resorted to putting every one of their 11 players on the goal line — like a scene from Braveheart.
As for Wolves, in the absence of any cleverly thought-out short free-kick routine, they simply rolled it to their biggest, most powerful centre-back and asked him to whack it as hard as he could.
Emmanuel Agbadou made a firm enough contact but the free kick was so close that Sam Morsy — born and raised in Wolverhampton but now captaining a club 170 miles away — had time to charge out of Ipswich’s defensive army and charge it down with his shin.
The ball ballooned up and away to safety to complete one of the season’s most bizarre passages of play.
So Ipswich got away with a comical error but it was not enough to save them as Wolves fought back in the second half to win 2-1 through Pablo Sarabia and Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Ipswich fans will remember the game for another late giveaway that virtually confirmed their return to the Championship.
The rest of football will remember it for two minutes of craziness.
Sports
Texas state trooper scolds South Carolina wide receiver after touchdown; department speaks out
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A Texas state trooper was “relieved of his game-day assignment” Saturday after exchanging words with South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor after a long touchdown.
After Harbor caught a pass and ran for the 80-yard score, he grabbed his right hamstring and continued walking into a tunnel at Kyle Field.
Several of his teammates joined him, and Harbor walked out of the tunnel gingerly.
South Carolina Gamecocks wide receiver Nyck Harbor runs with the ball against the Texas A&M Aggies Oct. 28, 2023, at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
As he walked back, an officer walked in between, and made contact with, Harbor and running back Oscar Adaway III.
The officer then scolded Harbor, who turned back but kept walking toward the field.
The police department announced on X that the officer was relieved of his game-day assignment and sent home.
NBA star LeBron James called for the officer to be suspended.
“That A&M cop needs to suspended! That was premeditated and corny AF!! He went out his way to start some s—. Do better man,” he posted to X.
The touchdown put the Gamecocks up 27-3, and that lead would increase to 30-3, but the third-ranked Aggies stormed all the way back for a wild 31-30 victory.
South Carolina Gamecocks wide receiver Nyck Harbor celebrates a play against Texas A&M Aggies during the second half at Kyle Field. (Dustin Safranek/USA Today Sports)
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Texas A&M outscored South Carolina 28-0 in the second half to complete its biggest comeback ever.
Marcel Reed threw for a career-high 439 yards and three touchdowns to move the Aggies to 10-0 on the season.
The comeback eclipsed a 21-point rally by a Johnny Manziel-led team in a 52-48 win in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl over Duke. Entering Saturday, teams were 0-286 in Southeastern Conference play since 2004 when trailing by 27 points or more.
Reed bounced back from an awful first half, when he was intercepted twice and had a fumble returned for a score to put the Aggies in a 30-3 hole. He had a dazzling second half to keep Texas A&M on track for its first trip to the College Football Playoff.
The Aggies took the lead for the first time on a 4-yard run by EJ Smith with about 11 minutes left.
Texas A&M had a first down at the 1 after that, but Jamarion Morrow fumbled on a trick play, and the Gamecocks recovered with about three minutes to go.
Texas A&M Aggies running back EJ Smith celebrates with wide receiver Izaiah Williams after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kyle Field. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
Dalton Brooks and Cashius Howell sacked LaNorris Sellers on consecutive plays to bring up fourth-and-16 with about 90 seconds to go. Sellers scrambled on fourth down, and he was stopped short of the first down marker to seal the victory.
Sellers threw for 246 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for South Carolina (3-7, 1-7), which lost a fifth straight game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 7 p.m. unless noted)
CITY SECTION
Semifinals
OPEN DIVISION
#5 Garfield at #1 Carson
#6 Crenshaw at #2 Birmingham
DIVISION I
#5 Marquez at #1 Venice
#11 Dorsey or #3 Eagle Rock at #2 South Gate
DIVISION II
#4 Fairfax at #1 Cleveland
#6 L.A. Marshall at #2 San Fernando
DIVISION III
#5 Contreras at #1 Santee
#3 L.A. Wilson at #2 Hawkins
SOUTHERN SECTION
Semifinals
DIVISION I
Santa Margarita vs. Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College
Mater Dei at Corona Centennial
DIVISION 2
Los Alamitos at Murrieta Valley
San Clemente at Leuzinger
DIVISION 3
Oxnard Pacifica at Chino Hills
Edison at Palos Verdes
DIVISION 4
San Jacinto vs. Villa Park at El Modena
La Habra at Oaks Christian
DIVISION 5
Redondo Union at Loyola
La Serna at Rio Hondo Prep
DIVISION 6
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy at Eastvale Roosevelt
Ventura at Agoura
DIVISION 7
Palm Springs at Barstow
Saugus at Apple Valley
DIVISION 8
Palm Desert at Beckman
Irvine at Brea Olinda
DIVISION 9
Hesperia at Ramona
Cerritos Valley Christian at San Dimas
DIVISION 10
Santa Monica at Tahquitz
Garden Grove Pacifica at Hillcrest
DIVISION 11
Baldwin Park at Western Christian
South Pasadena at Valley View
DIVISION 12
Grace at Coachella Valley
Bellflower at Santa Paula
DIVISION 13
Woodbridge at Saddleback
Montebello at La Puente
DIVISION 14
Miller at South El Monte
Pioneer at Anaheim
8-MAN
Semifinals
DIVISION 1
Chadwick at Flintridge Prep
Faith Baptist at Wildomar Cornerstone Christian
DIVISION 2
Calvary Baptist at Cate
Hesperia Christian at Lancaster Baptist
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE
8-MAN
CITY SECTION
At Birmingham High
Finals
#2 Animo Robinson vs. #4 East Valley or #1 Sherman Oaks CES, 5 p.m.
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Draymond Green was up for the challenge of guarding Victor Wembanyama down low, but it did not work out.
Green, listed as 6-foot-6, was guarding the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama in a contested matchup. Knowing he had a clear disadvantage, Green did his best to get as good positioning as possible.
The normally physical Green bodied up Wembanyama, but when the whistle blew, the third-year star knew exactly what to do.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama dunks over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) ahead of forward Jimmy Butler (10) and guard Will Richard (3) during the second half at Frost Bank Center. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
Wembanyama spun around, and the inbound pass was a perfectly set alley-oop for the jam. He slammed the dunk home over Green and made sure Green knew what happened.
Just about everyone in San Antonio erupted, and Green and Wembanyama were separated before anything else could happen.
Officials waved off the basket because Green fouled the Spurs’ center prior to the attempt. Green collected his fifth foul seconds later on the next inbound, storming off the court and screaming at officials over the whistle.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama reacts after dunking over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green during the second half at Frost Bank Center. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
KEVIN LOVE, FORMER TEAMMATE OF TERRY ROZIER, DISCUSSES GAMBLING ISSUES IN NBA: ‘SUCH A STAIN ON OUR GAME’
“It’s not trying to prove anything to anybody. It’s just, at some point, somebody speaks to you a certain way, you have to respond a certain way,” Wembanyama said after the game, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Green, though, sensed some hypocrisy.
“It’s good to see him show emotion. I like when guys show emotion,” Green said, via Yahoo Sports. “I just wish that if I can yell in someone’s face and then a teammate can come grab me and nothing happens — because if I yell in someone’s face and grab someone, I get suspended indefinitely.”
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama exchange words during the second half at Frost Bank Center. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
Stephen Curry dropped a season-high 49 points on 9-for-17 from 3-point range to give the Warriors a 109-108 win.
Wembanyama blocked Jimmy Butler’s layup attempt with 33 seconds remaining and the Spurs leading 108-107. San Antonio failed to capitalize offensively as De’Aaron Fox missed a 17-footer with 12 seconds remaining.
Curry was fouled by Fox on the ensuing possession and calmly drained both free throws to put the Warriors ahead by one point. Fox missed an 18-foot jumper as time expired.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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