Kim Hellberg’s verdict on the Ipswich Town late penalty and Boro’s 2-2 draw
15:28, 19 Apr 2026Updated 19:02, 19 Apr 2026
Callum Brittain, Dael Fry and Jeremy Sarmiento of Middlesbrough appeal to Referee Jarred Gillett (Image: 2026 Izzy Poles – AMA)
Kim Hellberg delivered a measured response when asked his verdict on Ipswich Town’s controversial late penalty, which may have ended Middlesbrough’s automatic promotion chances.
Looking on course to record a huge victory thanks to goals from David Strelec and Tommy Conway, referee Jarred Gillett made the decision to award Ipswich a penalty in the 87th minute.
It followed a slight pull from Adilson Malanda on George Hirst as a ball went across the box. But with Hirst getting nowhere near to the ball and making a meal of the contact, Hellberg and Boro fans were clearly irked as the decision cost them a victory which would have dragged them right back into the automatic promotion race.
Asked his take on the penalty decision, Hellberg said after: “It’s a tough one to get against you, of course. To be fair, Malanda pulls him a little bit. He puts his hands there, which means you always take the risk if we’re going to look from our own perspective.
“If we look at what everyone says, he can never reach the ball. Those things happen all the time, he cannot reach the ball, he’s not first on the ball. He makes it clear that Malanda has touched him in a way, and then the referee makes a decision.
“And so if you look at it our way, you should not give him the opportunity to give them the pen. If you look at many others, I think that was a tough one to get against you.”
While Hellberg was more measured by the time he sat down to talk with the media after the game, his true feelings were perhaps more clear in angry post-match scenes. He and Boro players confronted Gillett at full-time before the Premier League official was booed off the pitch by Boro’s sold-out away end.
Hellberg’s anger was towards the referee – who’d given a lot of questionable decisions against Boro throughout – and also the Ipswich players.
Asked about the scenes on the pitch post-match, the Boro boss said: “I talked to the referee after the game in a very good way. We had a very good discussion after the game. I like that he wanted to talk to me and have a very good discussion. So, it was emotions [on the pitch after]. I love football and I try to win. Emotions.”
Controversy aside, the 2-2 draw at Portman Road was an excellent advert for the Championship, as two sides battling for automatic promotion went toe-to-toe.
Ipswich had the better of the first half, but didn’t work Sol Brynn too often. Boro were much-improved in the second half and were really unfortunate to not be 3-1 ahead by the time the controversial penalty was awarded and tucked away by Jack Clarke.
Hellberg said: “What a game I think it was. Back and forth. It was an unbelievable game of football, I think. Over 98 minutes, back and forth, both teams trying to press, both teams trying to play out.
“It was one of the best games from the Championship and this is what you like about football. Being aggressive, trying to solve it. Brave teams. It was a brilliant game of football. Of course, the emotions are tough, but I think we had more chances than them over 90 minutes.
“And, so that’s of course disappointing that we don’t win. But again, the most impressive thing is to play like that with so many players missing that have been key players for us. To come here and play like that…
“During the first half they were a little bit better than us, I think, and we’re better in the second half. We went against a very, very good team and we looked like ourselves all the time. We were trying to press, we were trying to solve it, and I’m very impressed by that. Also during a tough time in terms of results not going our way. So, yeah, a lot of mixed emotions.”
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