Jean-Philippe Mateta on target as Crystal Palace beat fellow strugglers Ipswich
Mateta struck in the second half to secure a 1-0 success for the Eagles with the only real piece of quality in a nervy encounter.
Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Crystal Palace to a first Premier League away win of the season and left Ipswich still without a victory on home soil.
Mateta struck in the second half to secure a 1-0 success for the Eagles with the only real piece of quality in a nervy encounter between two struggling teams.
It is now two wins and three draws from the last six matches for Oliver Glasner’s side, whose winter revival is gathering pace nicely following a sticky start to the campaign.
However, Palace might not have come out of the match totally unscathed.
Their captain, Marc Guehi, could be in trouble with the Football Association for wearing a rainbow armband with ‘Jesus loves you’ written on it, having been reminded by the governing body of its strict rules on religious messages after doing similar at the weekend.
For the record, Ipswich skipper Sam Morsy again did not wear the rainbow armband, part of the Premier League’s campaign to show support for people in the LGBTQ+ community, having opted not to over the weekend due to his religious beliefs.
When the match began, the first chance fell to Ipswich with Guehi just getting ahead of Dara O’Shea as he went for Leif Davis’ corner.
For Palace, Cheick Doucoure’s fierce shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Jacob Greaves before Mateta sent Eberechi Eze racing through, with Arijanet Muric saving the midfielder’s effort.
Ipswich upped the ante as the first half drew to a close and were denied by a point-blank save by Dean Henderson from Harry Clarke’s near-post header.
Shortly after the interval Wes Burns got clear down the right and lifted an inviting cross towards Liam Delap, whose header was straight at Henderson.
However, from out of nowhere Palace conjured up a lightning counter-attack to go ahead on the hour.
Eze led the charge before feeding Mateta, who surged forward with a couple of stepovers before brushing off the attention of Greaves and finishing superbly past Muric.
It was the French forward’s sixth goal of the season, and his first away from Selhurst Park.
The same combination almost doubled Palace’s lead, Eze lifting the ball in behind for Mateta to chase but this time Muric spread himself well to make a save.
Back came Ipswich with Davis fizzing in another cross for Delap, who somehow mistimed his jump and completely missed the ball from six yards.
As time ticked down Greaves looped a header against the far post, with the rebound just eluding substitute Ali-Al Hamadi on another frustrating night for the hosts.
