Crystal Palace headed to Portman Road seeking to alleviate their relegation concerns at the foot of the Premier League. Although it was not pretty, Palace ground out a win in a gritty showing against Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich.
Oliver Glasner made one change from the side that rescued a point against Newcastle on Saturday, with Jefferson Lerma dropped for Cheick Doucoure in the middle of the park.
The like-for-like swap in the middle of the park made sense, with both players recently returning from injury, but the change of personnel handed Ipswich control of the midfield.
Doucoure exhibited a concerning display in the East Country. The Malian was miles off the pace and constantly beaten in the middle of the park – Jack Clarke was first to everything. His perception of play was poor, struggling to get close to the ball. The midfielder’s poor showing had him hooked by his manager at half time after being issued with a final warning from referee Craig Pawson.
Neither side offered much in a dreary first half; it was like someone forgot to turn on the ignition. Despite being pretty dull, Palace had their moments. With half an hour on the clock, the Eagles put a quick and exciting passing move together. Jean-Philippe Mateta played Eberechi Eze through, albeit the Englishman’s decision-making was awful as he telegraphed his cut inside with the attack dissipating.
While Palace had been poor, they put together another speedy move in the 38th minute. Once again, Mateta slotted Eze through, but the attacker hit his effort inside the box straight at the grateful Arijanet Muric.
If Glasner’s side had shown better decision-making in the final third, the first half would have felt much different, but how many times has that been said this term?
The best chance of the half, however, fell to the Tractor Boys just before the break when Harry Clarke’s flick-on from a corner forced Dean Henderson into a vital intervention at close range.
Turning the page on a sloppy first half that had just one shot on target a piece, Glasner pulled the struggling Doucoure for the man he replaced in the starting line-up, Lerma.
While Ipswich looked to have come out from the break the better side, a brilliant counter-attack put the Eagles ahead after 58 minutes.
Eze and Mateta linked up again. Receiving the ball in the middle of the park, Eze threaded Mateta through. The Olympic Silver medalist had it all to do, hammering towards the net. Using his strength, Mateta shrugged Jacob Greaves off the ball, flaunting a few step-overs in the process. Reaching the penalty area, Mateta geared up to shoot and placed a beautiful chip past Muric.
Shortly after taking the lead, Mateta was in behind again, forcing a crucial stop from Muric. Palace’s opener had finally got the engine running. The affair became open as Ipswich pushed for a leveller while the Eagles looked to put the game out of the hosts’ sights.
Eze was sacrificed for the in-favour youngster Justin Devenny after 76 minutes while Chris Richards replaced Chelsea loanee Trevoh Chalobah with nine minutes remaining.
Palace were issued a harrowing warning in the 86th minute when Greaves’ header from a clever short corner routine struck the post. Some would say it was too close for comfort.
Palace were holding on when three minutes of added time were indicated. For the first 90 seconds, the Eagles were pinned into their own half before winning a free-kick just outside the penalty area. From that moment, Palace expertly killed the game off and secured their first win on the road this season – pulling three points clear of the drop zone.
