Clinical Mateta dashes Ipswich’s hopes in first away win for Crystal Palace
Perhaps the alarm bells can ring a little less loudly for Crystal Palace. This was a controlled, commanding win against opponents who barely landed a blow, easing the pressure on Oliver Glasner and suggesting genuine relegation fears may well prove short-lived. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal, scored just before the hour, provided exactly what they deserved and cast a pall of early-winter gloom over Portman Road.
Ipswich usually put teams under the pump here but were scrappy and subdued, the worry for Kieran McKenna being that they looked a class below their visitors throughout. The teams had begun level on points but if the Suffolk side cannot find a way to match opponents of Palace’s physicality and nous they will be left for dead. They are yet to win at home and the time will soon come when at least a trickle of victories is required to keep local spirits high.
