Soccer Football - Premier League - Ipswich Town v Crystal Palace - Portman Road, Ipswich, Britain - December 3, 2024 Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta scores their first goal past Ipswich Town's Arijanet Muric REUTERS/Tony O Brien
IPSWICH, England (Reuters) -Crystal Palace eked out a 1-0 victory at Ipswich Town, with Jean-Philippe Mateta capitalising on a slip from his marker to score the winner just before the hour mark in Tuesday's Premier League clash.
The French striker broke free in the 59th minute, as Ipswich's Jacob Greaves lost his footing, before lifting the ball over keeper Arijanet Muric.
Palace are 16th in the table with 12 points, while Ipswich are second-to-bottom with nine points.
It was a first away win of the league campaign for Palace, while the hosts are still waiting for their first victory at Portman Road since winning promotion.
"Very pleased with the result. It was not about performing brilliantly. We expected a big fight and it was a big fight," Palace manager Oliver Glasner told Match of The Day.
"I told the players we had to expect a big fight today and it was a big fight, especially at the end. We expected them to play man to man, big pressure.
"We're pleased with our defensive performance, we didn't allow them a chance from open play, just one from a set piece in the first half and one in the second half."
As the largely uneventful first half drew to a close, Palace began to take control, pressing Ipswich back after what had been an even contest.
Palace's Eberechi Eze nearly made the breakthrough just before halftime, firing his shot under pressure at Muric's legs.
The hosts created an opportunity minutes later when Jack Clarke connected with a corner at the near the post, but Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson kept out his header.
Ipswich pressed forward after Mateta's goal and went close in the final minutes when Greaves's header hit the post, with no Ipswich players on hand to capitalise on the rebound.
"We can do better than we did tonight. I don't think that performance was on the level of some of our home performances. We didn't hit our best level tonight," Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna said.
"We started the second half really well, looked like we were going to grow into the game, we knew we had some good impact off the bench. Then we gave away a poor goal from our point of view. That really decides the game."
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Toby Davis)
