Jean-Philippe Mateta’s fine second-half goal earned Crystal Palace their first away league win of the season with a 1-0 victory at fellow strugglers Ipswich.
Mateta’s wonderful chipped finish in the 59th minute was the only moment of quality at Portman Road between two teams at the wrong end of the table.
The Frenchman nearly added a second but for a good Arijanet Muric save, although his goal was enough to see the Eagles move three points above the relegation zone, leaving Ipswich second bottom and two points from safety.
The home side, who lacked a threat in Saturday’s defeat at Nottingham Forest, once again struggled to create much, although Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson made a good first-half save from Harry Clarke’s header to keep it goalless, while Jacob Greaves headed against the post late on.
Kieran McKenna’s side are still searching for their first home league win since their Premier League return.
But Palace, who were solid defensively in the victory, are heading in the right direction with Oliver Glasner’s side making it three games unbeaten.
Mateta strikes again for Palace
Mateta (28 goals) has become Crystal Palace’s joint third-highest scoring player in the Premier League (level with Luka Milivojevic), with only Wilfried Zaha (68) and Christian Benteke (35) netting more for the Eagles in the competition.
Since Oliver Glasner’s first game in charge of Crystal Palace, only Erling Haaland (17) and Yoane Wissa (16) have scored more non-penalty goals in the Premier League than Jean-Philippe Mateta (15).
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Source : Sky Sports
