3 December 2024
Ipswich Town 0 Crystal Palace 1
There was only a point between the two teams who met at Portman Road. Ipswich Town had yet to win at home this season, Crystal Palace had failed to take all three points on the road so far this campaign. Statistically, there was a good chance of one of those records going after this game. There was also a chance that this could be a mind-bendingly boring draw.
Delap continues to impress for the Tractor Boys. He offers himself as an out-ball for his team constantly. This is where most of the teams near the bottom struggle. They cannot retain possession and as a result are constantly under pressure. McKenna’s side do not have that problem but play a more direct style of game anyway. They are not ones for tiki-taka football.
The Eagles made an impressive start themselves. Mateta was causing problems with his physical presence and Eze was picking up the scraps around the box. The winger found himself with a route to goal, with only the keeper to beat. As he looked to slot his effort past Muric it was all too easy for him to block and gather at the second attempt.
It was a half of few chances all in all. Both sides are combative in midfield and were cancelling each other out somewhat. Finally Ipswich started coming into the game more and forced a late corner. It was drilled into the near post where the flick from Clarke saw Henderson reacted brilliantly in order to keep it out of the goal.
The big problem for Oliver Glasner’s side are that they are not blessed with flair players. Since Olise left for Bayern Munich, even less so. This is something they need to address. They are too reliant on Eze to work wonders for them. If they can bring in a couple of quality signings, they can take the pressure off Eberechi and he can start enjoying his football once again.
As the teams headed in at the break level, you were struggling to remember the chances from the first half. Never before has a nil-nil scoreline been more apt. The fans just hoped that the managers could inspire something in the dressing rooms to make this cold evening more bearable for those who made the effort to come to Portman Road.
After the interval, the game struggled to get going. Ipswich were seeing a lot of the ball but had no output to show for it. One of their attacks broke down and The Eagles looked to counter. As Eze played the ball into the path of Mateta, he used his physical presence to hold the defender off. He calmly lifted his shot past Muric and into the far corner as the away end erupted.
The French striker looks the real deal when he produces goal like this but he just does not score enough of them. If he did, bigger clubs would be looking for his signature. He has broken into the national side which within itself is a big achievement, considering he is not at one of the more fancied bigger clubs in Europe. It is good to see.
He almost added to his haul as once again he found space in the box. This time Muric reacted well as he met him to block his effort. The ball from Eze to put him through was brilliant. The striker seemed to do everything right but the Ipswich keeper foiled him with an outstretched leg. It kept Ed Sheeran and his boys in this game though.
With twenty minutes still to play, Davis put a brilliant ball into Delap. As the striker tried to float in the air meet it perfectly, he got a glancing touch as it went well wide of the goal. You could never say a bad word about his performances for Ipswich so far this season but he can be a bit wasteful in front of goal. After all, he is still a raw young talent.
In the dying stages of the game, the Tractor Boys whipped a teasing ball into the box. Greaves rose well at the back post to head it, only to see his effort strike the post and came back into play. It was to prove the last chance for Kieran McKenna’s side. It was a narrow defeat but the manager knows they can play much better than this display.
Ipswich are still looking for their first win of the season at home. As it stands, they are the only side in the Premier League yet to do so. Palace move out of the bottom three and now sit three points clear of the Tractor Boys at the bottom of the table. This game won’t have decided anything this season but it has given both managers a benchmark of where they are currently.
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