By JOE BERNSTEIN
Published: 16:28 EST, 3 December 2024 | Updated: 16:28 EST, 3 December 2024
Marc Guehi led Crystal Palace to an important clean sheet and first away win on an evening in which he defied The FA by again writing of his love for Jesus on his rainbow armband.
Palace’s hard-earned victory through Jean Philippe-Mateta’s second-half winner denied fellow strugglers Ipswich a first home win of the season and kept the Tractor Boys in the bottom three.
And if Guehi was perturbed by the fuss around his “religious” inscriptions, he didn’t show it, barely putting a foot wrong to shut out Ipswich’s highly-rated striker Liam Delap.
This was the first Premier League meeting between the clubs since 1995 and Tractors Boy fan Ead Sheeran, just three at the time, was at Portman Road to witness the long-awaited rematch.
Near-freezing temperature in Suffolk reflected the chilly suspense and that was just when Guehi unpeeled his black tracksuit to reveal he was wearing the Premier League’s LGBTQ+ armband, but with an accompanying message, Jesus Loves You and a smiley face.
The Palace skipper had been reprimanded for displaying a similar message against Newcastle on Saturday in breach of Premier League rules though Ipswich’s Muslim captain Sam Morsy was excused wearing the armband on religious grounds.
Ipswich made a fast start roared on by their fans and Guehi was into action early with a perfectly-timed tackle to stop Jack Clarke.
Liam Delap, who epitomises a physical centre-forward, left a foot in on Palace defender Maxime Lacroix that had him rolling round in agony, though the Ipswich forward escaped with a stern talking to from referee Craig Pawson.
Having survived the early onslaught, Palace found their attacking teeth with Maxime Lacroix, Trevor Chalobah and Daniel Munoz missing chances and Eberechi Eze denied by Arjanet Muric after being played in by Mateta.
It was particularly disappointing for Munoz who had netted against Newcastle at the weekend. This time he slipped as he went to connect with Tyrick Mitchell’s cross and failed to get a sweet enough contact.
Ipswich’s best opportunity of the first half came right at the end of it when the two full-backs combined and Harry Clarke’s header from a Leif Davis corner was parried by Dean Henderson.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner withdrew the already-booked Cheikh Doucoure at the interval and was delighted to see his side strike shortly before the hour.
Eze played in Mateta and the powerful forward was too strong for Jacob Greaves who fell over before the Frenchman finished low across Muric.
It was only Mateta’s second goal in 12 matches and celebrated properly. He almost added another soon after but this time Muric stood up well and beat out his shot.
Ipswich fans have been spoiled by back-to-back promotions but this campaign has been tougher and there were murmurings of frustration as they failed to get their best forwards Delap and Omari Hutchinson on the ball.
Manager Kieran McKenna called for reinforcements with a triple change on 66 minutes with Conor Chaplin, Nathan Broadhead and Jack Taylor.
It led to an increase in intensity with Tyrick Mitchell being panicked into conceding a corner. Delap lunged into Munoz as the home side’s desperation grew.
Ipswich hadn’t lost a midweek game during McKenna’s tenure but they struggled to place concerted pressure on Palace.
Every decision against them made by referee Craig Pawson was met with howls of derision not only from the 30,000 crowd but the Ipswich substitutes led by Kalvin Phillips.
Jacob Greaves was cautioned after he’d been outfoxed by Ismaila Sarr and with 10 minutes left McKenna made the brave call to replace talisman Delap with Ali-Hamadi.
The late cavalry charge so nearly brought its reward after 87 minutes when Greaves glided a header past Henderson onto the far post and it bounced agonisingly off Broadhead’s chest from a couple of yards and rolled wide.
Palace sensed the warning signs and tried to keep safe possession in the closing stages as a way of warding off any more chances. Ismaila Sarr was booked in his last contribution before being substituted but was able to applaud the three thousand travelling fans who were enjoying a rare away-day success.
Ipswich TownMarc Guehi