´Palace can breathe a little easier after Ipswich win´ – Mateta

Jean-Philippe Mateta said Crystal Palace can “breathe a little bit easier” following their 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town.

The Eagles recorded their first away win of the season at Portman Road, where Mateta’s second-half strike was enough to move them three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Receiving Eberechi Eze’s pass in the 59th minute, the striker accelerated away from Jacob Greaves, before neatly lifting the ball over the advancing Ipswich goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.

Mateta underlined the importance of the victory, which he believes will give Palace momentum heading into their next match against struggling reigning champions Manchester City.

“The start of the season was not what we expected, but we keep working,” he told Amazon Prime. “Today, we have the away win, and we are very satisfied.

“We can breathe a little bit easier because we were under pressure. The fans, everyone was on us. Before the game, it was a must win. Even when you score, you stay focused and the time goes slowly. As soon as the ref blew the whistle, we were so happy.

“Because of this win, everyone is confident. We can’t wait to play against Manchester City. It is a good time to play them. We have to stay focused because they are a great team.”

“Very pleased with the result,” Palace head coach Oliver Glasner concurred. “It was not about performing brilliantly. We expected a big fight and it was a big fight.

“It was an amazing goal, an amazing finish by JP [Mateta]. We had two or three chances to take the game away from them and didn’t take them. In the end, we had to be a bit lucky, but I think we deserved to win.

“When JP gets the ball in the box, he is such a good finisher, and it is usually a goal. 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.”

The Max Lacroix energy at full-time#CPFC // #IPSCRY pic.twitter.com/2iSsn6cDcP

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 3, 2024

Ipswich remain in the bottom three and the only Premier League side still seeking their first home win of the campaign and Kieran McKenna is desperate for them to address that as soon as possible.

“A disappointing night and probably many similarities to Saturday [the 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest],” he told Match of the Day. “It was a competitive game, an even first half, not the highest quality game, and not our best performance here.

“But we were right in the game and started the second half better, but then gave away a poor goal, and we were not able to produce the quality to open them up. We’re not happy with the result and didn’t make it the kind of game we wanted to give us a chance of getting a result.

“We’ve had some really good performances here. We’ve not turned one of those into a win, and until we do that, this will be held over us [no home wins] and that’s something we can’t remove until we win at home.”