Ipswich Town 0-1 Crystal Palace: Jean-Philippe Mateta strike earns Eagles essential win over relegation rivals – as Marc Guehi defies FA warning over rainbow armband message

Marc Guehi ignored the continuing controversy over his Rainbow armband to lead Crystal Palace to an impressive clean sheet and first away win of the season.

Guehi again defied The FA by writing a message declaring his love for Jesus and manager Oliver Glasner was also more delighted by the way his captain snuffed out Ipswich danger-man Liam Delap.

To cap a perfect night for the visitors, Jean-Philippe Mateta struck after an hour to leave them clear of the bottom three and Ipswich still next-to-bottom and seeking their own first win at Portman Road.

It was the first midweek defeat Kieran McKenna had suffered during his successful tenure in Suffolk and even though Jacob Greaves hit the post late on, there was a lack of urgency after they fell behind similar to Saturday’s defeat at Nottingham Forest.

This was the first Premier League meeting between the clubs since 1995 and Tractor Boy Ed 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. 

The armband which all Premier League captains had been asked to wear to in support LGBTQ+ inclusion was there, 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 though Ipswich’s Muslim captain Sam Morsy was excused wearing the armband on religious grounds.

Palace boss Oliver Glasner backed his skipper’s right to express himself.

‘I think everyone who knows Marc knows he is a great guy, very humble. I don’t think this should be bigger than it is.

‘He is very respectful to everyone in the club. We are all against discrimination, every single part of abuse and it is a great campaign.

‘Marc is no child, he has his opinion and we respect it. We spoke about it, I speak to Marc quite often, he is our captain. That is the purpose of this campaign, to be tolerant.

‘Marc had a fantastic game today.’

Asked if he’d been warned by The FA if Guehi would face disciplinary action, Glasner smiled: ‘I haven’t spoken to them. I spoke to my wife. It’s better!’

Ipswich made a fast start roared on by their fans and Guehi was in early action with a perfectly-timed tackle to deny Jack Clarke.

Delap, a throwback to an era of physical centre-forwards, left a foot in on Palace defender Maxime Lacroix that had him rolling round in agony, though the Ipswich forward escaped with a stern warning from referee Craig Pawson.

Having survived the early onslaught, Palace found their attacking teeth with Lacroix, Trevor Chalobah and Daniel Munoz missing chances and Eberechi Eze denied by Arjanet Muric after being played in by Mateta.

Ipswich’s best opportunity of the first half came at the end when full-backs Leif Davis and Harry Clarke combined with the latter’s header clawed away by Dean Henderson.

Palace took the lead after 59 minutes when a clever pass from Eze released Mateta.

The Frenchman was too strong for Jacob Greaves who fell over trying to challenge and Mateta finished clinically past Muric into the bottom corner.

It was only Mateta’s second goal in 12 matches and he almost added another immediately. This time, Muric stood up and beat out his shot.

Ipswich fans have been spoiled by back-to-back promotions but this campaign has been frustrating and lost experienced defender Axel Tuanzebe at the weekend with a bad hamstring injury.

McKenna made a triple change after 66 minutes and even took off Delap with 10 minutes left.

The cavalry charge never materialised but they did have one golden opportunity to level.

Greaves guided a header past Henderson after 87 minutes but it struck the far post before bouncing off Nathan Broadhead’s chest from a couple of yards and rolling wide.

Ismaila Sarr was booked with his last contribution before being substituted in injury-time but he felt confident enough to applaud the three thousand travelling fans enjoying a rare away-day success.

‘The result was more important than the performance but we controlled the game and it was a fantastic finish by JP,’ added Glasner.

Dejected Town manager Kieran McKenna said: ‘It was a frustrating night. Not fantastic in terms of the flow of the game. We didn’t create the opportunities we wanted. They are solid team who defended well when they went ahead.’