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Crystal Palace Self Destruct To Hand Ipswich Win
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- Crystal Palace Self Destruct To Hand Ipswich Win
(REUTERS)
Crystal Palace handed Ipswich Town three points in the Premier League at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon, losing 2-3 despite a spirited second half.
Pierre Sage's side started the game well and went ahead, a well deserved lead, but after an equalising goal, Axel Disasi was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Jack Clarke . From that point, things slid downhill with some momentum, Ipswich finding a second goal just minutes before the break.
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Two goals conceded, two unmarked headers in the box.
Despite a spirited second half and an equalising goal, Palace went on to lose, the first time they've done so against Ipswich at Selhurst Park in the Premier League era.
A half of two… halves?
Palace started the game well, with intensity and forward momentum. That was rewarded when Anan Khalaili put the Eagles 1-0 up in the 14th minute with an excellent, drilled strike off his right foot which fired across goal into the bottom left corner.
Palace continued to push and were unfortunate not to extend their lead, and it was Ipswich that found the next goal of the game. After a ball was played through to Leif Davies, the entire Palace backline appeared to stop thinking the offside flag would be raised.
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It wasn't, and Axel Disasi failed to jump to intercept the cross, leaving Emersonn free to head home from eight yards out.
Ten minutes later, Disasi was shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge on Jack Clarke, the French defender raising his studs into Clarke's knee and whilst there was minimal contact, the correct decision was made.
Palace attempted to cling on to the scoreline until the break, but another error in their own box allowed Davies to score Ipswich's second of the game and put his side ahead.
Three huge errors and three times that Palace were punished.
From there, it looked like only one result was likely, but in credit to the Palace players, they made that a difficult task for Ipswich.
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A spirited second half amounts to nothing
Palace pushed extremely hard in the second half, creating multiple openings but unable to find the finish until Jørgen Strand Larsen was played in behind. He held off Issa Diop and drilled a low finish into the bottom left corner, a well-deserved equalising goal for Pierre Sage's side.
From that point it looked only more likely that Palace would find a miraculous winning goal, but after ten minutes of consistent pressure, Palace were overturned and Ipswich snatched all three points with a 90th minute winner from Zian Flemming , making his debut for Town.
A deep cross was headed back across goal by Davies, the ball rebounding off the post and on to Flemming's foot to roll agonisingly beyond Benítez and see Palace lose their third game of the season.
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Disaster for Disasi
It's hard to suggest that Palace would have lost the game had it not been for a ten minute nightmare for the French central defender. Palace were well in control at the time that Disasi failed to jump to intercept Davies' cross, handing Town an equaliser and just nine minutes later finding himself sent off.
That moment handed all the momentum to Ipswich, and whilst Palace came close to achieving what would have been a remarkable comeback with the odds stacked against them, the one man disadvantage clearly took its toll late on.
Pierre Sage will need to experiment further with his back three as his first choice central defender is now out for three games.
