Crystal Palace’s lacklustre finishing on show as Patrick Vieira’s side edge a tight contest against Ipswich

Crystal Palace continued their pre-season preparations with a hard-fought victory over League One Ipswich Town.

Patrick Vieira took to the sidelines in his second game as Eagles boss, choosing a full-strength lineup for his side’s trip to Portman Road. New signing Marc Guéhi was named on the bench, while Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Jean-Philippe Mateta lead the line in a 4-3-3 formation.

Paul Cook opted to follow a similar tactic, with many of Ipswich’s new signings getting their first run out in front of the fans. Václav Hladký, Matt Penney, Rekeem Harper, Wes Burns, Joe Pigott and Scott Fraser all made their Portman Road debuts, while 17-year-old Cameron Humphreys was given the nod to start in midfield.

For much of the game, Ipswich were outstanding. They were incredibly sharp and fast, with Burns the standout player in the first-half. His searing pace was nightmarish for Palace left-back Tyrick Mitchell, and the Eagles were happy to see him brought off in the second-half.

While the visitors focused on counter-attacks for the opening few minutes of the game, they unsurprisingly held the majority of the ball as they grew into the game. Nonetheless, their finishing was nothing short of atrocious. Mateta was provided multiple chances to open the scoring, while the likes of Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp also wasted clear-cut opportunities to take the lead.

While the Eagles can be slated for their poor shooting, credit has to be given to how the Tractor Boys kept their shape when out of position. Their intense pressing made life incredibly hard for Palace, and they were rarely comfortable pushing forward. As a result, the Premier League side spent much of the first-half passing the ball inside their own half.

The half-time break came at the perfect time, as both sides upped their intensity when they came back out for the second 45 minutes. Cheikhou Kouyaté, Pigott and Mateta all hit the post in a matter of minutes before Zaha was pulled down inside the penalty area for a spot-kick. The 28-year-old rifled it into the roof of the net on the hour-mark, and that ultimately ended the game as a contest.

As is the case in most pre-season games, the tempo was completely killed by the sheer number of substitutions. Within 15 minutes, both sides had almost changed their entire lineups, with youth players given the chance to shine in front of a live crowd. Nobody was able to change the flow of the game, and it ended as a 1-0 win for the Premier League side.

Of course, games like this have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but the main takeaway for Vieira will be that his side desperately need to improve their finishing. They could’ve scored four or five goals in the first 20 minutes alone, but lacklustre shooting cost them the chance to take the lead into the half-time break.

Zaha was unsurprisingly the shining light in a fairly poor Crystal Palace performance. His pace and movement was often too much for Ipswich’s defence to handle, and they were made to pay the price when Kane Vincent-Young brought him down in the box.

The South London side will now have three more friendly games to prepare for before their opening Premier League game against Chelsea. A visit from League One side Charlton Athletic will precede a trip to Reading before the Eagles conclude their pre-season at home to Premier League rivals Watford.

Ipswich have one week less to prepare for their first League One game against Morecambe, although they’re clearly much further along in their preparations than Palace. They’ll head to Colchester United in midweek before facing a final home test against Millwall next weekend.

Cook may add one or two new signings to his squad, but he is unlikely to make wholesale changes at this point. The expectation now is to win promotion back to the Championship. If they can replicate their performance against the Eagles in the third tier every week, there’s no reason why they can’t secure a top-two finish.

On the other hand, Vieira has a lot more work to do. Crystal Palace will be boosted by the return of new signing Michael Olise in the next few weeks, while the likes of Joachim Andersen, Ozan Kabak and Conor Gallagher have all been linked with moves to Selhurst Park.

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