Both sides came into this game level on points and with identical records (W1, D6, L6), incidentally each beating Tottenham Hotspur in their only victories of the PL campaign so far.
With just goal difference separating them, an evenly-matched first period perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise, as Ipswich repelled Palace’s advances for the majority of the half.
In fact, it wasn’t until the final minutes before the interval that the Eagles began to cause their hosts some trouble, as Eberechi Eze’s attempts to shake off Wes Burns eventually led to a deflected shot into the grateful grasp of Arijanet Muric.
At the other end, the Tractor Boys had created precious little, but a Harrison Clarke header from Leif Davis’ corner delivery almost broke the deadlock on the brink of the interval.
An 11th first-half blank from 14 PL games is a league-high for a Palace side that has relied on late goals in recent matches.
Ipswich started the second half brightly as Liam Delap headed Burns’ cross at Dean Henderson, but the contest soon settled back into a low-key affair short on notable action. However, with an hour played, the visitors finally landed the first blow when Jean-Philippe Mateta collected the ball from Eze and muscled his way past Jacob Greaves before clinically dinking an effort over Muric.
That goal appeared to lift Palace, who looked the more likely to net the game’s second against an Ipswich side who have yet to keep a clean sheet at Portman Road this term.
Despite a late Greaves header clipping the far post, the hosts ultimately came up short as they failed to add to their five home league goals, falling to a seventh PL defeat.
The result leaves Ipswich 19th, two points adrift of safety with a game extra played and still without a PL home win this season. Meanwhile, Oliver Glasner’s side climb to 16th in the PL standings, opening up a three-point gap to the drop zone.