THE EAGLES seemed more interested in a trip to ‘Marbs’ than a flight up the table as they made heavy work of breaching the Premier League’s third worst defence. With no competitive fixtures for

A beautiful chipped finish from Ismaila Sarr late in the second half gave Crystal Palace a 1-0 home win over relegation-threatened Ipswich Town on Saturday, with the visitors left to rue a slew of missed chances in a lively Premier League game.

Crystal Palace match-winner Ismaila Sarr dedicated his winner against Ipswich to Jean-Philippe Mateta, who suffered a horrific head wound that required 25 stitches in last week’s 3-1 FA Cup fifth-round win over Millwall.

Jean-Philippe Mateta injury overshadows Crystal Palace’s victory over Millwall - Mateta taken to hospital while his Palace team-mates see off Millwall.

Sarr is having an excellent season for Palace and has now scored seven goals and registered three assists in 28 league games. The Senegalese international was moved into a central striking role when Eddie Nketiah was withdrawn and his chipped winning goal was an excellent piece of skill.

The question is how Crystal Palace are going to cope without Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was injured in their FA Cup win over Millwall. Mateta scored the winner when Palace beat Ipswich at Portman Road in December,