Ipswich Town rallies twice to beat 10-man Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace took the lead after 13 minutes, were down to ten men by the 33rd minute and still ended up losing 2-3 at Selhurst Park to an Ipswich Town side that came from behind twice and grabbed the winner in the 89th minute. It was one of those afternoons that slips away from a team that badly needed the points.

The start could not have gone better for the home side: Anan Khalaili put Crystal Palace ahead with a low finish from inside the box, set up by a Daichi Kamada pass. But Ipswich Town, who had lost their previous two Premier League matches, answered quickly. Emersonn headed in the equalizer in the 22nd minute after a Leif Davis cross, and eleven minutes later came the moment that changed the game: Axel Disasi was shown a red card in the 33rd minute, leaving Crystal Palace with ten men for nearly the rest of the match. Ipswich Town made the extra man count, and before halftime Leif Davis made it 1-2 with a close-range header, assisted by Emersonn. That was the score at the break.

The response down a man, and the finish

In the second half, Crystal Palace refused to fold despite being a man short. In the 74th minute, Jorgen Strand Larsen leveled it at 2-2 with another low finish from inside the box, again set up by Kamada, who had a hand in both of the home side's goals. The score held until the closing stretch, but Ipswich Town had the last word: Zian Flemming struck the 2-3 winner in the 89th minute with a low shot inside the post, just seconds after Leif Davis had rattled the crossbar with a header on the very same dangerous play. There was no time left for a reply.

The numbers reflect a match that was tight on the scoreboard but tilted toward the visitors in the details: Ipswich Town had more possession, more shots on target and the only two big chances of the match, according to the recorded statistics.

By our post-match estimate based on the shots taken in the game, Ipswich Town generated 2.097 expected goals to Crystal Palace's 0.938, a gap that supports the final result even though the scoreline was level for long stretches.

The buildup told a very different story. Before kickoff, our projection gave Crystal Palace a 61% chance of winning, against just 16% for Ipswich Town and 23% for a draw, with expected goals of 2.01 for the hosts and 0.94 for the visitors. The result ended up being the exact opposite of what was expected: the favorite fell, and the side with the longest odds on paper walked away with all three points, with a red card in the mix that shaped everything that followed.

What the result means in the standings

In the Premier League table, Crystal Palace sit on 3 points from four games played (one win, three losses), while Ipswich Town have 6 points from two wins and two losses in the same number of matches. The gap between the two sides in the standings is 3 points, and this result also leaves Crystal Palace with a negative goal difference that worsens after this home defeat. For Ipswich Town, meanwhile, the trip to Selhurst Park produced a comeback that came together in the right moments, with Emersonn and Leif Davis leading the way before Zian Flemming put the finishing touch on it.