August 23 2017

James McArthur

Mike Scott assesses the players in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win over Ipswich Town in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup game.

A second round home tie against high-flying Championship side Ipswich in the Carabao Cup seemed, on paper, to be one of the trickiest ties for any the top flight sides.

In the end, Palace brushed aside a much-changed Tractor Boys team, with two screamers from James McArthur, gaining a confidence-building win ahead of a visit from Swansea.

JULIAN SPERONI - 7

The roars of approval in the Holmesdale as SPERONI was announced for his first competitive start of the season were deafening. As it happened, he didn’t have a great deal to do throughout the evening, but looked confident under pressure and with all the back passes that came his way. A lovely turn to lose a chasing Ipswich forward was a joy to behold. He didn’t have a prayer for the goal. Great to see him back.

Embed from Getty Images

Joel Ward - 6

After two games at right wing-back, Ward found himself on the left of the back three. He seemed more at ease, albeit against a youthful Ipswich attack that was only really chasing loose balls. A lack of confidence meant he used SPERONI as an output, maybe a bit too often for some of the crowd’s liking.

Scott Dann - 6

Alongside Kelly and Ward, Dann looked assured in the centre for a 45 minutes where he was rarely troubled. The away side’s long ball tactics suited him into the ground. Timothy Fosu-Mensah (6) replaced Dann at the break and didn’t have much of a chance to show his worth, with Ipswich not having a meaningful attack for most of the half. Bersant Celina’s goal did see Fosu-Mensah caught out from a ball over the top, but by then Palace were half way back to the dressing room.

Martin Kelly - 7

Again, hard to read too much into Kelly’s performance simply because he was only really tested for the first 30-40 minutes of the game. An excellent interception in the 18-yard box stopped a decent shooting opportunity in the first half and Ipswich definitely had less joy down his flank. Some promising balls forward started a couple of attacks too.

Jeffrey Schlupp - 7

Despite Twitter reports before the game that said Schlupp would take the troubling right wing-back position, he played on the left for his first competitive start. Too good for the travelling side, he was involved in much of the creative play in the first half. (Although, admittedly there wasn’t that much of it). His physical strength was too much for any of the youthful Ipswich attacking line.

Patrick van Aanholt - 7

Van Aaaholt did end up picking up the slack at right wing-back and did a damn fine job of it. His link ups with Kelly and Dann looked solid and Ipswich got nothing more than scraps down that side. He was an outlet for crosses too, until he made way for Andros Townsend (9) who totally transformed the game. By the time Townsend came on, De Boer was aware Ipswich were tiring and the attacking change paid dividends. Townsend passed through the defence at will and seemed to give the rest of the Palace side a lift. Involved in just about every attack from his arrival in the 57th minute.

Jason Puncheon - 7

It looked as though Puncheon really needed this game. A little lost at times in the first two Premier League games of the season, the extra space seemed to allow him to dictate the game more. Happy to pass sideways and back for the slow build ups when required, when he did go direct his balls through to Lokilo and Kaikai were effective. A proper box-to-box performance. He still seems unwilling to pull the trigger when he has the goal in his sights though…

Yohan Cabaye - 8

A full 90 minutes for Cabaye was greatly received by the home support. The player himself seemed equally happy on Twitter. Deeper in the first half and then all over the Ipswich defence in the second, he provided the assurance that let McArthur play a much freer role. Surely played well enough to give De Boer a serious selection headache for Saturday.

James McArthur - 10

It’s absolutely impossible to not give the Scottish terrier himself maximum marks after the two rockets that won the game for Palace. Apart from his finishing prowess, he was by far the biggest thorn in Ipswich’s side in the first 45, drifting around behind Kaikai and causing headaches. After Townsend’s introduction, he provided the space for, in particular, Lokilo to get behind the defence plenty. Vintage stuff from McArthur.

Embed from Getty Images

Jason Lokilo - 8

Lokilo’s debut competitive start for Palace was a success, only marred by hitting both posts in the second half, with two fine strikes within five minutes of each other. Looking the trickiest of the home side in the early stages, the only criticism in the first half was finding crossing positions, but not getting enough end product in. After the break he was, largely, too much for the flagging Ipswich defence. Will definitely have a role to play while Zaha recovers from injury.

Embed from Getty Images

Sullay Kaikai - 7

Unable to get shots off in the first half, Kaikai nevertheless made himself busy by chasing anything and everything, playing deeper when needed and showing some serious versatility. Worked well with McArthur, without creating quite enough. Had a decent effort stopped in the second half and generally made a nuisance of himself, but making way for Lee Chung-Yong (5) on 76 minutes.