Gary O’Neil pleased with Ipswich’s attacking threat after beating Palace

Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil is pleased with the attacking threat his team have been showing in the early stages of the Premier League season.

The Tractor Boys’ dramatic 3-2 victory at Crystal Palace saw two of their centre-forwards find the net, with Emersonn’s strike the least the young Brazilian deserved for his performance and Zian Flemming opening his account with a late winner.

It took their tally in the league so far to seven goals in four games and capitalised on a big opportunity at Selhurst Park, brought about by Axel Disasi’s first-half red card.

O’Neil said: “To try and hang on at 0-0 and nick a goal is tough nowadays, with the quality the league has, the amount of time the ball is in play and the law changes that have been made.

“The ball is in play much more and you have to be able to attack and you have to be a threat.

“I like my teams playing that way – sometimes it’s 3-2 instead of 1-0 or, as you saw, 5-2 at [Manchester] United, but we do look a threat and that still gives us a chance even if we concede one.

“You know there’s a goal in us and even at the end, once it goes to 2-2, the lads just jumped straight back on, took the ball from kick-off and started probing again.

“It takes a lot to win away in the Premier League, so I saw lots of good signs and I also learned a lot.”

Anan Khalaili’s opening goal for Palace was cancelled out by Emersonn’s header before Disasi saw red for a reckless tackle on Jack Clarke.

Leif Davis put Ipswich ahead before half-time, but Jorgen Strand Larsen levelled for the 10-man Eagles, only for Flemming to snatch the points for the visitors.

Palace boss Pierre Sage said: “We are really frustrated because of the context of the game.

“After advancing first, we conceded from their first opportunity and the red card asked me to reorganise the team [into a] 5-2-1, to keep a lot of our principles.

“We made a tactical mistake at the end of the first half when they scored their second goal, then in the second half we came back with the same organisation as I explained.

“We created things, we had the ball, we came back to 2-2 and we had an opportunity for 3-2 – we missed it – and at the end it’s really hard to concede this goal in the same way, with the cross into the box that we don’t win.

“I’m really frustrated for the players because they gave a lot on the pitch and they don’t have the outcome for their effort.

“It’s too many goals to concede, I’m aware of that.”