Play
football and be thankful for the memories rather than bitter were the correct
reaction from Palace fans to Dougie Freedman on his return to Selhurst Park. Ollie’s
boys returned to league action at home after back to back away defeats at
Burnley in the league and Stoke in the Cup after extra time. The need for
victory seemed pressing after a number of recent draws over Christmas and the
New Year has handed the initiative for automatic promotion to Cardiff, although
the second automatic promotion spot is up for grabs.
The problem
that presented itself to Palace was because originally this was the Palace that
Dougie built, he could set Bolton up to neutralise Palace’s threat. The wide
men for Palace, Bolasie and Zaha could not get into the game in the first half
as Alonso and Lee marked them tightly. This forced Palace to play high balls in
the air to Murray and debutant Alex Nimely up front. The conditions were not
conducive to free flowing football. Snowy conditions throughout meant a veil of
snow fell over the pitch and this was visible from the Arthur Waite Stand
during the match. Murray followed up a Bolasie shot to score an offside goal in
a more eventful moment of the first half. Yet generally Bolton physicality rather
like Stoke in midweek could not cope with the skill levels of the magnificent
Wilfried Zaha. Indifferent refereeing however meant Palace could not fully
capitalise on his brilliance.
In the
second half a jinking Zaha run caused chaos in the Bolton defence only for his
shot to hit the post as Moritz put the rebound wide. The introduction of Moritz
and Williams for Nimely and Jacob Butterfield both of whom had solid if
uneventful debuts, added urgency and more fluency to Palace’s play. Zaha
starred again. Intricate and precise play with Bolasie, Moritz, and Williams
caused havoc for the Bolton defence creating more chances for Murray that the
Championships top marksman could not convert. As hard as they tried Palace
could not break down a solid, well organised, if slightly clued up Bolton
backline.
As a result
one of the more significant moments of the second half came with a
substitution. The return of Palace defender Alex Marrow from a long term injury
on seventy three minutes may prove far more significant to Palace’s season than
the return of a former boss. Strength in depth is all important to any squad so
the return to match fitness of Marrow to support the backline can only be
welcome. The arrival on loan from Norwich of Butterfield strengthens the
midfield options to cover KG Dikgacoi’s absence to the African Cup of Nations.
The arrival of Nimely on loan from Manchester City offers more striking options
upfront alongside Murray and Easter.
Indeed
Marrow slotted in nicely alongside Moxey and Delaney in the Palace backline,
coping well with the threat from Bolton. Hence it was Crystal Palace on the
front foot for the majority of the match. An inability to find a
breakthrough and break Bolton down meant the match ended 0 – 0. Another draw
and another failure to convert one point to all three may prove a hindrance to
promotion. Palace does however hold the longest unbeaten run in the
Championship and having not lost at home since the opening day of the campaign
Selhurst Park is being turned into a fortress.
A mere six
defeats all season in the league shows Palace certainly have the pedigree for
promotion the requirement now is to find some new momentum. The questions that
may persist in the minds of those Palace fans at Stoke in midweek is can the
team bridge the quality gap to the Premier League over an extended period? Or
indeed can Palace first of all make it to the Premier League? Regardless of the
answers to these questions what cannot be in doubt are the professionalism,
heart, and commitment to the cause of this very good Palace side. The answers
to the rest will come in the fullness of time.
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