Palace 1 – 0 Chelsea: Terry Helps Tony as Palace Give Chelsea the Blues!

Following two trips up to the North East in two weeks that yielded a single point against relegation rivals Sunderland, and a painful last minute injury time defeat to Newcastle, Palace returned to home comforts against Chelsea. A capacity crowd created a pulsating atmosphere in the sunshine at Selhurst as the Blues who led the Premier League realised they were in a match right from the off. Palace was defensively organised and used Bolasie and Puncheon to brilliant effect as an attacking outlet for the pace of Jerome up front.

As a team Palace was at it from the start of the game. Clearly up for this London derby and in a first half of limited chances they were more creative and sharper on the ball as Chelsea’s display was characterised by errors and misplaced passes in stark contrast to the dominant display that destroyed Arsenal the previous weekend. Defensively Palace was organised rigidly. Dann and Delaney mopped up Chelsea pressure, neutralising Hazard and Torres to crossing positions and shots from distance. Ward and Mirriappa were excellent in the wing back positions restricting Chelsea’s width and getting forward to offer an attacking overlap to Puncheon and Bolasie through the midfield.

The second half started well for Palace as they profited from Chelsea’s lethargic display and wastefulness in front of goal. Benefitting from Chelsea’s lack of urgency and organisation Palace started to play through Chelsea as attack was the best form of defence. After defending deep in a quiet first half Palace had the best opportunities of the match and although Chelsea looked dangerous and capable of scoring on the break through Hazard and Oscar while Azpilicueta tried to offer support through midfield. Yet Palace offered the greater attacking threat as Bolasie and Puncheon looked dangerous alongside Jerome who held the ball up well for midfield runners KG, Jedinak and Ledley.

On fifty two minutes Ledley got forward to support the Palace attack Ward surged forward on the flank in support of Bolasie to send a cross into the box that was diverted past his own keeper Cech by John Terry under pressure from Ledley. Palace took a deserved 1 – 0 lead with over half an hour to go and the fact Palace went on to win the match was probably only a surprise to those Palace fans in the stadium that they did not win by more.

True Speroni had to be on his guard to save brilliantly from Hazard and Terry could have equalised placing a header just over the crossbar, whilst Fernando Torres was most wasteful scooping a misplaced Stuart O’ Keefe back pass over the bar. Yet apart from these opportunities Palace dominated the game and could have had a penalty after a Cahill challenge on Jerome. Jerome also hit a post that could have made it 2 – 0 and Puncheon shot inches wide of the far post when played in by Jerome. He also drew a save from Cech after good individual skill after Bolasie played him in to create room for a powerful shot. Stuart O’ Keefe made up for his defensive mistake by forcing Cech into an acrobatic save from a curling shot.

This surprise result has shaken things up in both the title race and the relegation battle. Jose Morinho believed this setback for Chelsea has ended their title challenge. At the same time Jose was both gracious, and magnanimous to a battling Palace side saying Palace wanted it more and Chelsea lacked bottle. Although Palace are not yet safe these three points are clearly a bonus putting Palace six points above Sunderland, five points above Cardiff, two points above West Bromwich Albion and a point behind Norwich City above them.

The game away to Cardiff City next weekend could again prove to be an important step to historic survival in the Premier League. The aim now must be to get to a points tally of between thirty six and thirty eight points to guarantee safety from a current points position of thirty one points.

 

Crystal Palace 0 – 1 Southampton: Southampton Class Shines Through as Palace Toil in Sunshine Short of Ideas!

Crystal Palace made three changes in the sunshine as Southampton visited Selhurst Park safely ensconced in mid table with the Eagles still needing points to safely avoid relegation. Dean Moxey came in for Jonathan Parr at left back, Glenn Murray replaced the injured Chemakh up front and Jason Puncheon returned for Tom Ince in midfield. Palace struggled all day to create opportunities or cope with the guile and creativity of Southampton’s England quartet of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Jay Rodrigues, and Ricky Lambert. Indeed it was Rodrigues who profited from a mistake on the halfway line following a Palace corner, when a weak header by Jason Puncheon sold Dean Moxey short in the left back position. Rodrigues beat Moxey to the ball and ran forty yards to challenge Julian Speroni in a tackle one on one and kicking the ball in the process into an unguarded net to make the score 1 – 0.

Both before and after the goal Palace struggled to create any clear cut chances, this despite putting in excess of fourteen crosses into the box. The problem was that Murray and later Jerome when running to support Murray were faced up the wrong way to goal and this meant the deep lying offside trap of Southampton was proving very effective at stopping Palace attacks. Ex Eagle Jose Fonte was paired at the centre of the defence with Dejan Lovran and alongside substitute Wanjama the Southampton defence was well drilled at playing the ball out from the back and as a result it coped easily with crosses into the box and Palace’s direct style. In a game of few chances Palace was short of ideas and although Bolasie drew a smart save from Artur Boric it was Southampton who dominated.

Palace failed to cope with the class of Southampton’s England midfielder Adam Lallana and England left back Luke Shaw. Lallana controlled midfield spraying balls around the park at will, bringing Lambert and Rodrigues and later Chambers into the game with ease. Lambert hit a post, Rodrigues scored the winning goal and Shaw drew a fine save from Speroni after a sharp run and shot. In a flat game from the hosts point of view and a comfortable match from Southampton’s viewpoint the difference in class on show dictated there was only going to be one winner. The fact Jay Rodrigues scored the only goal of the game on thirty seven minutes showed the scarcity of goal scoring chances throughout the game for both sides. It also probably reflected the second half improvement by Crystal Palace in coping with the creative threats of Lallana and Shaw.

Defeat for Crystal Palace does intensify the significance of the big game at the bottom of the table next weekend at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland as neither side are yet safe bunched up together as they are just two points apart at the bottom of the league in 19^th and 16^th place respectively.  

Swansea 1 – 1 Crystal Palace: Murray Rescues Point from Spot as Jacks Pay Penalty for European Exertions!

Palace made two changes from the match against Manchester United for the trip to Swansea with Yannick Bolasie and KG Dikgacoi coming in for Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon. This match was played in the backdrop of atrocious weather conditions and driving rain, as the game took place just forty eight hours after Swansea City’s European trip to Napoli. The short turn around between games did not seem to effect Swansea as they dominated the first half slotting into their passing style as the Crystal Palace midfield failed to break up play as Swansea’s passing regularly penetrated a deep lying Palace defence.

Early in the match Maroanne Chemakh was injured and after an ineffectual ten minutes he was replaced by Cameron Jerome. The tall striker tried in vain to change the flow of the game in the first half by counter acting Swansea’s passing and pressing. He tried to bring Yannick Bolasie more into the game to see whether his pace could have some effect on the flow of attacks. Leon Britton Wayne Routledge and De Guzman controlled the game through tight pass and move football that Crystal Palace did not have an answer to. The pressing nature of Swansea’s attacks meant KG was ineffectual in the first half unable to either break up play or launch attacks from midfield. The away side needed an outlet.

Palace was under pressure. On twenty five minutes the pressure told and Swansea broke through. Neat and patient passing on the edge of the Palace box pinned the defence back and Routledge sent De Guzman through on goal to slot past Speroni to continue his recent goal scoring run and give the Jacks a 1 – 0 lead. Minutes later and dominant possession stats almost saw Swansea double their lead. Julian Speroni made a fantastic save from Wilfried Bony to keep Palace in touch in the match at a crucial stage. It was a save that would change the game in the second half keeping Palace alive in the contest.

At halftime Glenn Murray came on for Tom Ince who was having a hot afternoon along with Joe Ledley from the locals who gave them both a hostile reception. Murray changed the game getting Cameron Jerome more involved in the match. He read Jerome’s flicks and runs effectively enabling Palace to effectively launch attacks and pressurise Swansea for the first time. KG got more into the game breaking up Swansea’s passing rhythm for the first time enabling palace to pose a threat on the counter attack. Yannick Bolasie was also cutting an increasingly effective figure down the wing running at the Swansea defence for the first time.

On Eighty One minutes Murray latched on to a loose ball as Swansea tried to play out from the back. He beat goalkeeper Vorm, but was fouled in the box by Chico Flores who was judged to be the last man and was shown the red card and sent off. Palace had a penalty and Murray who had been out injured for eight months picked himself up and took the penalty himself. Murray scored with the spot kick to equalise with his first goal of the season to make the score 1 – 1.

After the goal Palace dominated the last ten minutes of the match as they tried to make their man advantage count. Murray had a shot cleared off the line by Jordi Amat. Jerome Thomas who was on as substitute for Jonny Parr fell in the box trying to convert a goal mouth scramble and was booked for simulation. Palace failed to make their man advantage count and the game ended 1 – 1. Tony Pulis will fine Thomas and Chemakh for diving in a creditable attempt to stamp it out at Palace.

Sunday’s game was Crystal Palace’s first away draw of the season. With just two away wins and six away goals all season the performance at the Liberty Stadium showed signs of improvements from Palace away from home. This will have to improve again in a fortnights time when Palace play League Cup Finalists Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Next Saturday Palace are back at Selhurst Park at home to Southampton.