Aahh Haa Zaha - Palace Win Again!

Having not travelled to Bolton on Saturday I was eagerly anticipating the trip to Wolves on Tuesday evening. Glenn Murray’s penalty at Bolton secured the Eagles first ever win away against the Trotters in the league and meant Palace travelled to the Wolves undefeated in five games with four wins behind them.

Owen Garvan returned for KG Dikgacoi in midfield and Dean Moxey came in for Jonathan Parr at left back as Dougie Freedman took his charges to one of his former clubs in what would transpire to be a dominant performance. An attacking performance characterised by pace on the wings and pressing quickly closing down space. Jedinak and Garvan controlled the midfield allowing the fantastic Wilfried Zaha supported by Bolassie and Williams to torment a quiet and subdued Molineux. Zaha’s trickery could have been awarded a penalty kick just before half time when a clumsy challenge in the box from Sako went unpunished. The match was littered by bitty and cynical hard challenges which went unpunished by the referee and ultimately would cost Wolves dearly in terms of an injury in the second half.

Although playing a very attractive brand of attacking football it was Wolves who took the lead against the run of play when Sylvain Ebanks Blake capitalised on a slip from Damien Delaney on the edge of the box to give Wolves the lead at the start of the second half. Yet Palace did not give up as over the last month the team have started to believe in Freedman’s philosophy and this has been shown as the team has begun to get their rewards on the pitch. They continued to show work ethic, passing the ball around, pressing Wolves back using pace to their advantage as Wolves subconsciously sat back on their lead.

A lot of petulant challenges went unpunished early in the match by the referee as Wolves tried to combat Palace’s pace, work ethic, and creativity with physicality as challenges flew in on Bolassie and Williams especially in a very heavy fashion. Wolves’ Polish winger Slawomir Peszko was injured in a challenge with Williams that was unintentional but saw the Polish International damage ligaments but hopefully for Wolves he will return soon. The point to remember is no one wants to see players get hurt but if referees do not protect talented players such as Williams or Zaha eventually they will learn self preservation in the tackle without intending to hurt anyone. Jonathan Williams broke his leg last season so he is bound to protect himself in the tackle but he is not a malicious player. If referees do not protect skilful players and cannot control the game they are to blame if it spills over.

In a brilliant piece of management by Dougie Freedman he replaced Williams with Jonathan Parr following the challenge in order to protect his young player from undue abuse from the home crowd or possible retribution in a tackle on the pitch because it was clear at this stage he was a marked man. I think this was a very perceptive piece of man management by Freedman showing how well he reads situations during a game as they develop making sure he protects his players when necessary.

The game changed in a six minute spell during the second half when the brilliant Zaha took control and showed his class. Far and away the best player on the park if not the entire Championship, Zaha is Palace’s game changer and on Tuesday night with support from Garvan, Murray, Bolassie, and later substitute Moritz, he proved to be the match winner. His first goal showed his pace, trickery, and power as a mazy run took him into the area and his shot flew past Wanderers goalkeeper Ikeme in to the net.

 At the far end of the ground crammed into a very comfortable away end we as Palace fans went crazy at the quality of the goal, paying homage to a goal we thought could not be bettered. Yet within six minutes Zaha matched his first strike, turning his marker on the edge of the box unleashing an unstoppable bullet from twenty yards into the top corner. The goal capped a stunning passage of play with Zaha illustrating his sublime ability to change a game instantaneously as the star factor behind work rate and teamwork.

Over the remaining fifteen minutes of the match Palace soaked up any Wolverhampton pressure in a very mature fashion for a young team that is beginning to reflect the character of Freedman as their manager and the fighting spirit of Crystal Palace as a club. The team are clearly enjoying expressing themselves on the pitch and enjoying their football getting results against the likes of Bolton, Wolves, and Cardiff. Joel Ward and Julian Speroni had good games at the back and at the end of the match Freedman and the team were rapturously received by an ecstatic travelling support. We loved and appreciated the acknowledgement from Freedman and the players for our support in what was a challenging match.

We left the Molineux invigorated and singing because of a cracking performance, result and stylish team display. Palace have picked up sixteen points from eighteen points available since losing at Middlesbrough. The team return to Selhurst on Saturday to play Eddie Howe’s Burnley hoping to keep this fantastic six match unbeaten run going. Playing a style of football that is refreshing, exuberant and exciting playing to the team’s strengths whilst keeping feet on the ground to the realities of the Championship at the same time.