Crystal
Palace seemed to have learned the lessons of recent performances and at Selhurst on
Saturday they started quickly taking a 1 – 0 lead inside ten minutes. The
first half was a tale of missed opportunities though as after Murray’s goal
Palace failed to add to their tally in the first half. Wilfried Zaha was superb
under the watchful eye of England manager Roy Hodgson his footwork and trickery
set the goal up for Murray. He combined wonderfully with Jonny Williams who was
being watched by Welsh national team boss Chris Coleman. Fresh from his game
changing, man of the match performance against Watford Williams controlled and
worked the football superbly.
Key to the
Eagles victory was gaining control of the tempo in the midfield. The reestablishment
of the imperious midfield partnership between South African KG Dikgacoi and the
masked Australian Mile Jedinak was crucial to this sense of control. Missing
over much of 2013 because of either injury or absence due to international duty
the duos understanding of each others' play brought about greater assuredness
to the Palace midfield. The new arrival of Stephen Dobbie added experience and
brought a calm understanding to the teams attacking build up.
Jonathan
Parr returned for Dean Moxey at left back. The return of Jedinak (complete with
protective face mask) in to an established midfield allowed Ramage and
Delaney to get forward and support the Palace attack. Zaha’s trickery was too much
for Parnaby and Friend in the Boro defence. Murray and Dobbie went close to
adding more goals to the score line before the break in a very controlled
performance where Palace was on top. Wastefulness however and the failure to
add a second goal almost let Middlesbrough back into the match. Indeed Peter
Ramage was called into action before halftime producing a clearance off the
line to preserve Palace’s lead. Holloway called for more ruthlessness at half
time labelling his teams performance ‘boring’.
Palace
responded in the second half with a fast start. Adding clinical finishing to
their control of the game Palace added a second goal from a corner on forty
eight minutes. Peter Ramage scored his second goal in two matches prolific by
a defenders standards. Finding space he showed touch hooking the ball into the net to finally make the
score line reflect Palace’s dominance. When the third goal arrived from Murray
it was spectacular. A long range shot found the top corner of the net for his
twenty seventh goal of the most prolific season of his career. At 3 – 0 Palace were comfortable despite a
well finished consolation for Middlesbrough from Faris Huroun slotting in an Ishmael Miller pass.
The
attacking options available to Ian Holloway are now more expansive as the squad
depth is stronger. There was still time for Yannick Bolasie to be introduced
from the bench and he combined with Zaha to create a fourth goal scored by
veteran striker Kevin Phillips. Phillips has now scored two goals in three
appearances from the bench for Palace since joining from Blackpool on transfer
deadline day. Phillips finishing from around the box remains as deadly as it
has been throughout his career and he drew special praise from Ian Holloway. A
dominant performance means Palace notch another crucial home victory against a
playoff rival that cuts the gap to the automatic promotion places to four
points.
Another
important match on Tuesday night against Bristol City at Selhurst Park fighting
for their lives at the opposite end of the table will be crucial in backing up
this important win. Imperious home form that has seen Palace lose once at Selhurst
all season is the backbone to the teams promotion push. A nine point cushion
exists between Palace and seventh place and although the teams around the
Eagles have games in hand with Hull City and Leicester still to visit fortress
Selhurst the focus should be on automatic promotion not just the Playoffs.
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