Following a disappointing
trip to Yorkshire and defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in the last game, Palace’s
road trip continued on Friday night with a trip to Derby County. Wilfried Zaha
returned to the squad and played alongside Yannick Bolasie and Stephen Dobbie
in midfield. Dean Moxey was facing his old club at left back. Palace was
looking for a first win on the road of 2013 and an away win was desperately
needed in order to reward the travelling support and give impetus to Palace’s
away form in the run in.
The game
started brusquely with Zaha having the first shot of the match but then Derby
came into it and Julian Speroni was tested in the Palace goal for the first
time. The Eagles stopper going on to produce a man of the match performance. Speroni
had to get down smartly turning a sharp Chris Martin shot around the post.
Palace took the lead earlier on the thirteenth minute when Bolasie latched on
to a deflected Mile Jedinak through ball to round Adam Legzdins and score what
would transpire to be the winner.
What
followed was a barrage of Derby County attacks. Yet Palace remained dangerous
with the speed of their attacking play often concerning the Derby County
defence. Mile Jedinak was unlucky not to double the lead for Palace when his
powerful shot rebounded off the crossbar. Zaha had an effort cleared off the
line following a fast break and good work in the build up from right back Jazz
Richards. After taking the lead thanks to Bolasie’s strike, it was Speroni who
came to prominence as Derby pushed relentlessly for an equaliser.
Ex eagle
Chris Martin had two claims for a penalty turned down at the end of the first
half for Derby. A clumsy challenge from Peter Ramage followed by claims of a
hand ball was waved away by the referee. Palace also had to survive a shot that
rattled the crossbar from John Brayford. Speroni came to the fore again in a
personal dual with Conner Sammon, saving brilliantly when Michael Jacobs played
him through midway through the second half. The introduction of Jonny Williams
for Richards saw KG move to right back bringing calmness to Palace’s play. A
good run and shot from Williams broke up the spell of Derby attacks and drew a
good save from Legzdins in the Derby goal.
The key
moment of the second half came on eighty eight minutes when Jedinak fouled Ben
Davies to present Sammon with a golden chance to equalise from the penalty
spot. Speroni saved the penalty brilliantly to cement his position as the man
of the match. Palace’s first away win of 2013 was the first win on the road
since November. Thirteen points from eighteen available has closed the gap on
Watford in second place in the Championship to two points. With Hull and
Leicester with games in hand then it is better to have the points on the board
because in the short term the gap to second place is likely to increase.
Victory
against Derby is crucial in keeping the pressure on up at the top of the table
and Holloway was right to lavish praise on Palace keeper Julian Speroni. His
fine form was the difference in ensuring a Palace victory. Tuesday’s match at Selhurst
Park against Hull is likely to be one of the biggest games of the season and it
could go some way to deciding how close Palace run Hull and Watford in the race
for the second automatic promotion place. Alternatively chances of promotion may
be decided by the lottery of the Playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment