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.
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