Crystal Palace was ruthless
in the Welsh capital with the only piece of charity shown in solidarity between
both sets of fans on nineteen minutes and twenty seven seconds with a chorus of
‘Bluebirds’ and ‘Tan Out’ as Palace fans showed support for Cardiff fans and
the plight of their club. Here though the charitable sentiment ended as Crystal
Palace ruthlessly destroyed Cardiff City 0 – 3 in this relegation battle to
take a massive step towards safety and almost seal Cardiff City’s fate at the
same time.
Ex Eagle Wilfried Zaha
started on the wing for Cardiff City. He was given a heroes reception by the
travelling Palace fans and was probably Cardiff’s best player in the first half
only to be inexplicably substituted for Craig Noone on sixty two minutes. Part
of the reason for this could be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s frustration after he
told him to celebrate if he scored against his former club only to see him
acknowledge the Palace fans support at a corner. Yet the tradition in England
is not to celebrate against former clubs as was illustrated by Joe Ledley when
he scored on seventy one minutes to make it 0 – 2 and did not celebrate. On his
substitution Palace fans sang ‘We love you Wilfried’ and ‘He is our Wilfried
Zaha and he wants to come Home!’
Limited goalmouth action in
the first half saw Speroni turn a header from his own defender Mariappa over
the bar from a Jordon Mutch cross when under pressure from Fraizer Campbell.
Palace took the lead on thirty one minutes when Jason Puncheon shot home from
just inside the box. Maroanne Chemakh replaced Yannick Bolasie on sixty four
minutes in the second half after being out for a month and he had an
influential effect both in attack and defence as Palace counter attacked and
took control of the match. Chemakh cleared a Cardiff attack after Kenwyne Jones
beat Speroni to a Noone cross only for Chemakh to clear as the ball moved
towards goal. Minutes later Palace doubled their lead and Chemakh was again
influential, meeting a Puncheon free kick forcing a fine save from David
Marshall only for Joe Ledley to mop up and knock home the rebound.
At 0 – 2 Cardiff was out of
the game with less than twenty minutes to go. Desperate to avoid relegation and
with problems off the field surrounding Vincent Tan their fans lost hope, urged
the team forward but many believed Cardiff’s fate was sealed. Despite all this
they pushed forward but were punished on the break. Jason Puncheon completed his
brace making it 0 – 3 on eighty eight minutes curling a stunning shot past
Marshall into the top corner from twenty yards to secure a rampant victory in
this crucial relegation six pointer. The result sees Palace rise to fourteenth
place in the Premier League and sends Cardiff plunging towards the
Championship.
So Welshman Tony Pulis takes
Crystal Palace onto thirty four points and probable safety in his native land
against his boyhood club. Based on defensive organisation Pulis really has
delivered. Next week Palace are at home to Aston Villa two points behind the Villains
and one place behind them in the table. Victory against Aston Villa could see
Palace rise into the top half of the table. Considering Palace had one win from
their opening nine matches Pulis’s achievements should not be underestimated
because safety could make this season one of the greatest in Crystal Palace’s
long and fine history.
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