A win of any sorts - at Selhurst Park - has proven to be a bit of a rarity for Palace fans durign the last season and a bit. Mark Gardiner reviews the action from a hard-fought defeat of Aston Villa.
For all that the display against Arsenal was encouraging, it’s not results against the “Big Clubs” that will define our progress this season. We need to start getting results against the mid- & lower-table clubs at home which were poor last year – IIRC of teams that finished below us only Leicester & QPR went home pointless. We struggled to break down teams that played much as we did away from Selhurst, denying space and sitting back; of course this also helps explain our success away from home. Before the match I thought we’d win 2-0 or 2-1 but hopefully with some more creativity & attacking flair. Well, the result was OK but the performance was oddly disjointed with some questionable choices in terms of players, positions, substitutions & formations.
The initial team news brought some sideways glances: Bolasie & Wickham didn’t even feature in the match day squad – Yannick for reported person reasons, & Connor for... well, does anyone know? Injury? Illness? Anyway that saw Murray return up front and a debut for Sako. The assumption was that Sako would play on the flanks, and initially it looked like Bakary was on the left, where he made one good move with Souaré, and Wilf on the right, where he drew a couple of early fouls. Cabaye and Puncheon were making some good initial moves in midfield, an exquisite feint by Jason and a defence splitting pass from Yohan the pick. This initial good feeling was soon spoilt, in part by a Villa team who were more robust and less flaky than last season, even missing Benteke & Delph. Gestede & Delaney were having a rare old battle, one that saw Damien take an early standing count in addition to an excellent early block. I couldn’t make out if Villa were intending to play wing backs or if Sánchez was just playing a really deep midfield role, but they did seem to have a lot of possession around our box, helped by the number of times Palace coughed up possession cheaply.
Palace’s normal formation soon morphed into something very different but horribly rickety. Wilf moved to the left, where he made some good progress without creating many chances, but Sako, who hadn’t really featured much, looked to move infield, where despite a couple of good runs & touches he appeared a little lost. On the right McArthur was trying hard to help Ward, whose shaky defensive play continued on from Arsenal, but Villa often unhinged our right flank with Amavi overlapping and Agbonlahor drifting wide. Still it was unexpected when Dann presented Villa with a chance (or perhaps not – he did gift Benteke the winner last season) only for Agbonlahor to scuff his effort that was blocked by McCarthy. Palace attacks were spasmodic, Murray nearly setting Zaha free inside the box only for the chance to be snuffed out. Villa had a second choice to seize the lead but McCarthy tipped over Grealish’s rising shot from an angle. Come half time Villa probably had a slight points lead.
Two substitutes came out stripped for action during the interval, and a couple of idiosyncratic choices they appeared: Mutch, who is not the flavour of the month; and Gayle, who is feted but understandably wants away. Murray was one withdrawn, which worried me as Dwight has a poor record when not partnered by Glenn. The other brought forth much head shaking – Zaha, whom Pardew had been seen wagging his finger at in the first half, but in the absence of Bolasie and with Sako pretty anonymous seemed to offer our most potent attacking threat. Lee or Bamford looked more attractive options on paper. At least the formation change made some sense, with Mutch on the right and Sako on the left, and Puncheon back in the middle.
Last week a home debutant nearly scored straight after the break; this time Sako’s effort from a tight angle appeared from the Whitehorse to strike the post, although it was credited as a save by Guzan. The chance came from a fine piece of wing play from Mutch. Palace appeared far more settled and Villa carried far less threat. Then came the breakthrough when a fine pass by Puncheon (?) set Gayle free inside the box; he turned and from our angle smashed the ball past Guzan. We celebrated, the PA announcer celebrated, the players celebrated, the Villa fans were disgruntled, the referee ran back to the centre circle, and the Villa players berated the linesman en masse. To some amazement the referee, who had been happy with the goal, was persuaded to speak with the linesman, who had not flagged, and then awarded Villa a free kick. The Villa fans celebrated, the home fans were disgruntled, etc. I can only guess there was a “Bournemouth” after the Premier League’s letter, although it looked like the referee indicated handball. By the time you read this we’ll all know how wrong I was!
That actually sparked some real atmosphere inside the ground, aided by the ref who had booked Cabaye for an admittedly cynical foul but had been the victim of 3 or 4 such challenges that went unpunished. Palace won a corner and Puncheon’s delivery was flatter than the usual floated efforts from him & Cabaye; Dann won a fine header and despite a goal line intervention the ball went into the roof of the net. Palace were paying quite well now, with some fine triangles down the left featuring Sako, Puncheon & Souaré, and Sako again brought a good save from Guzan. Ironically it was this strength down our left that in part brought about Villa’s equaliser. A fine overlapping run by Souaré was wasted when Sako’s final ball went behind; as Pape trotted back he appeared to lose concentration, chatting with Delaney as substitute Traoré sped into acres of space down our left. Finally aware of the danger too late as Traoré reached the goal line, Souaré’s attempted block was deflected in at the near post past a wrong-footed McCarthy.
For a few minutes Pape looked to lose his focus as Traoré ripped into our left flank & it looked like the momentum was swinging Villa’s way. Even Pardew looked to have doubts, replacing Cabaye with the steely Jedinak, perhaps shoring up a shaken team. But Palace continued to make good work down the left, Souaré looking to make amends. The late winning goal was a strange affair: a poor Palace set piece conceded possession with our big men up front; Dann, who had prevented a quick throw by Guzan, was still making his way back when Amavi dithered on the ball and allowed Scott to rob him of possession. With Villa caught going the wrong way, with a fine touch for a central defender Dann outflanked Villa on the right and a good cross found Sako, whose shot across Guzan found the far corner. Villa’s hearts sank and they never looked like coming back again, and Palace ran the clock down in possession. So, kudos to Pardew for the substitutions, as the reshuffle worked well, or some head scratching at the initial team?
McCarthy – 7 – Fine performance with two good important saves at 0-0 from Agbonlahor & Grealish. Looked in command of his box when coming for crosses, and had sense not to come too far and get caught between Gestede & Delaney. There were a couple of poor kicks, at least one when our preferred short pass from the back was closed down.
Ward – 5 – Another shaky performance at the back, and worryingly there was another header in the first half that he backed out of. Was caught napping a few times and there looked to be confusion between Joel & McArthur. Didn’t face anywhere near the problems after the break, for which Mutch deserves some of the credit.
Souaré – 7 – There was a five-minute spell when Pape looked to have lost his concentration & composure under pressure from excellent prospect Traoré. I swear he was chatting with Delaney, possibly about having to dash two lengths of the pitch for nothing, in the build-up to their equaliser. Unlucky with the deflection but really should have closed his man down well before that, and his state of mind was shown by conceding a dangerous free kick minutes later for a foul on the same player. For the other 85 minutes he had a fine game, offering a lot down the left, although there is room for improvement in his crossing, and in many ways effectively replaced Wilf’s threat down that flank.
Delaney – 7 – Real battle with Gestede that Damien won on points despite an early clash of heads seeing him needing treatment. Did make one poor pass in the second half that was picked off but his fellow defenders bailed him out.
Dann – 7 – Nearly gifted Villa the lead when giving the ball away to Agbonlahor, but that was about his only mistake. With a goal & an assist to add to his defending Scott turned in the sort of display that must soon attract Roy’s boys.
Cabaye – 7 – Good but not quite as good as last week. Still astonished by the amount of work he pouts in defensively; obviously I drew the wrong impression from his time at Newcastle! There were some excellent passes in midfield that set the attack free but found the attentions of Grealish a pain. Booking seemed undeserved given the treatment he received at Villa’s hands.
McArthur – 6 – Did a lot of defensive chasing down the right that reduced his effectiveness in the first half. Less frenetic in the second but again gets through a shed load of work.
Puncheon – 7 – Some good touches in the first half to set Zaha and Murray free, including a lovely dummy turn that switched the entire line of attack, and good close control most of the time, although did turn over some possession cheaply. More influential in the second half when restored to a more familiar central attacking role, setting up Gayle’s “goal” and delivering a good corner for Dann’s.
Zaha – 6 – Frustrating day for Wilf, who often managed to beat his man but was often double- or triple-manned, and never quite created a clear chance for himself or others. Pardew’s ire was obvious but not that understandable, and it was still a surprise when he didn’t reappear after the interval.
Sako – 7 – Quiet first half when he looked lost in what I assume is an unfamiliar central role, although there were a few good touches. Looked different player in the second, only denied by Guzan / the woodwork twice. Forged a really good partnership with Pape down the left and took his goal excellently.
Murray – 5 – Only broke free twice, once finding his way to goal blocked, the other almost setting Wilf free in the box. Aside from that Glenn had a quiet game, in part due to the team’s increasingly disjointed first half efforts, apart from conceding some silly & cheap free kicks. Not greatly surprised he was subbed.
Mutch – 6 – A much improved display in a right-sided role as sub, starting with an awful first touch then immediately making amends with a good run & cross for Sako’s early chance. There was far more that was good than bad so perhaps we are starting to see the real Jordon.
Gayle – 6 – Didn’t do that much as Murray’s replacement, although he did find the net only for the latest of disallows to rule it out. Strange that he was preferred to Bamford given the transfer situation.
Jedinak – 6 – Came on to bolster the midfield following the blow of Pape’s own goal and looked at home.