January 21 2018

Lull before the storm…unsuspecting Palace supporters await the kick-off

All good things come to end and so did the Eagles’ league unbeaten run at the Emirates where the Gunners registered a 4-1 victory. Jamesey and Wilf King report

In the hard, cold light and drizzle of a south London Sunday morning, losing a football match by four goals to one doesn’t seem all that appalling. Not nice but not catastrophic.

This supporter had a feeling that, after a 12-match unbeaten league run, things might go a little awry playing the Arsenal away (Jan 20).

However, settled comfortably in front of my screen at home, I was ill-prepared for the early horror show I was about to witness.

After six minutes, Gunners defender Nacho Monreal headed in from a corner kick.

Careless to concede so early from a set-piece but an early goal might well give the Eagles some extra impetus.

However, it was only another four minutes before Alex Iwobi made it 2-0. Not looking quite so good now.

A mere three minutes later, Lauren Koscielny bundled in another one, also from a corner situation. It was beginning to look seriously bad now - three goals down after only 13 minutes.

We only had to wait until the 22nd minute before Alex Lacazette side-footed the ball into the net to take the score to 4-0.

This was turning into a downright rout and the ease with which the Arsenal team were slicing through the Palace (so-called) defence was really alarming.

The team in black (appropriate colour for the occasion) were reeling against the ropes but mercifully managed to staunch the flow of Arsenal goals until half-time.

Many of we older supporters would have been reminded of that tragic occasion at Anfield in 1989. Liverpool crucified CPFC 9-0 at a time when the club was newly promoted to the old Division 1.

Nevertheless, that was a wake-up call of massive importance. Steve Coppell and Ron Noades lost no time in strengthening the squad and brought in important new signings like Nigel Martyn, “Ninja” Eric Young and Andy Thorn.

Prompt action enabled Crystal Palace to stay in the top tier for four consecutive seasons.

The above comments are in no way intended as a criticism of the current chairman, Steve Parish. Time and again your columnist has expressed his support of Mr Parish who will do his best in sometimes difficult circumstances to build on the success he has brought to SE25 since 2010.

The second period brought a far better performance from the away side and although the Gunners still looked capable of scoring more, keeper Cech had to make two great saves to keep out shots from Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke.

A wonderfully skilful turn and volley from Luka Milivojevic in the 78th minute made the score a little more respectable at 4-1 and another Eagles goal would have made the result look far more reasonable than the total thrashing it looked like becoming after 22 minutes.

Incredibly Palace are still 13th in the league table although it’s so tight in the middle that a victory or a defeat could alter positions quite radically.

One can be sure that the Old Fox, Roy Hodgson, will have learned some big lessons from such a dreadful afternoon.

My friend and occasional reporter, Wilf King, is in uncharacteristically terse mode.

Wilf is a frequent travelling fan and kindly sent in the picture and his shortest report ever below.

Will Benteke ever score?

First half – conceded four goals in 16 minutes and second half – Palace decide to get into Arsenal’s box and score.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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