January 1 2018

Free-for-all in the box as both sides jostle during a hard-fought draw

What a great result, to hold runaway league leaders Man City to a draw - but it could have been so much better, laments Jamesey.

The Eagles have been continuing an excellent unbeaten run since this supporter’s last trip to Selhurst Park for the Bournemouth 2-2 draw (Dec 9).

Two wins, one home to Watford (2-1) and another away to Leicester (0-3) have brought renewed hope and confidence to counter the ever-present threat of relegation.

Supporters who complain that we are always in a relegation battle should really own up to the fact that it always will be a struggle to compete against the resources of the bigger boys in the Stacksocash League.

Never was this more obvious than in our recent home encounter (Dec 28) with Arsenal. The Gunners haven’t always been on top form this season so of course they saved themselves until Selhurst to produce a performance of world-class football that frankly left their opponents often clutching at straws.

The result (2-3) is flattering to the home side although Wilfried Zaha’s lovely cross to Andros Townsend for the Eagles first goal and James Tomkins, nodding in the second and doing what Christian Benteke ought to be doing, were creditable efforts.

So CPFC, on the last day of 2017, faced Manchester City, one of the best teams in Europe and looking for a 19th consecutive league victory at Selhurst.

Were expectations high? Er, not really, so it was great to see the Eagles not in the least overawed by their opponents (as they had been against the Gunners) and really taking the game to City right from the kick-off.

Obviously it was going to be a tough assignment so defending had to be sharp, with Timothy Fosu-Mensa bravely keeping tabs on Leroy Sane in the back four.

It must be said that Kyle Walker also earned his wages in subduing Zaha although the irrepressible Wilf still managed to be a threat despite all the usual trips and pushes.

It was no game for shrinking violets and the stretcher bearers were going to be working overtime with Scott Dann being carried off and later City’s Gabriel Jesus in the first period.

A collective sigh of relief was almost palpable when the half-time whistle blew and the score was still 0-0.

As one would expect, City started to look more dangerous in the second half although red-and-blue resistance was strong and there were chances at both ends.

The ultimate moments of high drama came in the 92nd minute when Zaha was adjudged to have been brought down in the area by Raheem Sterling.

The home supporters gasped in amazement.

It was just like the Bournemouth match - the Eagles were being given a chance to grab three points in the dying embers of the contest.

Penalty mastermind Luka Milivojevic stepped forward and booted a weak kick which was saved by the legs of City keeper, Ederson, so it was a repeat of the Cherries scenario.

But the curtain hadn’t yet fallen.

Kevin de Bruyne took advantage of the loose ball to launch a counter-attack, only to be brought down by a Jason Puncheon tackle. The substitute could have been red-carded by was only yellowed.

The stretcher bearers had just recovered their breath but were recalled again to remove both players from the field.

The result was a 0-0 draw.

So much media coverage of football nowadays seems to be obsessed with penalties which were wrongly awarded or should have been but weren’t. This long-term spectator is nostalgic for the times when penalties were comparatively rare. Goalkeepers weren’t often 6ft 6in super-athletes so to score was usually a given.

Eagles manager, Roy Hodgson, in his post-match interview, was as benevolent as he could have been on the Palace performance in the circumstances although he did point out that the extra four points from the two penalty misses would have left CPFC in a comfortable mid-table spot.

As has been said many times before, “if” is such a short word but so lengthy in possibilities.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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