It was a performance to remember as Liverpool seem to crumble every time they visit Selhurst Park.
Sunday afternoon was all about character, passion and guile of a superb Crystal Palace team.
The early goal for the visitors had the alarm bells ringing but the performance from the lads was great. It gives us courage heading into the remainder of the season.
Liverpool are half the team of last year. Luis Suarez has gone. Daniel Sturridge is going through an injury crisis. The team is underperforming. What Liverpool lack is what Palace have. Determination.
Yannick Bolasie once again showed his skill and Dwight Gayle finally got an opportunity and took it with open arms. Feed Gayle and he will score.
Yannick Bolasie
Every week I seem to rave about Bolasie. You just cannot keep him out of the headlines at the moment. His displays have been fantastic, he is our outlet at the moment and one we look to make things happen and on every occasion he does.
The DR Congo international was a constant menace. He is unpredictable but when his exuberant skills come off they are a joy to behold. Seeing defenders dizzy and in knots is what us spectators pay to see. And of course, a Palace victory.
I feel there are similarities to the importance of Bolasie this season and Wilfried Zaha in our promotion season. Zaha was a central figure in our promotion campaign. He was the one we looked to. He was the one that had the spark. His display in the second leg of the play-off semi final on the South Coast propelled us to Wembley. It was there where he won the deciding penalty. Zaha was instrumental that season.
Bolasie has dramatically improved over the last couple of seasons. I will suggest that in Zaha’s first stint at the club he was living in his shadow. He has now matured into an explosive Premier League winger, firmly exiting Zaha’s shadow.
Like Zaha in our historic promotion campaign, Bolasie is now becoming a central figure. It seems he has taken up the mantle of responsibility and the driving force of our team. It is great to watch.
I talk to a lot of people about Bolasie and one criticism that is mentioned is his lack of end product. People are right, his end product can sometimes be wasteful. A wayward shot should have been nestling into the goal. But instead it nestled in the Whitehorse Lane stand. It was just another indication that his end product is a work in progress.
We will have a fight on our hands to keep hold of him. If the rumours were true back in the summer, Fiorentina were after his services as were Everton. Forget Serie A. Bolasie has the potential to play at a top eight club in the Premier League. He has the modern day attributes for a Premier League winger. Pace, skill and innovation. A big club could be knocking on the door in the near future if this man continues to perform at his current level.
Dwight Gayle
Enough of raving about Bolasie. It is time to turn my attentions to another one of our young stars.
The former Peterborough striker has proved when given the opportunity he can deliver. At the back end of last season he scored a handful of goals. He has now scored three goals in two games against Liverpool. The lad has something. So give him a run in the team Neil.
The Chamakh/Gayle partnership could have some legs. It is the classic big man little man combination. It worked well on Sunday. Gayle provided the pace and Chamakh provided the aerial threat.
Although Frazier Campbell has done well and got us goals when he has played, Gayle truly deserves a run of games to really see if he has the ability to score goals consistently in the toughest league in club football.
It was a cracking result on Sunday, just what we needed. We have to get consistency in our play. We need another run like we had when Warnock first took over. The makings of a solid Premier League squad is there. A couple of additions in the January transfer market and another season in the promised land could well be achievable.
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